Easy Ride on a Coach around the Western USA Part 3 - The Coastal Route

Death Valley in the backyard of Las Vegas is below sea level

The first thing you notice outside the Las Vegas man-made metropolis is the vast nothingness of the desert. Miles and miles of scrubby bushes interlaced with sand, rocks and gravel. We were in an air-conditioned luxury coach and grateful for being spared from the searing heat. It was also nice to have a tour guide like Joan who was so devoted to her group of beady eyed tourists. Today we head for the desert, the rocks and heat of Death Valley.

During the trip on the bus to Death Valley  Joan told us all about the Roswell incident near area 51 and the nuclear experimentation and testing that took place a few decades ago. So by the time we reached this barren wasteland we were all very excited and took lots of photos of the hot rocks and sand (probably in the hope of shooting an alien or a foreign object or entity that nobody could explain). How did all that alien trash get there and what was it made of? 

Area 51 home to aliens, the Roswell incident and nuclear testing

 Death valley is as hot as hell and people died trying to cross the desert

We walked up to the viewing site at Death Valley and embraced the vastness of the lonely wastelands. Earlier pioneers who tried to reach the Californian coast via a shorter route through this desert died here because they could not find any food or water to sustain them. We took photos and returned to the air-conditioned bus for a drink of water and a snack. Joan explained about the borax mining that used to be a lucrative source of income for the area. Borax is a mineral that comes from volcanic regions and has a crystalline almost glass like structure. We use it at home to kill cockroaches or as a household cleaner to enhance the effects of dish washing liquid. It is obviously wonderful for cleaning glass and is used industrially for paint, textiles, ceramics and other products.  In Death Valley you can have a game of golf at the lowest depression on earth at Furnace Creek. A mere 56 meters below sea level. This small oasis provides lush emerald green fairways that are nourished by an underground aquifer. We enjoyed the Museum of Natural History at the visitors center and continued on our journey.

We reach the Sierra Nevada mountains and head for Mammoth Lakes

The Mammoth Lakes are housed in the craters of extinct volcanoes high up in the Sierra Nevada mountains. We spent a chilly night in Alpine chalets that double up as a ski resort in winter. We flew over this area on the way over from the North Pole and I took pictures from the air, including the crater lakes and the Sierra Nevada mountain range. So nine days after leaving Cape Town we arrived at Mammoth at a chilly altitude of over 2 600 meters  from 60 meters below sea level in the heat of Death Valley.

The Yosemite National Park

Yosemite is the oldest national park and is one of the most popular places for both winter and summer holidays. Americans love to pack up and travel to places like this in their mobile homes or Recreational Vehicles as they are called. The steep white granite walls of El Capitan are majestic and the atmosphere is pristine. A resonance you can sense from ancient crystals as you stand on domes of rock, surrounded by pine and cedar trees. The air is fresh and the lakes are deep and cold. But they reflect the warm sunshine, the autumn colours and the towering monoliths in a friendly way. A few tame deer parade in front of the camera for us, followed by squirrels and blue birds.

Modesto is a typical modern Californian Town with a gigantic Wal-Mart store, supermarkets and a lot of restaurants. A boring, regular middle class hangout on the main highway to the coast. But this is where most of the agricultural produce is grown, on a flat plain that is divided into fields of fruit trees, nut trees and vegetable patches. I also took pictures of it from our aircraft when we flew in from over the North Pole. Down below it looked like a sprawling checkerboard of precise, neat patches of green and brown. The terrain is flat and hopelessly drought stricken by the prolonged Californian drought. Some of the fruit trees were dead. They need rain!

San Fransisco with flowers in my hair

I picked a gardenia at the hotel and wore it in my hair. We baby boomers remember the hippie era, the love rallies and gay times that put San Francisco on the map. We enjoyed taking pictures of the Golden Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf and the exquisite Victorian style architecture. The Holiday Inn where we stayed had been refurbished and the business-like interior was efficient, clean and comfortable. All the gadgets worked! The view from the 21st floor provided constant entertainment with spectacular sunsets and night life. We were woken by a gentle pink sunrise the next morning. Fitness is an advantage when the street levels rise and dip at steep angles. Some of the upward stretches were more strenuous than any stepping machine at the gym. What made it more exciting was the countdown timer at every pedestrian crossing - 5 seconds or less it took to race over the tram tracks to the other side. We took our own picnic along and spent a happy day doing our own thing with no particular agenda. Here are the places we visited:

The tram station museum

Our first surprise was the trams charging up the steep hills, loaded with excited tourists who paid over R 90 for the thrill of riding around the streets. Nope, not with our tight budget but we took plenty of pictures. We stumbled upon the transport museum and found out how these trams and trolleys run. The trams are driven by an underground system of cables and pulleys. The museum is actually the original working station for the trams that are still running. Here you can see all the machinery at work. In the viewing gallery underground huge steel wheels and cables are driven by engines in a ghostly cavern - like something out of science fiction.

Chinatown - cheap clothes and gifts and loads of fresh fruit and vegetables 

We could see a small section of the Bay Bridge bridge from our hotel window, way in the distance. Chinatown was somewhere down there, on the way to downtown San Francisco with its the modern skyscrapers. Along the way we kept stopping to take pictures of the beautiful Victorian facades of the apartment buildings. Many exquisite examples of this period of architecture are well preserved and many of them have miraculously escaped the ravages of earthquakes and fires. We were told that the term "Bay Window"originated in San Francisco as residents of these houses wanted a view of the bay and hence projected the windows out from the walls.  Chinatown is characterized by fruit and vegetable shops and cheap mass produced clothing that smells of plastic and synthetics. Little Chinese people scurry up and down the streets where there are feeding frenzies at the eating stalls along the pavements. Eat as much Dim Sum as you like for a few dollars. Then quaff down a cardboard carton of Chop Sui, like they do in the movies. Chinese love their traditional food, based on fresh meat, vegetables and rice. Here in Chinatown food is cheap and abundant. Uncle McDonald is not welcome here and these people are not like the super sized blubbery blimps we have seen elsewhere. I was delighted by their selection of sweet potatoes. The red sweet potato is what I used for my studies on progesterone boosting as a way to alleviate menopausal issues. No shortage here, and what a selection of these root vegetable for enjoying at just about every meal. 

Downtown skyscrapers and the piers.

There is a connection to eating habits and the way you look and feel. Especially as you get older. Sooner or later a steady intake of starches, sugars and fats to the exclusion of fresh fruit, vegetables and lean protein will take over and manifest as morbid obesity and what we call "syndrome X". But in San Francisco people have a keener leaner mindset and a leafy lunch followed by a workout along the pier or in a nearby park is a popular option. We saw many examples of the greening of the dinner plate in this area. A welcome change to the Golden Arches and the stench of old cooking oil.

At the waterfront the old pier warehouses have been renovated and now they provide unique accommodation for offices, design studios and food markets. There is an abundance of fresh organic produce, locally grown in the fertile coastal agricultural areas of California. We sampled olives, olive oil, a variety of unique mushrooms and delicious pickles and preserves. But no preservatives! A gluten-free specialist stall provided all the ridiculously expensive and often not so healthy alternatives to wheat products. But to any gluten-free vegan green bunny, this place is heaven. People tuck into plates of salad and business corporations provide health incentives for their employees. The promote wellness and walk their talk.

Silicone Valley just outside of San Francisco

An efficient highway system heads out of the city and races towards the famous Silicon Valley, Who was to know that it was such a beautiful hilly area abundantly wooded with trees and shrubs. So this is the home of computer technology: Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Steve Job's Apples and applications. We flash past the turning to the famous Stanford University where people from all over the world come to study for IT degrees. Ironically, the greatest innovators like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs did not have any academic degrees. Genius is genius and no certificates are required, it seems. How pleasant this area is in a clean environment away from industrial pollution and grimy concrete.