This guide covers all the highlights of the vast, varied, sun-drenched state, beginning with the Los Angeles beach communities, the fabulous Getty Center and the venues of the stars. Moving southward to Orange County`s affluent seaside towns, beautiful San Diego`s world-class museums and zoo at Balboa Park. Then north along the coast, jaw-dropping Big Sur scenery, moneyed Carmel and historic Monterey. On to San Francisco, a city of neighborhoods, and nearby Napa, Sonoma and Alexander Valleys. From here, the little traveled realm of the redwoods, preserved in magnificent Humboldt Redwoods State Park and Redwood National Park. Then to funky Mendocino overlooking the crashing sea, and tiny Guerneville, along the Russian River. Inland, in the Sierra Nevada, old mining towns, ski resorts, and dazzling Lake Tahoe are explored. The book ends with a foray into the desert, anchored by Death Valley.