Blogs from Big Sur, California, United States, North America - page 11

Limite occidentale de notre voyage: le Pacifique North America » United States » California » Big Sur By BerenDecember 29th 2006Gaëtan Nous sommes arrivés le 27 au soir près de Sequoia national Park dans la Sierra Nevada où nous campâmes. L'endroit était charmant et verdoyant, mais nous apprîmes le lendemain qu'il était interdit d'entrer dans le parc sans avoir de chaînes pour les pneus et qu'il allait nous couter un peu plus de 60$ pour en obtenir... courte discussion et prise de décision. Nous reprîmes la route vers l'ouest, si nous ne pouvions pas aller e... read more

This was gonna be the first day of our great tour of the western USA. We were planning to head south first, going to LA, then forge on into Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and then back to California. We were planning on starting early, going from Mountain View to LA. Well, lets just say that didn't work out. For various reasons we were delayed, among other things, Tom invited us to yet another great lunch. Me, my brother Einar, my friend Oyvind and Tom were joined by Blake, the company lawyer. We had a lovely lunch at the chinese place on Castro in MV. We finally headed out about 15.00, and headed south towards the coast. We arrived at Big Sur in order to catch the sunset. We also caught a glimpse of some gray whale, ... read more

Waking at 5am to the cold, we started the car and started making our way along the beautiful coastal road, lit by the incredibly bright moon. Making it to Los Angeles for lunch time, we had a quick cooling shower and then went exploring. Found the Kodak theatre, famous for hosting the Oscars, the walk of fame, the 'HOLLYWOOD' sign and many other camera highlights. But the main reason for us being there was to see the band 'The Small Change' playing at the 'Knitting Factory'. Even with only one band member, Greg (unfortunately the others were stuck at the airport after the London foiled plot delayed their plane), the 'band' still played a number of tracks off the new album (which we knew as this was the only CD we had for the 300+ ... read more

After 4 days in San Diego we decided to head north rather than straight to Las Vegas. We had got lucky and got a booking at Yosemite National Park in 7 days time (normally you need to book 6 months in advance). So we headed north via our friends in San Clemente where our green cards, social security numbers and other mail had been sent. It turned out our green cards had arrived but the social security numbers (which we need to work and get cell phones) hadn't arrived. We headed further north and the traffic was awful! A 2 hour drive to L.A. stretched to 6, and we still had another 3 to get to our campsite for the night. Finally we arrived in Carpinteria, a small town on the beach about 2 hours north ... read more

Monasteries - New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur Stopped for a night at the New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, one of the most dramatic of the 250 monasteries we visited for our book "Sanctuaries: A Guide to Lodgings in Monasteries, Abbeys and Retreats of the U.S." We were met with this new sign, which set the tone for our stay ... everyone moves slowly and with deliberation in this clifftop monastery, perhaps in awe of what they see. Marcia & Jack Kelly Sanctuaries - A Guide to Monastaries & Retreats in the U.S. ... read more