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Books For California |
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Unlike all other travel guides to the Golden State, Hidden Coast of California focuses exclusively on the 1,100 miles of shoreline from Mexico to the Oregon border and doubles as the ultimate beach lover's guide, with complete descriptions of over 175 beaches plus the hotels, restaurants, and natural areas surrounding them. |
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California : 88 Great Vacations and Easy Outings - Trips already planed for you to make it easy to vacation in California.
| Mobil Travel Guide California and the West : Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah - The guide has a nice layout, which makes things easy to find. Each section gives a general overview of what there is to do in an area; this is a great starting point if you are not familiar with the location. I think this would be a great asset to anyone traveling about in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah. |
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| Great Family Vacations - West - Family-travel expert Candyce H. Stapen has taken the hassle out of vacation planning with Great Family Vacations West. Inside you'll find twenty-five complete vacations loaded with enough activities to keep every member of your family happy for weeks. Whether you're looking for museums and historic sites, thrill-a-minute amusement parks, animal attractions, natural wonders and the great outdoors, sporting events, or a healthy dose of all the above and more, here's everything you need to make your next family vacation a great family vacation. |
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| Eyewitness Travel Guide to California - Containing more than 1,200 full-color photographs, this comprehensive resource will help you explore the cities, parks, and beaches of California. Complete with 3-D maps, aerial views, attraction-laden street maps major cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego are surveyed in detail. Smaller cities such as Santa Barbara, Sacramento, Palm Springs, and Eureka are also profiled. Find the hottest restaurants, attractions, and shopping in Los Angeles. Visit Disneyland, Balboa Park, and the San Diego Zoo. Take tours through Redwood National Forest, the High Sierras, Yosemite National Park, the Napa Valley Wine region, and Joshua Tree National Park. Stop by the Hearst Castle, the Norton Simon Museum, the Santa Barbara Mission, and the Golden Gate Bridge. From its scenic coastline to its snow-capped mountains to its peaceful deserts, the Golden State has never been more radiantly presented than in the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: California. |
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| The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book is the joyously affirmative answer to the question "Is there an alternative to the prepackaged bus tour of Tinseltown?" William Gordon's guide delivers all the juicy scandal you've come for, but at your pace, at your discretion, and without crackly speakers blasting in your ear. You want to see former homes of Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, or Elvis Presley, current homes of Elizabeth Taylor, Ronald Reagan, or Hugh Hefner, and the site of the Charles Manson cult murders? Gordon helps you conduct your own exploration, and supplies invaluable tidbits of information, such as how Jayne Mansfield came to receive $50,000 worth of free merchandise to decorate her Pink Palace. Gordon covers 32 neighborhoods, providing a practical tour guide as well as a fun gift for the star-struck and Hollywood-bound. |
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| From the renowned architecture of the Getty Museum to the funky sidewalk murals of Venice, Hidden Southern California guides the reader beyond the never-ending maze of freeways to the special places meriting everything from a stop-the-car photo op to a weeklong getaway. New maps and pull-out features enhance this edition. |
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| Worldwide Riding Vacations : A Global Guide - Not just a guide to dude ranches, this handsome updated edition lists more strenuous and interesting equestrian trips by continent and then by country. Printed on heavy coated stock and illustrated with many color photographs, it includes over 100 entries. Each lists the company, address, phone number, E-mail, FAX, closest airports, price, and when available. There are descriptions of accommodations, meals, activities, and the horses and riding equipment, as well as a list of equestrian travel agencies and associations. British equestrian writer Ruler writes frequently on riding vacations and is an amateur horseman. Sacks, a former college professor, now owns a horse farm. Includes several locations in California. |
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| San Francisco Bay Areas Fishing Guide - Where is the best fishing location in the continental United States? I believe it is the San Francisco Bay Area. More than seven of every 10 salmon caught off our West Coast are caught here. The San Francisco and San Pablo Bays have great striped bass fishing and local lakes yield large striped bass. The largest sport caught fish on record, a 468 pound sturgeon was caught in this area. Our lakes have excellent trout fishing though most are planted, very good bass fishing in lakes and in the Delta. We also have very good fishing for catfish, lingcod, rockfish and albacore. This book describes and rates each species of sports fish in 127 fishing locations including lakes, rivers, the ocean, bays, the Delta and piers. Each major game fish at each location is rated on a scale of 1 to 10 -- you can quickly pick out the best locations for your favorite species. A month by month schedule helps you decide the most promising fish to pursue any time of the year and identifies the best place to fish for each game fish. |
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| California Guide - Great Saltwater Fishing - Find everything you need to know for great saltwater fishing throughout the coastal areas of California. |
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| Cross-Country Ski Vacations: A Guide to the Best Resorts, Lodges, and Groomed Trails in North America - Looking for a cozy B&B in which to hide out and make a few leisurely cross-country tours? In search of a fine resort with an extensive trail system and ski school for the kids? This guide to making the most of your cross-country skiing vacation includes all the specifics you'll need to make an informed decision when choosing destination resorts and lodges. Besides the basics--items such as street and e-mail addresses, and phone numbers--the book includes descriptions of accommodations and restaurants, rates, payment options (namely, whether credit cards are accepted), the nearest airport and hospital, entertainment choices, children's activities, and, of course, trail conditions. |
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Bay Area Backroads - Doug McConnell, the genial host of San Francisco's popular local TV show, Bay Area Backroads, has explored every mountain and valley of Northern California to find compelling, little-known day trips and weekend getaways for his devoted viewers. In his new paperback guide, Bay Area Backroads, from which the following day trips are excerpted, McConnell shares 50 of his favorite adventures. |
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| San Francisco was recently voted America's favorite city by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler, and why not? Few destinations offer such diversity. Hidden San Francisco and Northern California features the author's opinionated reviews of both the worthy and the merely infamous in the City by the Bay as well as commentary on the redwoods, the coast, the wine country, and the Sierras. |
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| Fodor's San Diego - No matter what your budget or whether it's your first trip or fifteenth, Fodor's Gold Guides get you where you want to go. Insider info that's totally up to date. Every year our local experts give you the inside track, showing you all the things to see and do -- from must-see sights to off-the-beaten-path adventures, from shopping to outdoor fun. Hundreds of hotel and restaurant choices in all price ranges -- from budget-friendly B&Bs to luxury hotels, from casual eateries to the hottest new restaurants, complete with thorough reviews showing what makes each place special. Smart Travel Tips A to Z section helps you take care of the nitty gritty with essential local contacts and great advice -- from how to take your mountain bike with you to what to do in an emergency. Full-size, foldout map keeps you on course. The Fodor guides have always been my first choice. Jim |
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| Afoot & Afield in San Diego - Our best-selling guidebook explores San Diego County with its wealth of natural scenery-unspoiled coastal canyons, pine-crested mountains, and spectacular desert landscapes. 220 hiking trips are organized by geographical areas, each with an accurate map. |
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| Healthy Dining in San Diego - Discover a new world of spectacular restaurant dining that's fun, full of flavor, and absolutely essential to your health. Healthy Dining's team of nutrition and health experts has created this exciting book filled with easy-to-read "nutrition labels" for hundreds of local restaurant meals...plus chefs' recipes, dining tips, and over $200 in restaurant coupons. Did you know...most restaurant meals contain 1000 to 2000 calories and 50 to 100 grams of fat?! That's over a full day's allowance -- in just one meal. Even the most nutrition-savvy person can't detect hidden calories and fat in most restaurant foods. "Healthy Dining in San Diego" reveals what every diner needs to know when dining out. Separate editions also available for Orange County and Los Angeles, California. |
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| Inside Guide to Sacramento: The Hidden Gold of California's Capital - The definitive guide to California's capital! Learn where the local's go for restaurants, cafes, coffeehouses, bakeries, bars, markets and cigars. Explore the Sacramento region's distinctive neighborhoods, dating from the 1860s-1940s. Learn about the capital's political, architectural and Gold Rush history. Enjoy excursions to the scenic Delta and nearby wineries. With more than 100 photos and dozens of maps, Inside Guide to Sacramento is the most complete capital guide ever published. |
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| Counter Intelligence : Where to Eat in the Real Los Angeles - Jonathan Gold has eaten it all. In this book he collects over 200 of Gold's best restaurant discoveries--from inexpensive lunch counters you won't find on your own to the perfect undiscovered dish at a beaten-path establishment. He reveals the hidden kitchens where Los Angeles' ethnic communities feed their own, including the best of cuisine from: Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Burma, Canton, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Middle East, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Peru, Thailand, Vietnam and more. (set as bulletted list?) Not to mention the perfectly prepared hamburger and Los Angeles' quintessential hot dog. |
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Fun Places to Go With Kids in L.A. and Orange County - if you are looking for a guidebook of places to take your kids, this is the only one you'll need. it is thorough, gently opinionated, and most importantly, lists absolutely everything of interest from San Diego to Santa Barbara. One really gets the sense that the author has actually checked out every listing. A great buy.
| Healthy Dining in Los Angeles - Can you eat out and still eat healthy? Sure, California is known for its plethora of health-conscious restaurants--and you don't have to just eat tofu and broccoli, either. To prove that eating doesn't have to be bland, we went to Accents On Health, publishers of the popular "Healthy Dining" book series, and asked them to give us the nutritional scoop on some of our favorite orders at our favorite California eateries. Here are our Top Ten Healthy Orders, with nutritional information excerpted from "Healthy Dining in Los Angeles." All of the following received good to excellent ratings in the areas of calories, fat, and cholesterol content, with the exceptions noted. |
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| Hidden Baja - Experienced and well-respected travel writer Richard Harris balances coverage of Baja's growing travel facilities - including the new mega-resorts, villas and beachside restaurants around Los Cabos - with extensive details on the peninsula's many natural attractions, adventure activities and sleepy coastal towns. Truly two guides in one, Hidden Baja serves as both a travel guide and an outdoor handbook for those looking to experience Baja by foot, bike, kayak, surfboard, or scuba. The book covers the entire peninsula from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas, including every great spot along Route 1 and its side roads. It leads the way to over 50 beaches including 38 that offer camping, and reveals Baja's history and culture at numerous sites including 8 museums. This edition has greatly expanded outdoor activity sections including more hiking, biking, scuba diving, and sea kayaking listings. |
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| Lonely Planet Baja California - Lonely Planet's Baja book is an excellent guide to the peninsula. I especially appreciated the detailed info on how to get around in Baja. The section on health in the front of the book came in handy after a small altercation with a manta ray! It was excellent for travelers on a budget. The descriptions of cities, places to stay and restaurants were all very accurate, but left enough room for our personal tastes to guide us to the spots that seemed especially fitting. I felt as though once we arrived at our final destination there was a lot more there than was really covered in the book, but I guess they only have so many pages to work with! This was the only book we brought with us, and it made for a great trip! |
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| Roadside Geology and Biology of Baja - This book is written for the enjoyment of the average person who has an interest in the natural surroundings and almost unique geology and biology of the Baja California Peninsula. It will provide for your enjoyment of the Roadside Geology & Biology of Baja California as you travel the Peninsular Highway. There are 194 photographs and 145 drawings and sketches of the Baja which we have grown to love that will introduce you to this magnificent place in a way that you can understand with little or no formal training in geology or biology. There is also an illustrated glossary of terms which you may not be familiar with, the time scale, the rock cycle, to show the interrelationships between the various rocks, and simplified rock charts for igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. There are references for those of you who want more. Enjoy! Con mejores deseos para un buen viaje! |
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| Just one hour from San Francisco, California's wine country has long been a popular side trip from the city; but its world-class wineries, attractions, and amenities deserve more than a brief encounter. Written for those who want to delve beyond the big-name wineries and roadside offerings, Hidden Wine Country uncovers the region's true connoisseur culture. It starts by letting readers in on the area's biggest secret: most of the wineries are small operations run by winemakers personally involved in the craft. Though Hidden Wine Country includes thorough reviews of the well-known wineries, it also covers dozens of vineyards where the tour guide may well be the owner. There's much more to the wine country than its sweet nectar. Parks, bed and breakfasts, hot-spring spas, ballooning, biking adventures, and historic spots are just a smattering of what is covered in Hidden Wine Country. With fine dining now the second-greatest passion of the area, this guide includes an array of culinary options, from how to stock a picnic basket with gourmet cheeses and fresh fruits to where to savor haute cuisine prepared by master chefs. |
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| Foghorn Outdoors California Camping : The Complete Guide to More Than 1,5000 Campgrounds - Tom Stienstra, outdoors columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and an enthusiastic promoter of California's wild country, has been collecting information on the state's campgrounds for years. Drawing on a team of fellow enthusiasts for up-to-date information, Stienstra here lists more than 1,500 campgrounds, ranging from the large venues with hundreds of spaces that lie within Yosemite National Park to the tiniest of public-lands facilities (such as Millard Falls outside Los Angeles, where only five tent sites lie within shouting distance of a 60-foot waterfall). More than a hundred of the listings detail wilderness campgrounds without services, while many more catalogue facilities that are appropriate for RV campers and extended stays. California Camping is a valuable reference for any camping enthusiast with a California destination in mind. |
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California's Eastern Sierra : A Visitor's Guide explores and celebrates a unique western landscape. A rugged country of enchanting beauty, the Eastern Sierra lies at the junction of the Sierra Nevada, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert. The heart of this vast region is the eastern slope of the Sierra, extending from the 14,000-foot ramparts of Mount Whitney to the glacier-scoured peaks west of Mono Basin. No other area of North America encompasses more dramatic mountain and desert scenery, and this guidebook is the ideal companion for discovering its diverse natural history and fascinating human past.
| Best Coast Hikes of Northern California: A Guide to the Top Trails from Big Sur to the Oregon Border presents 75 scenic trails for hikers and nature-lovers of all skill levels. From gentle afternoon walks for the whole family to more challenging full- and multi-day adventures, the carefully chosen routes offer a magnificent blend of stark bluffs and secluded beaches, tidepools and clear creeks, quiet marshes and mighty waterfalls, lush green canyons and jagged rock outcrops. Trails are grouped from north to south and include little-known routes through many of California's state and national parks. Listings include the length of each hike, the degree of difficulty, directions to the trailhead, a route map, estimated hiking time, and the best seasons to enjoy the wildflowers, views, waterfalls, and wildlife. Advice is offered on safety, climate, wilderness ethics, clothing, and things to do for added enjoyment. Appendices list hikes that are best for bird watching, trails for horseback riding, wheelchair-accessible hikes, and trails on which dogs are permitted. |
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| AAA Hidden Highways Northern California - AAA Hidden Highways of California introduces the traveler to back-road adventures that follow carefully planned routes. The narrative moves swiftly from point to point, bringing the area to life at the same time that it recommends places to visit, maps out itineraries, and features sidetrip excursions. Nine journeys are detailed, from Route 1 along the coast to Highway 395 high in the Sierras. The history and character of Northern California are revealed on themed drives through the Gold Rush region and the Wine Country. A special urban drive through the neighborhoods of San Francisco is also featured. Local and specific AAA maps - trusted for accuracy and usefulness - are included. |
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The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland - Free yourself from the glitz and promise of brochures with The Unofficial Guides. Not endorsed, reviewed, or approved by the Walt Disney Company, the Unofficial Guide is free to serve up the real deal, the honest truth on what is the BEST there is to see and do at Disneyland! We give you a complete, independent, honest evaluation of Disneyland.
| Hidden Disneyland and Beyond shows travelers how to maximize their fun while saving time and money. In addition to the Magic Kingdom, this book explores Sea World, Universal Studios, Legoland, Knott's Berry Farm, Six Flags, the San Diego Zoo, and Wild Animal Park. For each of these destinations, the guide provides a wealth of little-known information and helpful hints that have been scrupulously researched by the author. Opinionated ride reviews, suggested itineraries, and secret strategies for having the most fun for the money combine to make Hidden Disneyland and Beyond a valuable resource for those wanting recommendations that go beyond the theme parks' PR hype. The book also explores the greater Los Angeles and San Diego areas, offering families opportunities to relax outside the sometimes frantic pace of the theme-park venues. Hidden Disneyland and Beyond points the way to Southern California's world-famous beaches, parks, museums, and historical sites, and offers hot tips for family dining, lodging, and shopping. |
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| Birnbaum's Disneyland Resort 2002 - Expert Advice from the Inside Source. A lot has changed since Disneyland first opened in Anaheim, California, in 1955, and here is all the information travelers need. Full-color photos. |
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Yosemite Climbs : Free Climbs - The most important function of any climbing guide book (in my opinion) is getting you to your selected route. Great topos are vital, but if you can never find the route...what does it matter. Don Reid is a master at both getting you there and great topo beta. Even if it is your first time in the Valley, the book gives such great directions you would be hard pressed to get lost. And, as always, Don is a master topo "artist". Don't accept any cheap substitutes, this is the book to have.
| Recreation Lakes of California - Recreation Lakes of California is a Must for anyone who loves the outdoors. Detailed maps and current information on over 430 Lakes throughout California. Information includes sites for tent camping, R.V.s, types of boating allowed, marine facilities, types of fish, picnic sites, hiking and bicycle trails, equestrian facilities, swimming, waterskiing, resorts and everything else you need to know about these Lakes. |
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Mountain Bike! : Southern California : A Guide to the Classic Trails - From its beloved beaches to its ancient sequoia groves, the region that gave birth to mountain biking is an off-road biker's dream come true. Southern California offers a myriad of fat-tire adventures; take in a vista of mountain peaks one day and wonder at a painted desert the next. With so much to explore in this diverse wilderness, you'll need Mountain Bike! Southern California to lead you to its most fantastic and unforgettable rides. Each route profile features at-a-glance key information, a thorough ride description, a detailed trail map, helpful sources of information, proximity of important services, valuable commentary on elevation changes and possible hazards and a rescue index. This guide also features interesting and entertaining photographs, vivid descriptions of the native flora and fauna, a glossary of mountain biking terms, tips on mountain biking etiquette, and a list of recommendations for special interests.
| Fly Fishing the Sierra Nevada - From Lake Almanor's exciting hex hatch in the north to the lovely golden trout of Monache Meadows in the south, "Fly Fishing the Sierra Nevada" describes when, where and how to fish California's premier mountain range. Detailed maps and directions chart the way to hundreds of rivers, creeks and lakes that offer some of the best fishing in the state. No matter where you go, you'll know what flies to use and be privy to angling secrets that result from years of fishing the region. Toss in some history, geological background and a bit of humor, and the result is a book that will be on the must-have list of every trout angler who fishes California. |
