CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA - This is one of the hautest spots on California's breathtaking coast.
Leisure options abound - so many that the Monterey Bay area is best sampled, if possible, in small bites rather than crammed into a fast-paced moveable feast. That is, unless you have the time and money for an extended stay, or if you have friends or relatives in the area.
MAMMOTH LAKES -- America was certainly a different place in 1959 when my parents took me to ski at Mammoth Mountain for the first time. Eisenhower was in the White House, gas was 20-something cents a gallon, "The Mickey Mouse Club" was on television, and California's ski industry was in its infancy.
San Francisco's west end SAN FRANCISCO -- The trail hugged the steep coastal bluff, and a chilly, salt-scented breeze swept up the slope, bearing the plaintive bleat of a foghorn. Unruly nasturtium vines festooned the hillside with orange blossoms, and the jagged limbs of cypress trees framed a distant landmark, the Golden Gate Bridge.
AVALON -- The guides who conduct the Skyline Drive Tour of Catalina Island have a well-practiced spiel, and they can lapse into a drone from time to time. But there was nothing robotic about Bruce Poncel's delivery late last spring.
SANTA BARBARA - Half a century ago, when Southern California was in the throes of a post-war real estate boom, the citizens of Santa Barbara recognized a treasure in their possession: beautiful coastal expanses that were infinitely more appealing in their natural state.
Surf Diva helps women, girls catch a wave LA JOLLA -- Growing up on the East Coast, I always assumed surfing was a cultural rite of passage for anyone in Southern California who was blond, cute and who looked good in a bathing suit.
