h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, we've booked our October trip now. And we got a really good price, I think. We have the flights and the hire car sorted and have gathered a selection of maps, guide books and touring suggestions. We shall be based in Santa Clara, at the tip of the San Francisco Bay, where our eldest son lives, spending a few days with him and his family, then doing a ten-or-so-day trip to see some sights, then the last week with them again.

A friend worked out a tour for us, heading South to Santa Barbara, then across to Palm Springs and up to Yosemite, then back to Santa Clara via the Napa Valley. The travel agent recommended that we maybe did it the other way round, as the mouintain pass might be closed for snow at the later date. However, the route and the hotels we shall be fixing in good time later in the summer.

I have never been across the Atlantic nor on any long-haul flight. Am definitely not looking forward to that part of the holiday.

Very , I think I'd dread the long flight. I guess I would need to wear some compression support hose. But it sounds very exciting, I hope you'll enjoy it. Surely it will be nice to see your son and family!

Your IQ goes down by about 30 points on a long flight (due to reduced air pressure) so you won't want to read. Just sit back and enjoy the movies there should be time for three or four on that flight.

I'd recommend a trip to see the coastal redwood forests north of Leggett before the Napa valley.

I've done a few long haul flights, and I was kept quite busy with activities such as eating, playing with the audio system in the seat, watching one movie and reading, so it wasn't too bad. The last cross-Atlantic trip I did, to Canada, was during the day on the way out, and during the night on the way back, but when we were flying east the night was only about 2 hours long anyway, so I didn't really sleep, but it was relaxing to recline the seat and cover myself with a blanket. I wore compression socks, as I sat for most of the way, but I did get up and move around for a bit too.

Sounds like you'll have a great time while you're there

I'd suggest going even farther north than Leggett--say, all the way up to the Oregon border on the coast (or at least 19 miles south of the Oregon border) but that would be completely selfish on my part Though September/October *does* generally hold the best long stretch of weather up here*--generally the first 6 weeks of school are absolute torture, because it's warmer than summer. It may even get all the way up to 70!








*Not that the weather's been normal for a few years--it's supposed to rain most of the time between Halloween and about midMay, with maybe some drizzle after the big fireworks on the 4th of July.

My family vacationed at Cannon beach on the Oregon Coast about 20n years ago. I like the Oregon coast -- some mountains are right *on* the coast, so when you climb to the summits you can see far out to se4a.

When I flew to Italy for a concert tour in 2007, the flight back to Boston featured the movie "Zodiac" plus some other flick that had deja vu scenes of exploding cars and trucks.

The longest flights I've ever been on have been the ones to Taiwan and Hawaii. The one from London to the U.S. East Coast is nothing by comparison. When I flew back to Boston from Saint Petersburg in 2013, I had a connecting flight from Hamburg.

Enjoy the trip! Yosemite is brilliant!

Don't underestimate the distances involved in travel in the United States. It's an easy thing for Europeans to do. We've been caught out on occasions driving around the Western United States, when things were much further away than we thought. One day we decided we'd have lunch at the next town, and it was literally a hundred miles before we reached it.

We planned a route around California using a website called MapQuest, but then we bought a Western United States map for our Satellite Navigation system and found that MapQuest was over-optimistic in the distances it thought we could travel in a day. I had to do the whole thing over again, with a much more modest tour. Sadly, the new tour didn't have time for Crescent City in the north or Carmel in the south. The Sat Nav was proved right when we actually went and drove the route.

I personally wouldn't recommend driving more than 5 hours in a day, so take this into account when planning your route.

On another topic, we found that our European phones stopped working when we went north of the Napa Valley. They seem to use a different phone system in northern California which is not compatible with European phones. Not a big deal, but worth knowing.

Gnomon makes a good point, as far as distances go. I've only been as far south as the Bay Area a couple of times, so I'm not sure of the spacing of various services, but don't assume that there will be any bathroom breaks soon if you're passing a rest area and aren't sure you need to stop. I still remember the time we learned that there is nothing at all between Williams and Willits open after midnight (granted, this was pre-kids, so over a decade ago--I think there may be something now)--I was suffering for my decision to not have Tom stop before we entered that 95 mile/2 hour stretch! I'd been assuming there'd be a rest stop *somewhere* on Highway 20...

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WEhateveer you do, you *don't* want to get stranded in Urinetown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcXbBN4U3NQ

We have had many experienced people helping us, and our friend who planned the route has actually driven it herself. She also said

- no more than 5 hours driving per day
- ALWAYS fill up the tank before you leave in the morning
- ALWAYS fill up the ice box and stock food before leaving
- Paying at gas stations takes some getting used to, it's so different from Germany
- ditto paying at restaurants, as well as the over-friendliness of the waiting staff which can pall. Worst about eating out is, as soon as your plate's cleared, you have to leave. No time to linger over coffee or brandy and digest it all for a bit.

She also knew things like "there are plenty of vista points on the 17 mile coast drive".

The problem with using European phones is improving by the day. I got a message only the other day from my provider telling me that access in the US was now easier, and friends have also confirmed this. We shan't really need to make many phone calls, so hotel wifi in the evenings should be OK, and with a satnav in the car we won't need to guide ourselves with google maps from the phone.

We shall certainly need more accurate maps than we have at the moment, and we shall certainly get satnav in the car. Anything to reduce the stress for us old folks. We know from experience that if you don't book in advance, it's a great feeling of freedom, but you spend the whole afternoon (i.e. half the holiday!) looking out for somewhere to sleep.

At least I speak the language. I hope.

Sounds like you've had excellent advice!

Hi TC;

Sounds like you have a great adventure planed

I hope you plan to spend a day or two in the city itself. San Francisco is one of my favourite places to visit. Most of the good parts are north of Market Street ( a major east - west road). The city has excellent public transportation, the bus schedule is in all the phone books. The cable cars are not a tourist ride, but part of the regular transport. Be sure to see (at least look at in the distance) the Golden Gate Bridge, the famous prison on Alcatraz Island, Fisherman's Wharf and a bit of the Embarcadero. A trip to the seal cliffs of the Pacific coast is also worthwhile, but you should probably do that in your own car.

A comment or two from my personal experience;

>- no more than 5 hours driving per day

A good rule for sightseeing, if I am just trying to get from point A to point B I might go for 10 hours, but no more unless I have a relief driver.

>- ALWAYS fill up the tank before you leave in the morning

>- ALWAYS fill up the ice box and stock food before leaving

>- Paying at gas stations takes some getting used to, it's so different from Germany

I have never purchased gas in Germany, but around here there are a few rules to remember.
All stations are 'self-serve'. You pull up to a pump, pay for the fuel and pump it into the tank yourself.
If you are paying be credit card you can swipe it into the pump, but some stations make you type in your zip-code for verification (might be tricky with a German address)

If you want to pay in cash you must remember the number of your pump, go into the store and tell the clerk how many dollars worth of fuel you wish to purchase and pay them before pumping. If you buy too much you have to go back and ask for a refund of the balance.

Don't forget to replace your gas cap before leaving (done that, they get expensive to replace).

>- ditto paying at restaurants, as well as the over-friendliness of the waiting staff which can pall. Worst about eating out is, as soon as your plate's cleared, you have to leave. No time to linger over coffee or brandy and digest it all for a bit.

As long as you have a coffee or other drink on the table you are good for a bit, the waitress and waiting customers may glare a bit, but you are in America - so enjoy.

Do not forget to leave a tip for about 20% of your total bill, not only is it expected but it will be included on the server's income tax bill at the end of the year (but check your bill some places include it automatically) still it does not hurt to leave an extra dollar or two to make sure they actually get something.


>She also knew things like "there are plenty of vista points on the 17 mile coast drive".

Many places will have a 'Scenic Overlook' sign and a small parking lot.

One word of caution, if you are driving in the the mountains you will see several small dirt roads leading up the side of the mountain on the downhill side, these are emergency run-off lanes for large trucks who lose their brakes. If you use them for sightseeing it is at your own risk!

F S

Most of my friends who live on continental Europe and have experience of the States don't have so much of a shock with distance as those of my friends who have been over there from the UK or Ireland, although the space between things is different.

Whenever I fly to Korea, 10 or 11 hours (depending on headwind? ) I use the time to do uni work and read. I haven't noticed any diminished brain power. But I do that trip fairly often so I may be used to it.

Have fun!

"San Francisco is one of my favourite places to visit." [Florida Sailor]

Same here! I fell in love with the Japanese Tea Garden at Golden gate Park when I first saw it, and have returned to it every time I've been in the area [which, sadly, is not as often as I would have liked].

I also love Chinatown. Just strolling through downtown and stopping near a place where someone is playing jazz on the piano is very pleasant. The restaurants are quite fine.

Isn't there a café or coffee bar in San Francisco called Coffee Cantata? which plays Bach music? (named for one of his 2 secular cantatas)

I heard about it yonks ago, and I've always wanted to go.

It seems to be everybody's favourite city, and my friend who helped plan out the route said that while San Francisco was her favourite city in the world, Los Angeles was her least favourite.

I'll look out the Bach café if I can (will ask my daughter-in-law to have a look) and will also look out the "Maison Bleue" famous from a song we used to love back in the 70s.

A wiki link about the song (in French only) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_%28chanson_de_Maxime_Le_Forestier%29

The lyrics http://musique.ados.fr/Maxime-Le-Forestier/San-Francisco-t4355.html (sorry about all the ads)

oh apparently it was in Bullit. anyway, this is what I found on elgooG

https://plus.google.com/100726273019737467247/about?gl=uk&hl=en

Coffee cantata:

https://plus.google.com/100726273019737467247/about?gl=us&hl=en

It is fortunate for you an everyone else that P.D.Q. Bach's "Sanka Cantata" never became a real coffeehouse.

Last night we got all our travel documents. The travel agent has planned a round trip for us, and booked the hotels en route. They have taken into account that we're newbies to the USA and that we're not spring chickens any more, and have booked two nights in most places, to give us time to have a close look at the parks and to spread the driving so that we don't get the feeling we are travelling all the time.

That obviously has advantages, but normally, being regimented like that would not be our way of doing things.

Next time we'll have a better idea ourselves of how things work.

ESTA is sorted, car and flights booked and everything is confirmed. Son and daughter-in-law have said that we could stay with them in their little flat in Santa Clara, but we have booked a hotel there for the days at the beginning and end of our holiday (Silicon Valley prices ). The in-laws have just returned from a similar trip, and they stayed at the same hotel. We'll be meeting up with them just before we go, to look at their pictures and lend them our theatre season tickets.

(I'm rather disappointed that I shall miss the play that is showing whilst we're away. Uncle Tom's cabin, starring Ron Williams, who I am a great fan of. There are no English language sites about him, as far as I can see, but he is mentioned on IMDB, albeit without a picture. As it's quite a common name, to prevent confusion, here's his official site http://www.ron-williams.de/)

According to tripadvisor, some of the hotels the travel agent picked aren't that great, but usually people are very picky and moan about the silliest things, and I'm sure they can't be that bad.

We leave on 3 October. Not long now.