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The
Coach goes West
If
you fly in from Europe, ten hours
chasing the sun in a plane is a long time and you feel a bit weary by
the time you touch down in San Francisco. As we came into land rolling
banks of fog were
tracing the hills and by the  time I got to my down town hotel it was
already dark.
After a cup of coffee and a quick hello to the other folk on the coach
tour, I took my jet lag to bed but not before gazing in wonder, from
my skyscraper room window, at the city lights spread out at my feet.
In the
morning the coach took us round the city and dropped us at the harbour
where we explored
the attractions of Pier 39. They include 100 shops and a
maritime museum. Then we took to the
hills, Rome might be built  on
seven but in ’Frisco there are forty-three and on them you find the
famous cable cars. I paid for a ticket that gives you two hours on the
system and sat out in the open, hanging on to the side seats. Behind
me a man operated an enormous lever to engage the cable and as the
bell rang we whizzed off and up over the summit of Hyde Street.
Eventually I spotted a cafe at the corner of Hyde and Pacific and
feeling a bit hungry I hopped off and went into the Knob Hill Noshery
to order a light snack.
It turned out to be not so ‘light,’
the paté and cheese platter was dominated by a portion of brie big enough to
last a week. I finished most it plus a couple of decorative strawberries, before
easing my belt out a couple of notches and rejoining the coach tour.
We left San Francisco, and after
visiting the Golden Gate Bridge which is suspended on cables made from some
80,000 miles of wire, we headed north to the Napa Valley. Soon the dry brown
grasses of the ranch lands gave way to fields of vines.
They call it the ‘Mission Trail’
but the sound that came from the bells on one of the white painted buildings
reminded me more of London than the Spanish founders.
The Bells of St Dunstans chimed out
from the Sterling Winery near Saratoga. We stopped there to take a look
round the vast oak barrels and try a bit of wine tasting, which you
can really enjoy when someone else is doing the driving.
Back on the bus we travelled down
the ‘California 29, known as the ‘Old Winery Way’ until at Yontville
we stopped for lunch and briefly explored the sleepy little country town where
lazy cats stretched on the verandas of the painted wooden houses.
The next day we  crossed the Santa
Cruz Mountains and at Roaring Camp climbed aboard a narrow gauge steam train to
ride through the massive red wood trees.
We shunted up switch backs and in
spite of some joker calling ‘watch out for the bears’ as we disappeared into
the trees, enjoyed our first experience of a real lumber train.
By this point in our coach tour a
pattern was emerging. Most days we would be taken to an attraction fairly close
to the hotel for that night and while we were there our bags would be delivered
to our rooms.  We didn’t even have the trouble of checking in, as our keys were
handed to us on the bus along with the advice about next days starting time.
We were on a Tauk Tour. Tauk
are one of America’s leading coach operators and have been in the business
since 1925. We didn't dine as a group but just like other guests in the hotels
and could use the dining rooms at any time and order what we
liked.
I never quite adjusted to the
American portions, the superb service and the great variety of food. It’s not
everyday you are offered ‘shark marinated in garlic and lime, grilled and
served with a mild chilli butter’. The oysters looked pretty good too.
You can certainly go big on the food
and you will enthuse about the places visited. Carmel by the sea,
was on the itinerary and although there was time to get the fine white powdery
sand between my toes, and visit the
old Mission Station we didn’t spot the famous local, Clint Eastwood
Then there was the Monterey Aquarium, where we watched a diver in a massive tank
swim through a kelp forest and at the ‘touch pool’ saw the children can get
friendly with the fish, stroking the velvety back of a bat ray.
Even away from the aquarium the sea
creatures catch your attention. The sound of seals barking drifted up to my
hotel window and drew me down to the wharf where you can buy sardines to feed
them. They have some competition from the pelicans but since the seals call the
tune they usually get fed.
It was really travelling with a
measure of luxury as all the hotels had health centres, spas and swimming pools.
Everything was included in the price and each day we flitted from one hotel pool
to another. After sitting in the coach all day it was good to be able to keep
fit. The choice was there you could swim your way down California, or be
thoroughly decadent and each night have a ‘sun downer’ with a gin and tonic
in the jacuzzi.
As we drove down the road that
borders the pacific Ocean, high on a hill I spotted a grand and familiar
building and I immediately recognised it from when it was featured as Xanadu in
the Orson Wells film, Citizen Kane. It was described as a ‘magnificent
pleasure palace and treasure house of the world’s finest things.’ In reality
it is the largest of the 56 houses that were owned by the powerful newspaper
tycoon William Randolph Hearst.
The magnificent house is called La
Cuesta Encanta, "The Enchanted Hill." and stands on the 240,000
acre San Simeon Estate. We stood with high swaying palm trees
around us looking out on  the magnificent view of the ocean just as the film star
guests would have done in the 30’s and 40’s. For me the highlight was the
beautiful swimming pool. It was large and it’s blue water sparkled amid white
marble columns and would have fitted well into any Roman cinemascope epic.
The 115
room mansion even included a full size movie theatre in which we watched home movies
and got some idea of the
opulent life style enjoyed by star
guests like Cary Grant.
All to quickly the week ticked away
and getting closer to the end of the journey we set off bleary eyed into the
early morning, driving over the Santa Barbara hills passing former President Regan’s
ranch and
going down onto the network of sixty five thousand miles of roads and freeways
that serve the communities of Los Angeles.
Hollywood was
on our itinerary and Kelly, our tour director, pointed out the sights
of ‘tinsel town’ "That’s Liberace’s old home, everything
there’s shaped like a piano... and we’re now stopping at Hollywood
Boulevard." At the walk of fame I stepped onto the hard cement
beside the signatures and hand prints of the movie stars.
They had made
their impressions, so too had the tour and one of the abiding memories
is of waking up the next day at my hotel at Long Beach and seeing the
famous ocean liner Queen Mary moored permanently across the way. We were both a long way
from our native River Clyde in Scotland.
Looking back
I am very glad I went because, having visited Xanadu when
I win the national lottery I now know precisely how to
have my swimming pool built.
For
information on Tauk Tours in California telephone Kuoni on 0306 742222 |
