Tour Managers Tales

Hello, well home again, after a great California with a wonderful group of people, hope that you all managed to get home safely, get the laundry done, and now have some relaxing time. I am off to the dentist this morning, so not looking forward to that, then its into town do some shopping, then home and I suppose better start doing some ironing ... any offers of help.... please !!

Saturday 23 rd October Luggage INSIDE – Bedrooms for collection by 08.30 - Depart for Hollywood at 09.30 Free Time in Hollywood, or Walking Tour ( 10.30 - 11.45 ) free time for lunch until departure at 12.45 for Beverly Hills, then onto Los Angeles International Airport to check in for London. Please keep some low denomination $ bills for tips to your walking tour guide and coach driver. Flight Details - British Airways BA282 departs at 17.35 expected arrival in London T5 is 11.35 (Sunday). On board service of dinner and drinks with a light continental breakfast before landing. Snacks and drinks are available from the galley throughout the flight. Please remember to have your passport in your hand luggage, main luggage should be locked if unsure please ask check in staff. All liquids must not be over 100ml each and have to be placed into a 1 litre clear bag, if carrying in hand luggage. In the check in area there are restaurants and Duty Free shops, in the

Friday 22 nd October Day free for Disneyland – open from 08.00 – 19.00 Disney Shuttle operates frequently from the Hotel to the Park. Cost $4 – this is an ART transit ticket and is a Day Pass and can be used on all Disney Shuttles, the Holiday Inn and Suites is on, Line 11. You can take this shuttle to the main transit center and change to any one of the other lines (except 10 and 11) that shall take you to Garden Walk where there are lots of restaurants. Passes can be purchased in the gift shop which is in the hotel lobby.

Thursday 21 st October Departure to Universal Studios at 08.30 departing from Universal at 17.00 Those not going to Universal may use your Disney Ticket today – open from 09.00 – 20.00

Wednesday 20 th October Weather - Foggy  Anaheim, California Solvang was founded in 1911 on 11,000 acres (4,500 ha) of the Rancho San Carlos de Jonata a Mexican land grant, by a group of Danish educators, who travelled west to escape mid western winters. The city is home to some bakeries, restaurants, and merchants offering a taste of Denmark  in California. The architecture of many of the buildings follows traditional Danish style. There is a copy of the famous  Little Mermaid  statue from  Copenhagen , as well as one featuring the bust of famed Danish fable writer  Hans Christian Andersen . A replica of the Copenhagen observatory  Rundetårn  in the scale 1:3 was finished in 1991 and can be seen in the city centre. Mission Santa Ines , one of the  California missions , is located near the centre of the town. Santa Barbara  is a city in  Santa Barbara County situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such se

Tuesday 19th October Weather – Thunder Storms - 62/50 Cambria, California The City of Monterey  in  Monterey County  is located on  Monterey Bay  along the  Pacific  coast in  Central California . Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet (8 m) above sea level. The city is noted for its rich history of resident artists beginning in the late 1800s, and its historically famed  fishery . First established in 1770 by  Father Junípero Serra  and  Gaspar de Portolà   (governor of Baja and Alta California (1767–1770), explorer and founder of San Diego and Monterey), Monterey served as the capital of California from 1777 to 1849, under the flags of  Spain  and  Mexico .   Pacific Grove  is a coastal town, and is known for its Victorian homes,  Asilomar State Beach , its artistic legacy and the annual migration of the  Monarch butterflies . The city is endowed with more  Victorian houses per capita than anywhere else in America; s

Monday – FREE DAY – Enjoy your day. Weather - Mainly sunny, some clouds high 72 Departure Details for Tuesday 19 th October Luggage ready for collection INSIDE bedrooms by 07.30 Departure for Cambria at 08.30 Leaving San Francisco, first stop at Monterey (10.30) then travel the scenic Pacific Grove and 17 Mile Drive, before arriving in Carmel(13.00) The afternoon shall be spent travelling scenic Pacific Coast Highway (Big Sur), before arriving at Cambria (18.00) Have a great time in San Francisco, and remember if I can be of any help please just ask. Richard 

Sunday 17 th October Weather – Cloudy/Showers 64/56 San Francisco, California History – Even by the standards of the New World, San Francisco remained terra incognita a surprisingly long time. A few early explorers, including Portuguese – born Joao Cabrilho and England’s Sir Francis Drake, sailed up and down the length of the California coast in the 16 th century, but all of them sailed past the Golden Gate without noticing the bay that lay beyond it. It was not until 1769 that the first non-natives laid eyes on what is now San Francisco; thereafter the area was colonized swiftly by the Spanish, who established missions and presidios (forts). In 1821, when Mexico declared independence from Spain, it became Mexican territory. The Growing City – The first significant boost to growth occurred in 1848, when gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Sacramento. Hundreds of thousands of pr

Saturday 16 th October Weather – Sunny 74/47 Yosemite and Modesto, California Yosemite is one of the largest and least fragmented  habitat  blocks in the Sierra Nevada, and the park supports a diversity of  plants  and  animals . The park has an elevation range from 2,127 to 13,114 feet (648 to 3,997m) and contains five major vegetation zones :lower  montane , upper montane,  subalpine , and  alpine . Of California's 7,000 plant species, about 50% occur in the Sierra Nevada and more than 20% within Yosemite. There is suitable habitat or documentation for more than 160 rare plants in the park, with rare local geologic formations and unique soils  characterizing the restricted ranges many of these plants occupy. Yosemite Valley represents only one percent of the park area, but this is where most visitors arrive and stay.  El Capitan , a prominent granite cliff that looms over Yosemite Valley, is one of t