Cali/NV/AZ tour guide, help!

[Drolgin Steingrinder]

A friend of mine is getting married, and their honeymoon will be a roadtrip going from LA through SF, Yosemite, Vegas, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon back through Lake Powell, Grand Canyon, Lake Havasu, San Diego and then LA again.

I was hoping some of you here might have some great suggestions for things to see / experience, stuff regular tourists might not trip over or read about in the guidebooks?

Thanks in advance.

[cadalano]

i remember driving over hoover dam on the way from AZ to vegas so that might be something. I know they were building a bridge so traffic wouldn't be going directly over it anymore but i think its still under construction.

also since it sounds like they'll be northish in AZ, Sedona is beautiful if they need more outdoor shit to do.

also if you have extra time, no AZ trip would be complete without seeing the worlds biggest pedophile in Phoenix

[Canelek]

Holy fucking roadtrip! That is some serious driving there.

Hmmm.

LA - If they are near the valley, they should eat at Dr Hoggly Woggy's Tyler Texas BBQ. It is near Van Nuys.

Santa Monica Pier can be fun for vacationers as well... Ummm, the Newport Beach peninsula is pretty fun as well, especially if The Wedge is cranking. Lots of fun to see body surfers get obliterated (I have been one of them). Of course, they would need to drive about 1.5 hours south. However, coastal orange county is good times.

Stay away from Malibu though--traffic is ass.

[Truant]

Stay away from Malibu though--traffic is ass.

STAY OUTTA MALIBU, DEADBEAT!

(i'll post something helpful later)

[*~*stragi*~*]

I remember driving over the hoover dam! I wish I could forget it, sorry Marcy

[*~*stragi*~*]

A friend of mine is getting married, and their honeymoon will be a roadtrip going from LA through SF, Yosemite, Vegas, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon back through Lake Powell, Grand Canyon, Lake Havasu, San Diego and then LA again.

I was hoping some of you here might have some great suggestions for things to see / experience, stuff regular tourists might not trip over or read about in the guidebooks?

Thanks in advance.

You got my hopes up for a danish invasion.
Jerk!

[Noysyrump]

If they are Danes as well, then i recomend the BEST mexican food in so cal. It's not spicey hot, nor will it give you the runs.

Fidel's. Has 2 locations just off the 5 freeway between San Diego and Los Angeles.

http://entertainment.signonsandiego.com ... le-mexico/

Everything else in San Diego I'd recomend is very touristy, and likely already on thier list... Best zoos in teh world, Sea World etc.

[Pherr the Dorf]

We should have a drink in the city (SF) no matter what the fuck you do on the rest of your trip.

[Sueven]

While in LA, ask around and find some good hole-in-the-wall Mexican places and have some ceviche and fish tacos.

[Aslanna]

Stay away from Malibu though--traffic is ass.

STAY OUTTA MALIBU, DEADBEAT!

Fucking fascist!

[Canelek]

Aye on the fish tacos.

Have them look for "Mariscos". That is Spanish for seafood, or something like that.

[Tyek]

I would be glad to help, we just finished our annual pilgrimage to Yosemite. I traveled to Vegas 3 days a week for work for 9 years and had an apartment. I still talk to people there and visit often and I live around the LA area. I also travel to San Diego every other week for work, so I should be able to comeup with something for them, but it would help to know how much time they are spending in each location. If just 1 day in Yosemite, then go do the Valley it is amazing, although touristy.

[laneela]

Aye on the fish tacos.

Have them look for "Mariscos". That is Spanish for seafood, or something like that.

Shellfish - but very close!

[Sheryl]

it sounds like they're outdoorsy types, so they might enjoy visiting red rock canyon while in the las vegas area. http://www.redrockcanyonlv.org/ my friends and i used to pack sandwiches and go rock scrambling there all the time. they also have some hiking trails and picnic areas. there are some great views of the las vegas valley if you can make it to the top of the rock scrambles. it gets hot as hell out there during the summer though.

bryce and zion are both awesome, but i can't think of anything i've done at either park that wouldn't be in a tourist brochure.

if they're wine people, they might enjoy visiting some of the california wineries. some friends of ours took their honeymoon in california's wine country, and they said it was beautiful and very romantic. they found a cute little bed and breakfast to stay in and had a blast.

[lmnt9]

if they're wine people, they might enjoy visiting some of the california wineries. some friends of ours took their honeymoon in california's wine country, and they said it was beautiful and very romantic. they found a cute little bed and breakfast to stay in and had a blast.

I would offer to skip Napa and go for the Russian River / Healdsburg area. The wineries are much more friendly, usually don't charge, and there are less tourists.

[lmnt9]

Here's a cool place if they like to check out interesting bars with unique history. There are some decent restaurants in the area along the water as well.

http://www.heinoldsfirstandlastchance.com/

[Mawafu]

If just 1 day in Yosemite, then go do the Valley it is amazing, although touristy.

If this is the case and they only have 1 day to spend in Yosemite I wouldn't recommend going to the Valley, place is a parking lot.

Go to Glacier Point and get a bird's eye view of the Valley.

[Winnow]

If you're going to Yosemite, check out the giant Redwood trees.

[Canelek]

Aren't those in Sequoia National Forest in the NW corner of the state?

[Winnow]

Aren't those in Sequoia National Forest in the NW corner of the state?

Yes, the best place to see them (and the biggest trees) is Sequoia National Forest but this particular tree is in Yosemite: (looks like it fell down in 1969!)

http://www.yosemite.org/visitor/frequent-giantseq.htm

[Tyek]

There are several groves in Yosmite as well. Mariposa Groves in by the South Entrance, they also have one near the entrance from the 120 highway.

As for the valley, once you get a parking spot, you can pretty much ride the buses anywhere, or better yet rent a bike and ride to trailheads for hiking.

[Canelek]

Oh, I did not know that. I really need to visit both parks at some point. Funny, I lived in CA for 15 years and vener went to either...never even been to San Fran!

[Winnow]

Everything's bigger in the U.S!

[miir]

Everything's bigger in the U.S!

Hmmm, where did I put that picture...



Oh here it is!




The biggest hole on earth is actually in Russia.

That's a fucking huge hole.. it's over 1km in diameter.
Look up Mirna, Russia on google maps.

[Winnow]

Lets see which one of them you'd want after a few years of worldwide famine. The U.S. is prepared!

[miir]

Lets see which one of them you'd want after a few years of worldwide famine. The U.S. is prepared!

She'd eat you!

[Drolgin Steingrinder]

Everything's bigger in the U.S!

I thought it was this: http://www.extremescience.com/biggestlivingthing.htm ?

[laneela]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largest_organism

"The largest organism found on earth can be measured using a variety of methods. It could be defined as the largest by volume, mass, height, or length. Some creatures group together to form a superorganism, though this cannot truly be classed as one large organism. (The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef (stretching 2,000 km) has been shown to be a collection of many organisms and is the largest known superorganism[citation needed].)

The Aspen tree (Populus tremuloides) forms large stands of genetically identical trees (technically, stems) connected by a single underground root system. These trees form through root sprouts coming off an original parent tree, though the root system may not remain a single unit in all specimens. The largest known fully-connected Aspen is a grove in Utah nicknamed Pando, and some experts call it the largest organism in the world, by mass or volume. It covers .43 km² (106 acres) and is estimated to weigh 6,600 short tons (6,000 t).

A giant fungus of the species Armillaria ostoyae in the Malheur National Forest in Oregon was found to span 8.9 km² (2,200 acres), which would make it the largest organism by area. Whether or not this is an actual individual organism, however, is disputed: some tests have indicated that they have the same genetic makeup , but unless its mycelium is fully connected, it is a clonal colony of numerous smaller individuals. Another clonal colony that rivals the Armillaria and the Populus colonies in size is a strand of the giant marine plant, Posidonia oceanica, discovered in the Mediterranean Sea near the Balearic Islands. It covers a band roughly 8 km (4.3 miles) in length.

Excluding multi-stem trees, the General Sherman tree, an individual Giant Sequoia with a volume of 1487 m³, would hold the title of the world's largest living organism, if measured in volume. This tree stands 83.8 m (274 ft 11 in) tall and the trunk alone is estimated to weigh over 2,000 tons. The largest single-stem tree ever measured was the “Lindsey Creek Tree,” a coastal redwood with a minimum trunk volume of over 2,500 m³ and a mass of over 3,600 tons, which fell over during a storm in 1905.[8]

By volume and weight, the largest known living animal is the blue whale, an endangered species whose official record length is 33.58 m (110 ft 2 in), and weight 210 tons (for a pregnant female). The largest land animals today are male Savannah Elephants; one known example weighed roughly 12,272 kg (27,000 lb), although some extinct species, including many dinosaurs, were much larger.

[Winnow]

Even the fungus humungacus giganticus are in the U.S. so whichever way you want to classify the largest living thing, it's in the U.S.!

The oldest trees are also in the U.S.!

The oldest living tree known is a Bristlecone Pine known as "Methuselah" located at an elevation of 10,400 feet in the White Mountains on the California-Nevada border. The tree is estimated to be 4,767 years old. It stands about 55 feet tall, with a misshapen oval-shaped trunk measuring about 4 1/2 feet wide.

Isn't it beautiful?

[Winnow]

Wait a sec...wtf?

World's Oldest Living Tree Discovered In Sweden

The world's oldest recorded tree is a 9,550 year old spruce in the Dalarna province of Sweden.

The spruce tree has shown to be a tenacious survivor that has endured by growing between erect trees and smaller bushes in pace with the dramatic climate changes over time.

For many years the spruce tree has been regarded as a relative newcomer in the Swedish mountain region. "Our results have shown the complete opposite, that the spruce is one of the oldest known trees in the mountain range," says Leif Kullman, Professor of Physical Geography at Umeå University.

A fascinating discovery was made under the crown of a spruce in Fulu Mountain in Dalarna. Scientists found four "generations" of spruce remains in the form of cones and wood produced from the highest grounds.

The discovery showed trees of 375, 5,660, 9,000 and 9,550 years old and everything displayed clear signs that they have the same genetic makeup as the trees above them. Since spruce trees can multiply with root penetrating braches, they can produce exact copies, or clones.

The tree now growing above the finding place and the wood pieces dating 9,550 years have the same genetic material. The actual has been tested by carbon-14 dating at a laboratory in Miami, Florida, USA.

Previously, pine trees in North America have been cited as the oldest at 4,000 to 5,000 years old.

[miir]

owned!

[Winnow]

owned!

I owned myself!

(the pictured is of the Swedish tree)

[miir]

http://blogs.discovery.com/news_animal/ ... t_tree.jpg[/b]