USA 2006: Las Vegas & California
(continued)
Mono Rock is a granite monolith that streaks wildly upwards from the green hillsides of the Crescent Meadow area of Sequoia National
Park. Views from its remarkably level top at 6,725-feet include the snow-covered Sierra Nevada Mountains
In addition to the many 300-foot-plus sequoia trees, the park features numerous hieroglyphics painted on Hospital Rock, and is
home to American Black Bears
June 10th: following a night at the Hampton Inn, Fresno, California, we visit the Forestiere Underground Gardens before driving
along the Big Sur Coast to the Monterey Peninsula. The Underground Gardens were constructed by a Sicilian emigre and former Boston
and New York subway tunneler who came to Fresno in 1905. Baldasare Forestiere died in 1946 after spending almost 40 years constructing
a labyrinth of tunnels to protect his crops from Fresno's heat
The Big Sur Coast is the name used to describe the ninety miles of rocky cliffs and crashing seas just south of the Monterey Peninsula.
Within this area is the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park where the McWay Falls (right) crash onto the beach below.
On the Monterey Peninsula
(June 11th) we explore a boardwalk in Spanish Bay and follow the '17-Mile-Drive' to view the famous Lone Cypress tree on the rocky
perch where it has prevailed for over 250 years
Set on gently rising headlands above a sculpted rocky shore at the southern side of the Monterey Peninsula is the rich resort town
of Carmel
The Lone Cypress stands on a granite hillside off the 17-Mile Drive, . It is located between Cypress Point Golf Course and thePebble Beach Golf Links, two of world's best-known golf courses.