My photoalbum of the Californian travel in 1994

[dieastra]

20 years ago I took a trip through California which only lasted 7 days. Not much time to see the country but (it was a guided tour) we saw Los Angeles, Las Vegas, the Yosemite Nationalpark, San Francisco and then down through Monterey, Carmel, Santa Barbara back to L.A

Comments

[analineblue]

You did such a good job putting all of that together - really fun to watch :D And seeing your pictures of the Japanese Tea Garden reminded me that I really want to try to go there this spring to see the cherry blossoms! (If they're not already gone. We went to Japantown for their festival this weekend and the blossoms were definitely on their way out...)

That's also really great that you got to see the lone cypress tree! Did you do the whole 17-mile drive from Carmel? I think that drive has some of the most amazing scenery I've ever seen. *__* We almost skipped it, since there was an extra toll charge to take that route, but I'm SO glad we went, because it was totally worth it~

<3

[dieastra]

I seriously don't remember whether we took that drive or not. I don't remember anything about paying an extra toll. Is this different than highyway number 1? We were going down the coast, Monterey, Carmel, Santa Barbara and before that a little place called Solvang.

I don't even remember whether I actually SAW the cypress in real life or just on pictures ;) It's really all a blur, being so long ago and me having been so young. I'm not even sure whether it was Carmel or Monterey, the pictures where we sit on the beach and have a snack, but I think it was Carmel. We went to a German bakery which obviously was some tourist magnet.

[alumfelga]

Beautiful album! I like that you put the photos from the magazine next to your own. You keep saying yours aren't as good but this when I can see all those places are real, with people around and everything :) Nice collection of tickets and leaflets!

I see you're a fan of the Golden Gate :)

You mention the space, the never ending roads with no other cars seen for quite some time, and it reminds me that I read somewhere that you need to drive a bit in the USA, to experience the roads yourself to understand mentality of the Americans. It's all there: the individualism, the national pride (the views!), even the big portions of everything - the next town might be miles away. I'm not sure what to think about it but it's an interesting thought.

Your English is very fluent!

[dieastra]

(as you can see, I am making my way through my inbox, catching up with comments I never had time to reply to - only 767 to go)

Thank you very much, I'm happy you enjoyed it! I am really proud of this album. I had collected everything about America for a long time, but then to put it actually together in a sensible way is difficult and whenever I had tried before, was an overwhelming task. Especially since journal pages usually are printed from both sides, so if you want to keep the Golden Gate bridge from one side, you can't have whatever was on the other side!

But also, looking at all those pictures, one soon realizes how many stock pics there are - always the same one, with the exact same people. So it was easy to throw these out and go with the best of them.

It also was very satisfying, doing it by hand. Nowadays I do digital albums which then get printed, but I love the experience of moving it all around until I like the layout, and then glue it into places.

I see you're a fan of the Golden Gate :)What gave me away? LOL

[hamsterwoman]

Very neat scrap book, thorough and beautifully done! I like the way you incorporated the maps especially, and that you kept some of the hotel room keys and stuff like the chopsticks and the cookie fortune! (I'm also impressed by how well-preserved everything is, after 20 years.)

You were actually in LA/Universal Studies/Disneyland around the same time I was, just a couple of years later (which was my first and only visit so far) :)

And, of course, places like Yosemite, Monterey/Carmel, and SF itself were fun for me to see in your album.

Neat to hear what you sound like, too.

[dieastra]

Thank you very much, glad you liked it! Must be fun for you seeing your home through the eyes of someone else. Hope I did not make any major mistakes. I also wonder how much has changed since. I hear Las Vegas is looking much differently now. All those neat lights at the strip are gone and replyed by video screens

[hamsterwoman]

I've actually never been to Vegas, so can't comment on that at all, sorry :P

We did not order individually, they just gave us different dishes in the middle of the table, and then you could take whatever you wanted.

This is called "family style", and it's my favorite way to do Chinese food, so long as everyone has mostly compatible tastes :)

I've been to the Fairmont, yes :) When we first moved here, a relative took us there to show us the glass elevators.

That's very cool that there was a fluent(?) German speaker you found in Yosemite! I guess people who want to live in Yosemite come from all walks of life and stay there...

My voice sounds odd to my own ears in this video but I believe it is always like that, that you sound differently when you listen to yourself from a recording.

Yep, that's my experience, too, and I don't really like listening to my recorded voice for this reason.

[dieastra]

I'm waiting for John Barrowman to get his own Las Vegas show so I have a reason to come back to the city ;) One afternoon/evening definitely was not enough to see everything. I'd like to see some more shows and all those great hotels. Gambling, not so much