USA 2016: California

After our stay in Yosemite National Park, we continued through California, heading towards the coast, to Monterey. Along the way, we saw that this state had plenty of farmland. All kinds of fruits and vegetables were being grown. But towards the end of summer, a severe drought prevailed. Large clouds of dust followed the tractors in the fields, and even a "Please Pray For Rain" sign appeared. Finally, we arrived at the other end of the US mainland, at the Pacific Ocean. To see some of the coastline, we drove along Highway One through Big Sur. Unfortunately, heavy fog rolled in, so we couldn't see much of the ocean. So, on to Monterey, where we took a boat out to sea the next day to watch the whales . Once the boat trip was over, we took Highway 1 towards San Francisco. The route also took us through Silicon Valley, home to all the major software companies. We also briefly visited Apple. Apple had just announced the iPhone 7, and it was already available for testing in the Apple Store next to its headquarters. At Google, we took a walk around the campus, where we even came across a stuffed T-Rex. Employees rode around on their bikes in company colors, working on a patio or playing sports on the sports fields. They take pretty good care of the staff there. Finally, we arrived at our final destination: San Francisco. The city is, of course, known for the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz . The city is spread out over several hills bordering the bay. Walking through the streets can be quite a climb at times. The road seemed to slope upwards at almost 45 degrees at times. In some streets, cars simply had to park perpendicular to the direction of travel. Otherwise, they would roll right down the hill. We saw someone back out of their parking spot and then let their car roll down the hill, braking without needing to accelerate. The trams and cable cars are also a familiar sight in the city. The influence of Silicon Valley was also noticeable in the city. Here, too, you had offices for Firefox, Oracle, and so on. But even if you walked past Madame Tussauds, you'd see Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg sitting there, and Apple's Steve Jobs on the posters. This city truly had different idols than Las Vegas or New York, where people were more showbiz-oriented. And so our trip finally came to an end. After 4,318 kilometers by car, three boat trips, and a total of about 23 hours of flying, we arrived back in the Netherlands. It was, without exaggeration, the trip of a lifetime. We saw and experienced so much. See you next time, USA?! Luckily, we still have the photos! ;-)