Blogs from North America - page 9478

Just minutes from our home in Cool, in the heart of the gold country, the Auburn State Recreation Area (Auburn SRA) covers over 35,000 acres along 40-miles of the North and Middle Forks of the American River. Once teeming with thousands of gold miners, the area is now a natural area offering a wide variety of recreation opportunities to over 500,000 visitors a year. Major recreational uses include hiking, swimming, boating, fishing, camping, mountain biking, gold panning, equestrian riding trails and off-highway motorcycle riding. Whitewater recreation is also very popular on both forks of the river. Auburn SRA is made up of the lands set aside for the Auburn Dam. California State Parks administers the area under a contract with the US Bureau of Reclamation. ... read more

It was really wonderful to come home just in time for glorious afternoon weather, a perfect welcome, and fireworks on TV! Here's a quick wrap-up of my impressions of travel in Europe. Great stuff in Germany, et al.: * German toilets (use less water and flush better). * Public pay toilets (almost always worth the price). * Euro-style windows (and doors). * Cathedrals. * Sparkling mineral water. * Eisbecher!! * Eierlikör (an essential ingredient in my favorite Eisbechern). * Trains, trams and buses. * Sidewalk bike paths. * Beer gardens. * Their laid-back and healthy attitude about alcohol. * Drea and her friends and family, of course! Stuff I missed about the USA: * Free refills. * Table napkins. * Really cold drinks. Hell, even the ice cream in Germany is lukewarm. * Having "Y", "Z", ... read more

We stopped this morning at the Great Lakes for breakfast and to organize the bus before we get off in New York. We were on Lake Erie on the Ohio shore. The water was actually quite warm. Of course it was nice to get in the water after three days without a shower. We then loaded up the bus and started the trip over to Niagra Falls. We arrived in about 8:00 pm. Unfortunately the Maid of the Mist Tour was closed but the Cave of the Winds Tour was still open. We took the elevator down the side of the mountain and ended up near the Bridleveil Falls. I had to call my Mom because the last time we were there my Mom got lost under the falls and grabbed onto a man that wasn't ... read more

After returning to Tucson, I was ready to leave the US and go all the way down the pacific coast of Mexico. I was glad upon arriving at the bus station, as the greyhound buses were all full and the one for Mexico was almost empty, with much more leg room and comfort. It was really astonishing that the bus service was so much better than the American service, but there was one slight hitch. When arriving the Mexico border, I was required to pay for my visa but unfortunately I did not have enough cash on me to complete the transaction. They told me I had to go back to the US side and get money out of a cash machine which I did as quickly as I could and would not have been ... read more

Day 3 After a sweltering night at the hostel we decided to head on over to Casa Loma. It’s a great place to go. Lots of rooms and antiques and its great fun to just walk around and pretend you could actually live there (Hmmm this would TOTALLY be my cat relaxation room!) The grounds were just as impressive. Toronto is a nice city to vacation in. Already I am starting to get a feel for the subway but the food still hasn't arrived. I keep thinking I will find Canadian cuisine but I don't think it exists! So far the slices of pizza and the sandwich wraps are what has kept us going. Later that day we headed to the CN Tower in downtown Toronto. It is TALL! It easily dominates the skyline and after ... read more