West

Now we head west across the Sierra Nevada, the longest and highest mountain range in the USA. Our destination is Sacramento, the capital of the state of California. There is a lot to see around the state capitol and especially in Old Sacramento. Near San Rafael, the next stop on our route, there is the Muir Woods National Monument with 800-year-old sequoia trees and the Point Reyes National Seashore, a bird paradise right on the Pacific.

On US 101 we roll over what is probably the most famous bridge in the world, the Golden Gate Bridge. However, this time we skip San Francisco; instead, we drive directly to Silicon Valley and visit the headquarters of Facebook, Google and Apple as well as the renowned Stanford University.

Beyond Santa Cruz begins the 17 Mile Drive. The toll road starts in Monterey and ends in Carmel-By-The-Sea. We follow US 1 along Big Sur, a coastal section of approximately 100 km. The Bixby Creek Bridge is impressive, framed by some state parks. The Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery is an absolute highlight. Depending on the season, up to 15.000 (!) elephant seals lie close together on the beach. It’s an incredible spectacle! What follows is Hearst Castle, the fairytale castle of former newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. As a touristic counterpoint to the hype about Hearst Castle follows Nit Wit Ridge, an enchanted house built from all kinds of waste materials.

At Arroyo Grande we leave the coast and head again for the Sierra Nevada. The destination are the three national parks Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia, where we will spend the next four days. In order to close the circle, we follow the southern part of the Sierra Nevada; anyone interested in raisins can visit the Sun-Maid raisin factory in Kingsburg. Bakersfield is the center of country music in the West; fans of this music style make sure to visit Buck Owens Crystal Palace.

The detour to Edwards Air Force Base is only worthwhile for aviation enthusiasts; in any case, the visitor center of the Rio Tinto Borax Mine in Boron is more exciting. Half of the world’s borax is extracted here. The last highlight on this tour is Hoover Dam, whose gigantic wall dams the Colorado River right on the border between Arizona and Nevada. The resulting Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the United States. From here it’s only an hour’s drive back to Las Vegas.