Joleen

I stayed here while visiting Yosemite, which is about a half hour drive away. If you’re on a budget, it’s much better than paying the ridiculous amounts they charge for lodging inside the park; plus there’s plenty of stores, restaurants, and even a movie theater. Bass Lake is only 10 minutes away, which is very pretty in summer, but if you stop by in winter a lot of the water is drained. In short, it’s very conveniently placed and feels like a small mountain town even though it still has most things us city-folk are used to having around.:)

I’ve been really wanting to go here for a few years now, and I recently had the chance-unfortunately it was on the day that a large winter storm was moving in. We drove out of the tunnel on highway 41, where one of the most spectacular views of the whole park is supposed to be…and I saw a few pine trees in front of a wall of fog. It stayed that way the whole day, and then we had to leave as the storm was becoming severe. I was able to see a few waterfalls from the road, and we managed to walk down the path to Mirror Lake before the weather got too bad, but it certainly wasn’t the visit I was envisioning. I’ll just have to go back again sometime soon!

I spent a great couple of days here, despite its lessened accesibility during winter. It’s not one of the better known national parks-it doesn’t have the spectacularness of nearby Yosemite or Yellowstone-but it really has a beauty all its own. The trees really are amazing. You need to get off the main road to see some of the coolest stuff, so there is some hiking required, but nothing terribly difficult. The largest trees are at least a mile hike, but the paths are very well kept and easy to navigate. Snow and ice made it a bit more challenging to get where we wanted to go, but to me it was worth going in winter just to beat the crowds and to see views of the valley free of smog. Some of the most popular spots are only open during summer, but if you’re in the area any other time of year and the weather isn’t too horrendous, it’s definately worth a stop.

My sister and I recently stayed here on a road trip through California. We weren’t expecting much from it, since we’d only ever seen as much as is along Highway 395, but it was a suprisingly pleasant stay. The mountains are absolutely beautiful, and even for the non-experienced hikers (such as ourselves), the Alabama Hills not far from town offer easily accessible nature walking and climbing. Many famous old western movies were shot there, for their rugged, scenic appearance and accessibility. It’s only a couple hours from Death Valley as well. So if you want to get away from the crowds and tourist traps at Mammoth and Tahoe for a while, it’s definately worth a stay. I’d reccommend the Best Western right along the Highway; the rooms are huge and very affordable.

I’ll be there next week, celebrating the end of finals week! With my work schedule I’ll only be able to be there for 10 hours or so, but I’m planning on squeezing every drop of craziness that I can out of that time. Vegas, here I come…

I live here. It’s…industrial. That’s about it.

My visit to Denver was short, only a few days, but I enjoyed it a lot. Coming at it from LA, it had all of the big city qualities I’m used to (stores, restaurants, lots of people, etc.) without the sprawl. It’s also quite a bit cleaner-much less smog, cleaner streets. It’s not without its problems-I wouldn’t want to hang around downtown at night by myself, and the freeways and streets can get pretty backed up-but it’s a wonderful city surrounded by beautiful scenery, and I’d love to go back!

Almost all of my family came from Friesland, but unfortunately I don’t know much about the culture or the language. I’d love to go explore, meet some cousins, and learn a little more about my heritage.

I’ve spent most of my life in Los Angeles, except for two years when I was in middle school when my family moved to a small town in NW Iowa called Orange City (random, I know). I enjoyed it at the time, but I think if I tried to go back now the culture shock would kill me. It’s one of those states that you usually try to get through as quickly as possible on your way to somewhere on either side of the midwest, but it’s worth exploring a bit if you have the time. The sense of space that you get is really pretty amazing as it’s all open plains. If you’re passing through, Des Moines is worth a stop (the government buildings are gorgeous) and you can find plenty of quirky small towns in the middle of corn fields not too far off the road. I’d certainly like to go back some day, it’s a great vacation from sky scrapers and smog.

Very cute little town, similar to Vail and other surrounding ski villages. If you’re passing through the area and don’t have a lot of time, I would recommend only stopping in Vail. If you’re staying in the area though, it’s worth taking a short drive up to Beaver Creek-you can browse through the shops, ski (of course), and walk along trails in the hills (during summer).