November 7, 2001 6:49 PM

Hello From California:

I'm writing you from the small coastal town of Cambria - about half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco.  In the last five months I have visited the east coast and Labrador and now the Pacific coast. In between I have been out out to Calgary and Kelowna for a wonderful trip with my wife. In the past few days, I have seen the Grand Canyon, the amazing south west desert including Palm Springs and a variety of western mountains. I feel truly blessed in the experiences that I have had.

I arrived in Palm Springs yesterday around 11.00 in the morning and immediately drove to the Aerial Tramway that I read about last year in the Hamilton Spectator travel section. A 15 minute ride takes you from the floor of the desert up 6000 feet to the top of Mount San Jacinto - 8000 ft elevation. A beautiful pine forest with magnificent towering pines greets you and the air has an amazing fresh smell. A 1/2 hour walk takes you to numerous views of the Mojave Desert that stretches for miles in the distance. Immediately below the mountain is the town of Palm Springs.I will send a more detailed description of my impressions of the desert for another time but I'll just say that it has a special beauty of its own kind despite the very desolate environment.

My travels from Hamilton though the midwest states went very well and very quickly. Most of the route was along Interstate 40 and with a speed limit of 75 mph, I was able to travel some pretty impressive distances each day. Driving the Jaguar was great as far as comfort was concerned but I was actually very glad to get rid of it in Palm Springs and rent my little Chevy Geo - a lot easier on my nerves.

Just a few quick observations:

- travelling through Texas on Sunday morning and trying to find a radio station that wasn't either country music or gospel

- a sign along the road in Texas - "Free 72 oz steak" at the Big Texan restaurant. (Fine print: "'if eaten within 1 hour! !)

- set off from Flagstaff at 7 am for the Grand Canyon. It was raining and overcast. By the time I had entered the park and reached the first outlook, the sun had come out, the air was clear and visibility excellent and the spectacle equalled anything that I have seen in books or movies

- from Indiana to California I have seen many, many signs referring to "Historic Route 66". There is very little that remains of the old highway that virtually opened up the west to automobiles in the late 1920's. Some of you will remember the popular TV series with the same name and the song with the lyrics -"Get your kicks, on route 66". Interstate 40, the main thruway that I have travelled on actually replaced most the the original highway but a few small sections remain that people still drive on just for the fun of it.

Well, my time is about up on this library computer(how appropriate). Tomorrow I drive along the Pacific Coast Highway and travel through Big Sur, Monterey and on to San Francisco. Friday, I catch the train through the mountains to Denver and then fly back to Buffalo.

Am I a lucky guy or what! ! !

 Best wishes to all,

Larry                                                                                                             Return