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The biggest benefit you’ll get from hiking the backcountry of the spectacular Yosemite National Park isn’t what you’ll see, although those sights will likely stay with you for the rest of your life. The wilderness trails of the 1,187-square-mile park also offer you a treasured gift that naturalist and environmental John Muir and many explorers […]

If you could only visit one U.S. national park, which one would you choose? Would it be Bryce Canyon in Utah, a wonderland of fascinating topography? Or the scenic Yellowstone, with Old Faithful and other geysers? Perhaps you would choose Shenandoah, with its hardwood forests and miles of the Appalachian Trail. Then, of course, there’s […]

Not everyone wants to hike through the wilderness of Yosemite or see the sights in San Francisco. The nerds among us—and we mean that in the nicest way—just might be thrilled to spend hours or days visiting the mother lode of innovation: Silicon Valley. Actually named Santa Clara Valley, the famous brainiac mecca got its […]

What are you going to do with the last 5, 10 or 15 years of your life? You barely blinked, and suddenly you’re a senior citizen. But haven’t you heard: 70 is the new 50. In the mid-1950s, a little old lady moved into her son’s family home. She was tiny, gray-haired, bespectacled and a […]

About 30 years ago, the mother of a third-grade boy brought a writing project to his class. She had found a book that listed addresses (mostly of agents) of famous people, and helped the kids choose different stars and write letters to them. They began their letters by introducing themselves and explaining that the class […]

Have you been fortunate enough to stay in luxury hotels all over the world? Have you eaten in some of the finest restaurants? Seen the Seven Wonders of the World? That’s wonderful; what enjoyment you must have found. But we’d like to make the argument that you haven’t really lived until you’ve camped in Yosemite […]

Not everyone is up for camping or even glamping. But that doesn’t mean that you non-camping/clamping folks can’t enjoy the splendor that is Yosemite National Park for one day, a few days or longer.

San Francisco’s Presidio, steeped in American history, was named a National Historic Landmark in 1962. The military complex, housing more than 700 buildings, 433 of which are designated historic, closed in 1989 and, in 1994, the National Park Service took over its operation.

Covering about 30 city blocks, San Francisco’s Chinatown is North America’s oldest Chinese community. Dating back to the mid-1800s, the area bustles with pagoda rooves, hanging lanterns, specialty shops, restaurants, nightclubs and bars. Old St. Mary’s Church, the continent’s first Asian church, was built in Chinatown in 1853. In 1859, the Chinese School welcomed Asian […]

You haven’t seen a tree until you’ve seen the giant sequoia trees in Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park. To understand their magnitude, picture branches that can reach eight feet in diameter and bark that might be three feet thick. A sequoia trunk can span 35 feet. The tallest tree in Yosemite is the Columbia […]