Impressions and photos of a holiday in California with a detour to the Grand Canyon

California Holiday

Mark Twain:
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Rent a car, grab a map, book some hotel rooms, and follow us on a fantastic trip which you will never forget. Here is our photo logbook with fifteen days of beaches and mountains, rocks, trees, rivers and valleys, seals, bears, deer, otters and salmons, redwoods and deserts, forests and lakes, and one gorgeous gorge; the Grand Canyon. Follow our footsteps and make sure that in twenty years from now you are not disappointed because you missed it.

This page shows for each day just one photo representing a highlight of that day.

Click on the "day" button to see more pictures and to find more specific information.


Los Angeles to Monterey

Day 1

Group of elephant seals on the beach.

Elephant seals on the beach.



Monterey to San Francisco

Day 2

Kelp forest in Monterey Bay Aquarium

Kelp forest in the Monterey Bay aquarium.



Visit San Francisco

Day 3

Pier 39 with sea lions

The sea lions of Pier 39 in the heart of San Francisco.



San Francisco to Eureka

Day 4

Redwoods

The first encounter with trees that are bigger than big.



Visit Redwoods

Day 5

Redwoods

An entire day driving and hiking through the Redwoods area.



Eureka via Lassen to Lake Tahoe

Day 6

Lassen Volcanow with snow

Lassen Volcanic National park with the highest volcano covered in snow.



Visit Lake Tahoe

Day 7

Lake Tahoe

A day trip driving along the shores of Lake Tahoe.



Lake Tahoe to Mammoth

Day 8

Autumn trees

Amazing landscapes with all the colors of the autumn season.



Visit Yosemite National Park

Day 9

Yosemite National Park

Rocks formations in the beautiful landscapes of Yosemite National Park.



Mammoth via Death Valley to Las Vegas

Day 10

Deat Valley

Stop in the middle of the desert and listen to the sound of silence.



Las Vegas via Zion to Grand Canyon

Day 11

Zion National Park

Pretty rock formations are found throughout the Zion National Park.



Visit Grand Canyon North Rim

Day 12

Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon cannot be described in words nor pictures. It's the experience of a lifetime.



Grand Canyon via Zion National Park to Las Vegas

Day 13

Zion National Park

Zion National Park offers several walking trails in a beautiful scenery.



Las Vegas to Los Angeles

Day 14

Silver mine

Visit to Ghost Town and its abandoned silver mines.



Visit Universal Studios

Day 15

Werewolf

A day of magic and imagination.



California is a fantastic state, full with beautiful and diversity nature; beaches, mountains, canyons, golden landscapes, animals, and even wineries. It comprises of 12 tourism regions which are Shasta Cascade, North Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, Central Coast, Gold Country, High Sierra, Central Valley, Deserts, Inland Empire, San Diego County, Orange County and Los Angeles County. The 2 main cities, Los Angeles and San Francisco, are considered as the capital cities of California.

This trip takes us to Los Angeles County, Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, North Coast, High Sierra, Deserts, and shortly in three other states which are Nevada, Utah and Arizona.

We decided to start our journey at Los Angeles. What entertainment u can get from Los Angeles? Ahhh !! Many famous places I bet you also know, Hollywood, Universal Studios, Museum, excitement at Six flags, many shopping center such as 3rd street, Farmer Market, Beverly Center and you can have a walk or sport at several beaches.

We were landing on Los Angeles (LAX) runway in the afternoon. This season, day time is short so we have not much time today. At the airport we jumped on the shuttle bus of the rental car company to go get the car we booked. We choose the compact car with cruise control. I will tell u the story of the cruise control later. Then we went looking for our hotel. The roads in Los Angeles are not complicated. If u look in the map u will see that all roads are set in blocks. People locate the area by the intersections, for example Century-Aviation or Century-La Cienega Blv.

After we dropped our luggage in the hotel we decided to explore some beach near by which is Manhattan beach. In my life I had never seen any cold beach like this before. What u have to prepare for the beach in California is the warm cloth…no…not the bikinis…You could definitely not imagine how the beach can suffer you if u comes from the tropics. Oh! Over there, we saw some crazy surfers who were suffering in the sea. I wonder what they were doing there. And few meters away I saw one bird walking alone, while groups of other tiny round birds were having fun by running away from the waves. People were walking back to the car. The light is getting less and less. I was very excited looking forward for the next day…. “The real journey is starting tomorrow, WOW!”