Besides, as I have to remind people repeatedly, this blog's original raison d'etre is to share my world travels with you (not unlike the FBI's raison d'etre is to find crooks and commies, signed, Nathan Arizona). Instead of having to answer the dreaded "how was your trip" question, oh, I don't know, six times, this way I can just write it all down and people can read it at their leisure. Its like how fast food places put signs all over the dining area ("dining area" is a bit rich; more like "cholera ward") thanking customers for clogging their arteries there instead of some other grungeateria, thus sparing the employee-mutants the panic of having to convey that message themselves.
So, having dispensed with that friendly and not at all snobbish introduction, let's move on to today's post's real point. I would like to announce that this year, barring some more unforeseen tumult or zombie/cannibalism outbreaks, I plan to spend part of my vacation at Yosemite National Park. I don't think they sell bath salts there so I should be relatively safe. Yosemite is reputedly one of the most beautiful places on earth, at least if you buy into all that Ansel Adams propaganda. I'll arrive in Oakland during Labor Day weekend and celebrate the heroic proletarian struggle against evil capitalist bourgeoisie overlords (like myself) with my friends Kimberly and Terry (everyone's checking out her Craftini blog, right?). Then on Labor Day proper, I'll drive from the Bay Area out to Yosemite. Then I'll spend a week at the Yosemite Lodge, spending days hiking and exploring, and nights freezing to death. It got down to 27 degrees the other night. That doesn't work for me. Oh, and even more lucky, I'm arriving in the wake of the decision to shut down some of the park lodging area due to rock falls. Apparently, people have been getting hurt in rock falls. Excellent.
Why Yosemite? Last year I spent WAY too much money in Ireland and Scotland, and spent too much time driving all over the place instead of enjoying great scenery. This way I'll get to see some of the most beautiful scenery anywhere but can remain in relatively one place for a time. Cheap flights, thank you Southwest, and relatively cheap rental car and lodging rates. I can spend more of my time outside, getting in better shape by dodging boulders and running away from hungry bears.
After this first week, I then plan to get back on the road and head out to the coast, after which I'll leisurely work my way north back toward San Francisco. I haven't exactly decided how far south to go. Maybe you could offer some suggestions. I thought about going to Santa Barbara, but it just sounds like its a little too Knots Landing, where all the men are either surgeons or paroled international art thieves, and all the women are former Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders who spend their lives tanning, throwing up, and working out their evil revenge plot against some other chick with a name like "Heather."
If not that far south, I would start at Big Sur. Anyway, I'd spend the next few days going to Big Sur, Carmel and 17 Mile Drive, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay, and finally San Francisco. I want to see the buffalo, and the tulips at the Dutch windmill, in Golden Gate Park. Don't judge me.
Admittedly, a vacation announcement is kind of douchey. Like the President issuing a travel schedule press release. But when your blog focuses on your travels, an announcement doesn't seem too unforgivable.
So, that's the trip. Roughly two weeks. All in America. Well, California, which in many ways bears striking resemblance to some portions of America.
Its getting to where I can hardly count how many trips I've taken there. As much as I'd like to spend my money somewhere else and thereby avoid funding the bizarrity that is California society (like Rob Lowe), California got all the cool terra firma. Its like Californians don't deserve to live there. So I generally try to overlook them and enjoy the scenery. Which in so many cases is breathtaking. Truly California is the Golden State.
One drawback, from a blogging perspective, to such a trip is it affords me little writing material. As I've mentioned previously, hiking through spectacular scenery makes for an incredible experience, but terrible writing. "I hiked up the trail about four miles, and there was a really beautiful lake. Boy, it sure was pretty. Then I went a little further and saw some great mountains. They were really high up and they were pretty too." Yawn. Its like all those test pilots and engineers who became astronauts and comically failed to describe the sights from outer space. "Well, it sure is big, and bright, and there's lots of colors...." Great. So don't look for daily posts.
OK, that's all for now. See you in September. Before then, I expect, but September for sure.
2 comments:
I've come to find out that all the annoying "Californians" are the ones who have moved here from out of state. They don't count as locals, although they will swear to death that they are.
Santa Barbara is actually charming. They've managed to keep a cap on population and sustain mostly natural surroundings. It's real california, and the beaches are divine because of it...
I have yet to go to yosemite, although I think rock dodging sounds like a good time...
Point taken on native vs. non-native Californians. Its like other non-native species that move into and alter a natural environment. Thanks for your information on Santa Barbara. I'll strive to make it down there.
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