Winter is a particularly beautiful time at Mono Lake. The crowds are gone, a quiet stillness prevails, and snow crystals sparkle on the tufa towers. Mono Lake is a majestic body of water in California covering about 65 square miles. It is an ancient lake, over 1 million years old -- one of the oldest lakes in North America. Many columns of limestone rise above the surface of Mono Lake. This type of limestone rock is referred to as tufa, which is a term used for limestone that forms in low to moderate temperatures.
San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge opened on May 27 1937, instantly becoming a much-loved symbol of the city and an iconic piece of architecture around the world. The suspension bridge spans the Golden Gate, the one-mile-wide (1.6 km) strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the American city of San Francisco, California – the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula – to Marin County, carrying both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 across the strait. The bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco, California, and the United States. It has been declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The San Francisco Bay, reached via the Golden Gate Strait, was missed for 227 consecutive years by passing Spanish ships. It was finally discovered in 1769, when bored hunters passed overland and found the bay; three years later, at last, the strait was spotted from present-day Oakland.
Truckee, California is a town with deep roots in the ways of the Old West with the soul of an active, adventure-driven modern mountain town. The Truckee area boasts access to the five world class ski resorts of Northstar California, Sugar Bowl, Donner Ski Ranch, Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, and Boreal Mountain. Transportation has long been a part of the town’s identity—the Emigrant Trail, the railroad, and now many forms of transportation play a role in everyday activities—mountain bikes, kayaks and rafts, skis—downhill and Nordic… .