Beautiful California

When I was living in Minnesota (1998 – 2005), my cousin used to always talk about how much stuff there is to do and see in California and all the numerous attractions that are just a few hours of drive away from Bay area. Ever since I moved to Bay area, California in fall 2005, I have barely seen any of the attractions around here. Earlier this summer Delip and I made a list of places we wanted to cover in the near future. Given his super busy and unpredictable schedules, we wanted to pick places that we could cover over long weekends during the year and which didn’t need planning/bookings too far in advance.

We made a trip to Yosemite National Park during the Memorial Day weekend, along with my brother, sis-in-law and nephew. We were all awestruck by the majestic sights and beauty of Yosemite – from waterfalls to cliffs to meadows. I am glad we made the trip in-spite of some lukewarm reviews from a few people based on their visit to the park. I think the key is in visiting the park at the right time which is early spring or before summer starts – that’s when the waterfalls and creeks are full force and the forest is still green, fresh from the snow meltdown. We spent two and a half full days in Yosemite, but there is so much more left there to see and lots of beautiful hiking trails to explore. We will certainly be back there, although accommodations are booked way in advance, so I would probably book ahead. This time we were lucky enough to find some last minute nice comfortable accommodations located just half hr drive from the Valley visitor center in a really quiet place, away from the valley crowd.

Our next trip plan for the labor weekend was a toss between the Sequioas and Redwood National Park, both equally drivable over a long weekend. A quick search on the forums of TripAdvisor recommended Sequioas over the Redwoods due to more stuff to do and see, which I will be covering in another blog. I would certainly recommend TripAdvisor for travel related recommendations next time you plan your trip – especially since it’s generated from users like us, who are looking for travel information and want a quick easy way to find recommendations/information from others in one place rather than going through exhaustive travel guides. Another great site to find more information on a specific destination is Wikitravel.

California is blessed when it comes to weather and diversity of natural beauty. If one likes nature/outdoors and has the time, then there are lots of attractions that can be covered over long weekends. It’s ironic that when I was in Minnesota and had all the time, there wasn’t a whole lot to do all year around (or so I believed), but now that I am here in Bay Area, California, we haven’t been able to take out time to do much. A fraction of the blame also goes to some inertia on our behalf – planning a travel to a tourist destination takes effort and time if done decently.