California State is a country in itself. It has the third or the fourth largest economy of the World - After USA, Japan and perhaps France or Germany.

The economic miracle is matched by the natural resources and wonders.

In my short visit (10 days) in August 2001, I captured some images from the areas I visited - San Francisco Bay Area and Monterey Peninsula area.

I took pictures with a small Olympus digital camera that I carried with me as a simple pocket device.
Open Picture Gallery

San Francisco Bay area is a large suburban settlement around San Francisco Bay. About 60 miles long (north-south) and 30 miles wide. It is linked by an extensive networks of fast Highways. So, although distances are quite large between commuting areas, travelling time is amazingly short - provided you avoid rush hours, when it can get extremely conjested. It is useless visiting the area without a car. Public transport is bare minimum, not really usable for a tourist. Within San Francisco city there are trains, trams and buses, but anywhere outside in the suburbs there is virtually nothing. You need a car to go to the nearest grocery store - mostly on a highway.

I stationed myself in San Ramon, some 45 miles from San Francisco and approximately in the middle of the bay area, from where trips around the area were convenient.