California

california

state nickname: the Golden State
state motto: Eureka I have found it

California, the ultimate destination. In the mind, it appears in shades of warm gold and green. The spell of California is not unlike the spell of New York, only Pacific-flavoured rather than Europe-influenced. It whispers: come here, something will happen.

And it very well might, for California is vast and multi-hued. Like America, it is not any one thing-- lush coastal forests but also dry hills, brown deserts, verdant corporate agricultural plantations... California has it all and is quietly pleased with itself.

southern california:

If you're approaching California from the east, you find a desert that can either be a cursed wasteland or a cherished landscape, depending on how deep you look and if you make it off the I-40 or I-10. I-40 will bring you through Needles -- if you break down there, don't despair, see the Needles travel guide-- and Barstow . If you have to stop in Barstow, I would recommend trying a Korean restaurant downtown, Barstow happens to have a sizeable Korean population. But-- I wouldn't take this route to begin with; I would drop south, because between the I-40 and the I-10 lies a fascinating little-touristed region.

Joshua Tree: you must go. I never stopped there the first few times I drove across the country, because I figured it would look just like the stuff outside the car window, which was not very intriguing: scruffy trees, dust, you know. But Joshua Tree is one of the most sublime national parks-- hike the 49 palms oasis, and check out the towns north of the park, too. Eat at the yummy, well-saladed Crossroads Cafe in the town of Joshua Tree . Stop for some coffee or snacks at the Beatnik Cafe (where you can play chess and hear beat poetry or local Marines from the base at 29 Palms do heavy-metal kareoke, depending on the night). And take some more coffee at Water Canyon Coffee in old-town Yucca Valley, just west on Hwy. 62. (Don't, however, stop in Palm Springs unless you want to be really weirded out by what happens when wealthy people decide they want to dwell in the desert).

Then there is Los Angeles ; for information about LA I refer you to the Tool Song Aenima. There is, always, the ocean... Venice Beach is the traditionally funky place to watch the carnival. To the north, the little town of Ojai is where Los Angelites go to heal from the experience of living near LA; to the east, rundown downtown Pomona has a few neat antique shops, and Claremont is home to the Aiko Institute which is a lovely place for aikido, brushwork, or other contemplative things; to get above it all, climb Mt. Baldy.

Central California:

You have two beautiful ways of passing through this rich land: Highway 1, along the coast (twisty and turny and takes a long time, but how else can you get to Big Sur?)-- or Highway 395, east of the Sierras. And then there's straight up the Central Valley on I-5, if you enjoy the unending view of corporate agriculture plantations. The Eastern Sierra rout is less-taken, please visit the Lone Pine travel guide for more information on this fascinating area. U.S. 1-- well, it should be done at least once in a lifetime-- read Kerouac's Big Sur, Henry Miller, or Richard Brautigan's A Confederate General from Big Sur for some literary perspective on this California.

northern california:

My friend, poet Debra Morkun, calls San Francisco a museum. It stands there in cheerful homage to the 1960s, or maybe the 19th century gold-rush days, proud of making it all the way across the frontier and separate from the rest of America out there. Still, San Francisco is one of the finest cities in America, and it is good to wander around North Beach drinking Italian coffee or wander around Golden Gate Park drinking spacebag wine with gutterpunks, either could play an important part in one's youth: San Francisco is where people on the West Coast go to grow up. Go there and play, visit Berkeley, and then go north towards Tamalpais & Bolinas and rest in the forest.

A bit inland, you'll meet Sacramento. It's not a destination in the way San Francisco is a destination, but if you happen to go there, there's a pretty walkable downtown around the Capital building, and a touristy board walk area by the river; the co-op is at Alhambra and S; there is also a wonderful honey store with myriad varieties of honey at 2110 X Street.

Around Sacramento, you've hit the agricultural center again; Chico is a cute little college town to picnic in if you're passing through; Redding less interesting (but there's the Sacramento river to play in)-- and keep going north, you'll be awed by Shasta-- see the Shasta travel guide for information about this area. While the country to the east-- Lassen, down to Truckee and Tahoe-- is neat, you'd be missing out if you didn't head west towards the Redwoods. Arcata is the traditional traveler-town if you want to smoke with hippies and gutterpunks in the city park; otherwise head for the national park and enjoy feeling like an elf dwarfed by the great trees. If you experience one thing in this state, it should be these mystical redwoods, lost in the mist that wafts up from the ocean... and the bright yellow banana slugs that slime around on them.

featured California destinations:

Lone Pine
Manzanar
Shasta
Needles