Coyotetrips > Trips without Motorcycle > 2004 California >1>2>3 Click on the photos to enlarge them. Deutsche Version
Mid of September 2004 Jayne and I flew with American Airlines from Frankfurt/Germany via Chicago to San Francisco. There we stayed for a few days with friends of Jayne (Thanks! to Rebecca and Michael), we did some trips to the city and met more of Jayne's friends. Then we rented a car at the airport drove to visit the Worldtrippers, where we stayed another couple of days (Thanks! to Gail and Russell), we visited more friends of Jayne, and collected some info for my motorcycletrip in 2005.
Then we finally headed out for the wilderness, via Tioga Pass to Yosemite Nationalpark, and on to Lee Vining and Bishop. There we visited some rock carvings, Mono Lake and the Ghost Town Bodie, before we took the Sonora Pass back towards the city. The flight back to Frankfurt was via Dallas.
General information
The Best time to go to California depends on the region. In summer there are still more than 25°C on a high of 2000m in the eastern parts of California. In San Francisco it always is much cooler and often has fog, e.g. Ernest Hemingway said "My coldest winter was a summer in San Francisco.". So, I would suggest to go in late spring or fall. One also has to consider, that the passes Tioga and Sonora (both nearly 3000m high) are often closed because of snow until mid of May, and again from mid/end of September. That means that one has to drive long detours to the south or north to cross the mountain line of the Sierra Nevada.
Guide book: Lonely Planet California or Lonely Planet Southwest USA
The flight time is about 10 hours. If you don't have a direct flight, you should make sure that you have at least 2 hours to catch your connection flight!
Just before landing in San Francisco. The upper sign is also known from German tour busses, but the lower one is very seldom in Europe! Jayne and I in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. Skyline of San Francisco on our way to Alcatraz.