Sent on June 14, 2003 from Los Angeles, CA.

North America, Mile = 12,673 / 20,682 km. Taking a break
with Mother & Sister, hello from Los Angeles, Calif.

Tom in Australia (welcome to USA), and Warren in Canada, I
have trip suggestions for you below.

1. Just for curiosity, the 12,673 miles passed thru the
following nation-size states:

a) Going North: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North
Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York,
Ontario (Canada).
b) Going West: Ontario, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota,
Manitoba (Canada), Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia,
Yukon, Alaska.
c) Going South: Alaska, Yukon (Canada), Southeast Alaska,
British Columbia (Canada), Washington, Oregon, California.

2. TWO roads in British Columbia nominated as most scenic
of North America.   Let me briefly describe them:

a) 4-Star - Rt. 16 from Prince Rupert to Prince George,
British Columbia. After getting off the ferry in Prince
Rupert, British Columbia, you are still so far west of the
rest of the American continent to the south that you must
first go about 300 miles East to reduce your longitude.  
This is on Rt. 16E, the same road I took North and West
from Banff to Jasper to Prince George.  The landscape is
one of snow-capped mountains, lakes, rivers, meadows, what
have you.  The 1st half of this stretch  to Prince George,
about 150 miles, is really gorgeous; the second half is
still pretty but not as scenic as the 1st half. 

b) 5-Star - Rt. 99 (off Rt. 97 South) in British Columbia
may be the most scenic 150-mile stretch in North America,
or one of the top dozen such long stretches.  You enter
this road about 20km south of Clinton, off Rt. 97 (the main
road south from Prince George) in British Columbia, the
last 1/3rd stretch of the distance from prince George to
Vancouver.

The road starts as a mountain road with sharp curves,
pretty but nothing spectacular at first.  15 minutes later
it dawns on you that you are in for a treat in the Marble
Canyon area dotted with mountains, forests, hills, meadows,
lakes, creeks, small logging villages, and finally, yes, a
reservoir and a dam at the village of Lilooet, a nugget of
a place.  The views are gorgeous, then even more so all the
way to Whistler.   You are in for a surprise in Whistler,
for like Banff this is a planned community to attract
tourism.  Nothing casual here; every building, road, shop
is of eye-catching design, fitting well into a larger
design.  You contemplate if the second 1/3rd of this
stretch to the village of Squamish is even prettier, while
passing spectacular mountain scenes, creeks, lakes,
waterfalls.  The awesome part of the road starts after
Squamish, when there is a continuous winding drop to the
sea level of Vancouver.  The drop is for at least 30km or
so with unbelievable views of sheer rock cliffs,
snow-capped mountains, twists and turns, glimpses of the
ocean and the many islands, peninsulas, and the shoreline
below.  Awesome is the word.

c) Vancouver, a world-class city, ditto Victoria on
Vancouver Island.  In contrast I found Seattle, Washington
an ugly city, Portland, Oregon better.  More about the
route south below.  There are several ferry terminals
between Vancouver and Vancouver Island.  One is right off
Rt.99 before Vancouver, another about an hour south of
Vancouver, near the airport.  These are the ones I used. 
From Vancouver Island, one terminal is in Sydney, 20km
north of Victoria.  It serves exclusively the 2nd terminal
near the airport on the mainland.  Either way, the ferry
ride is 1 hour 35 minutes thru very scenic passage dotted
with islands, peninsulas, and shorelines.

WARREN in CANADA.  If you haver not done so, grab your
better half, get into your car, tell everyone you'll be
away for a few weeks (say 2 or 3), and get on Rt.1 West to
Calgary.  From there, take Rt. 1W, 93N, 16W to Prince
George.  From there drop down to Williams Lake by Rt.97;
take Rt. 99S to Whistler, have a cup of coffee on me there,
continue to Vancouver leaving the Sun on the East (so drive
this stretch before noon).  The ferry to Vancouver Island
comes before the city.  Take it to Nanaimo on the island,
then decide if you want to go north (220 miles) to Port Mac
Neil, and/or one hour south to Victoria, a world-class
small city.  In Vancouver, be sure the drive the length of
Robson Street, where night life blooms, and eat at Cactus
Club Cafe at 1136 Robson.  For return, drive south to I.5
on the USA side, where it meets Rt.20E. thru the gorgeous
Cascade National Park. At Newport (Washington-Idaho border)
Rt.20 meets Rt.2E. Take it all the way thru Montana to the
Glacier Park, then north thru Waterton Glaciers & Lakes to
Banff, then East to home.   You will have circled a most
scenic part of North America.

3. Drive South in USA.  I did not like Seattle, liked
Portland much better--try a restaurant at the Bohemian 23rd
Ave.  The drive south to Eugene, Oregon on I.5 is so so as
far as the scenery is concerned.  But then you enter the
Cascades Range and the road becomes one of the most scenic
in USA, all the way south, thru Medford and Ashland, OR
(where I stopped to visit with friends), to Redding,
California.  This part of the landscape qualifies this area
as the West Virginia of the West, passing thru the Shasta
National Forest.

South of Redding , CA, I.5 goes thru the flat and redundant
Sacramento then San Joaquin valleys, all the way south to
Bakersfield.  Then you enter the magnificent California
Coast Range and the Sierra Madre Mountains, essentially a
landscape of dry (very scenic) hills and canyons, all the
way to LA and San Diego and Mexico.

4. My trip continues South.  After a brief stop in San
Diego, I will enter Mexico at Tijuana and continue to La
Paz, thru Baja peninsula.  In La Paz I will take the ferry
to the mainland Mexico, either to the Copper
Canyon--partially navigable by road--or to Mazatlan and
continue on the coastal route south to Acapulco and beyond.
 I have seen Mexico City and its environs on an earlier
trip.  How I proceed from Acapulco I have not yet decided. 
(The ferry that I thought of taking from Merida at Yucatan
to Tampa, Florida does not operate until November.  Since
there is no direct road from Guatemala to Belize, I will
leave Yucatan and Belize for another trip in November,
probably taking my Mother along for a 10 to 15-day tour.) 
So I may continue to Guatemala, then cut north to Gulf of
Mexico and return thru Veracruz and Monterrey to
Brownsville, Texas.  Then I have about 2,000 more miles
home to Miami.


TOM in AUSTRALIA.  Again, welcome to USA, my regards to
Caroline.  In Los Angeles you are at the right place for a
circle of one of the most scenic regions of the USA, indeed
the entire world: the Southwest USA.  I know the VERY-rich
have their own lifestyle, but you may want to consider the
following suggestions for a tour of this area, depending on
the length of your stay.  California used to be my home
state, and I did live in La Jolla (San Diego), Marina del
Rey (LA), and in Menlo Park & (center of) San Francisco.

a) No tour, just LA.  Your daughter will know what to show
you, but just in case, ask her to take you to 1) the Venice
Boardwalk on a sunny Sunday afternoon.  Enjoy the very
American beautiful chaos on both sides.  2) Drive the
Coastal Highway (at the end of I.10W) in Santa Monica to
Malibu and on, also on a weekend. 3) Drive the length of
Sunset Blvd. to Westwood (UCLA located here), from there to
Beverly Hills, Wilshire Blvd. 4) Santa Monica Pier and
Park, Marina del Rey (adjacent to Venice Beach).

b) A few days: south to San Diego.   Take Rt.405S to I.5S. 
The first half of this road is thru the congested
California traffic and may not impress you much.  But it
gets progressively better.  About 30 miles north of San
Diego on I.5, you will see a small sign that says Del Mar
Heights.  Exit I.5 there and follow the coastal route thru
La Jolla to the Pacific Beach section of San Diego.  This
is a very scenic road.  When you come to La Jolla, be sure
to see the cove.  There is a very nice hotel there, if you
want to stay.  Park your car and walk the Prospect Street,
have seafood lunch at one of the very fine restaurants. 
Drive along the sea to Seal Rock then Pacific Beach section
of San Diego. There are fine restaurants also at the
latter, at the cross-section with Garnet Street.   Follow
the road to Mission Bay.  You should take the Harbor Drive
to Point Loma.  At night either drive to the Old Town or
the new Gaslight District for dinner.  Come back to LA thru
805N, to I.5 N.

c) A week or so.  Take Rt.101 south to I.15 in Los Angeles;
continue to Las Vegas on I.15E.  You should at least spend
a night in Las Vegas.  Hotel Paris will meet all your
expectations at ANY price, as also the Mandalay Bay,
Venetian, and Luxor, the latter exquisite yet most
economical of the 4.  From Las Vegas, take Rt.98W to Death
Valley, crossing it to the Sequoia National Park with Giant
Trees.  You can skip King's Canyon to the north and
continue to Yosemite.  From there you are close enough to
San Francisco for a visit.  Be sure to visit the China
Town, Presidio, Japanese Gardens. Cross the Golden Gate to
the Golden Gate Park on the other side, then continue on
the coastal A1 road say for an hour north to enjoy the
spectacular scenery of California coastline.  Return the
same way to SF, take either Rt.101S to LA or the coastal
highway thru Monterey.

d) 10 to 15 days.  Combine all these and add Grand Canyon
and Hoover Dam.  In this case, do San Diego as above, then
take I.8E to Phoenix.  There take Rt.17N to Sedona (red
rock formations) for one of the most scenic roads in USA. 
Just before Sedona there will be a small sigh that says
Sedona. Take it.  Look around or stay there for the night.
Next day, take Rt.89N to Flagstaff (very scenic but
different), then follow the signs to the Grand Canyon:
I.40W to Rt.64 to Rt.180.  Do the drive East thru the Grand
Canyon on your own--no need for tour--all the way until
that route Rt.64 intersects Rt.89 going north at Painted
Desert.  Return to the village for a helicopter ride that
Caroline will love.  Spend the night there at one of the
fine hotels.  In the morn, take i.40W to Kingman, Rt.93N to
Las Vegas, thru Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam.  (You can
take side roads thru Lake Mead; check map.)  From Las Vegas
proceed as per (c) above.


===================================================
Sent on June 30, 2003 from Los Angeles, California.

Report: car fixed, 18-day break over, on the road again:
LA, stops at Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, Las Vegas (NV),
and San Diego. Mexico from Tijuana south thru Baja
Peninsula.

Los Angeles, also a former hometown (used to be UCLA
computer instructor) is large (spread-out) enough to have a
few nice spots, inside and at the shore.  These should be
enjoyed on a weekend when the traffic is less torturous. 
Santa Monica Pier is worth a visit.  And being that close
to the Pacific, next you should take the Pacific Coast
Highway north thru Malibu and pass the Pepperdine
University, then drive back on the same road.  On that
road, before Santa Monica, where you see the exit to Sunset
Boulevard, take it to where you can cut to the (parallel)
Hollywood Blvd., which is much less elegant than you would
expect, BUT for the few blocks around Mann's Chinese
Theater.   Walk along the sidewalks and find the stars of
your favorite stars.  OR, to enjoy the Coast Mountains,
continue about 5 miles north of Pepperdine Univ. until you
see the Kanan Road to the mountains (right).  This is a
gorgeous drive.  After about 20 minutes (and 3 tunnels) it
will connect to Rt. 101 South.  Take it for about 30
minutes to where Rt.101S connects to Rt.405 to San Diego
(not Sacramento).  It is a very nice drop to Sunset
Boulevard from there. Follow Sunset east to where you see
the entry to Bel Air and the homes of the movie stars,
adjacent to the UCLA campus and the quaint Westwood
village, with the boundary to the main boulevard in LA, the
Wilshire.  On a weekend afternoon or evening walk along the
Venice Beach; this is a must.

Santa Barbara is a rare American city (100,000+ people)
that deserves a 10 rating.  The city is framed by the Coast
Mountains to the east and the Pacific to the West.  In
between are small individual hills dotted with lavish
homes.  It is about 2 hours of driving distance north from
LA, on Rt.101. The setting is gorgeous, the buildings
mostly of Spanish architecture.  You should browse the
State St. then take the open city bus (25 cents) directly
west to the very quaint pier, a 10-min ride.  The boardwalk
along the bay is one of the most attractive I have seen in
USA.  The city boasts very strict zoning standards and the
most expensive home prices in California, the average being
$685,000 or so (as written in the LA Times about a week
ago).

Palm Springs is seemingly reserved for the very rich and
services that please them, the western version of Palm &
Miami Beaches in Florida.  It is about 4 hours east from
LA, off I.10.  Snow-capped Sierra Madres are visible from
this city-oasis in the desert.  The area also has a cluster
(of several hundreds) of wind mills.  One highlight is the
steep cable car to a mountain top with spectacular views. 
Yes, there are even cool mist-spraying machines along some
sidewalks.

In Las Vegas a drive thru the Las Vegas Boulevard is a
must, for some of the most spectacular modern architecture
in the world, theme hotel-casinos, are all there along the
boulevard, like the Paris, Venetian, Mandalay Bay, Luxor,
Circus Circus, etc.  While these hotels collectively make
Las Vegas unique, such very elaborate gambling casinos do
exist elsewhere, for example the Fantasia resort on the
Phuket Isl, Thailand, in the Bahamas, and other places.

San Diego is one of the prettiest cities in the USA, and
about 30 minutes north of Tijuana and the Mexican border. 
My former hometown (La Jolla), places to see are many, like
the Balboa Park, the Old Town, Gaslight District downtown,
the latter 2 ideal places for dinner.  If you are coming
down on I.5 from Los Angeles, exit at Del Mar Heights,
about 20 miles north of San Diego, and do the rest of the
distance along the coastal route thru Del Mar, La Jolla,
and the Pacific Beach, for one of the most scenic inhabited
coastal routes in USA.  Fond a parking spot near the
Prospect Street in La Jolla and walk that street, also
doing down to the Cove for the spectacular rocky shores of
La Jolla. There is much more.  About 30 minutes north is
the Wild Animal Park where you can see many rare species of
animals from Africa, etc. in their natural settings, even
better than you can driving thru the Kruger National Park
in South Africa.  Moreover, San Diego zoo is one of the
best in the world, if not the best.  A drive along the
Harbor Drive to Point Loma is a must, as also the drive
over the Bay Bridge to the Coronado Island and the 5-star
Coronado Hotel there.    Walk along the Pacific Beach,
Mission Bay, drive to Inner Harbor, take a harbor cruise at
night for more ecstasy.  There is also a (red) electric
train from downtown to the border with Mexico, if you want.
 A 5 min taxi ride from the border will put you on Av. Rio
in downtown Rio, where you can get leather goods, textiles,
and bottles of alcoholic drinks for cheap.  This area
offers also some of the most spectacular desert scenes in
Southern California.  For example, I.8 East first climbs
the coastal Sierra Madres to alpine heights.  Near the top
there is the exit to the quaint village of Julien.  Further
up is the exit to Borrego Springs, the endless
moonscape-like views of the Mojave Desert from the
escarpment there are breathtaking.  On top, you pass thru
rugged mountains and hills covered by huge round boulders,
and start the long steep decline to Ocotillo Springs and
the Mojave Desert to the east.