Reuthers
Wild West / USA
Guided Photo Tour

Welcome to Los Angeles. After a transfer to your hotel, meet your fellow travellers at a Welcome Drink and Dinner in the evening.

In the morning we start our photo tour north along Highway 1. Passing the Santa Monica Pier and Sunset Boulevard we eventually reach Malibu. We then head into central valley farmlands of California and the coastal hills of the Los Padres National Forest. Travelling through beautiful countryside, we stop at Santa Barbara's Stearns Wharf for lunch before visiting Solvang, the "Danish capital of America", where you will see windmills, horse drawn carriages, horse ranches, and wineries. We continue north through lush green hills, farmland, and cattle ranches before reaching Morro Bay.

We continue with the Pacific Ocean on the left and the majestic Santa Lucia mountains on the right. This is the Big Sur, or "El Sur Grande", a wonderfully scenic region that we cover during today's ride. We stop at Point Pinos Lighthouse, the entrance to Monterey Bay. Our journey continues through Castroville, where Norma Jean (Marilyn Monroe) was once crowned Artichoke Queen. Finally we reach Half Moon Bay and Pacifica, where we head north toward San Francisco and our hotel.

We start the day by travelling over the Golden Gate Bridge and a photo stop. Passing Sacramento we head to Placerville, a gold rush town, and then on to Camino in the heart of the El Dorado Wine Country. Our route now takes us through the Eldorado National Forest and into South Lake Tahoe and Stateline, where the California - Nevada State Line can be found. If you feel like trying your luck, Stateline has many world-class casinos.

We head east and then south to Yerington, situated along the banks of the Walker River and surrounded by picturesque mountains full of ghost towns and old gold mining camps. We continue to Hawthorne, with the landscape slowly changing into a desert environment, before reaching Tonopah, an old mining boom town. You will be able to get a real feel for Nevada's colourful history here.

Right in the morning we continue south to Goldfield with the best old buildings in Nevada and then head south to Beatty, a picturesque desert town in the Amargosa River Valley. We continue through Amargosa Valley, Indian Springs, and into gambling capital Las Vegas.

We leave Las Vegas, heading for Baker, where we have lunch at the Mad Greek Restaurant. From Baker we continue south to Barstow and detour to the old silver mining town of Calico. Back on the main road, we reach Barstow, once a small mining and railroad town in California's Mojave Desert. Barstow's Main Street is part of the original Route 66. This is where we stay for the night.

On our last day we continue on to Victorville, where we descend into the greater Los Angeles basin and to our hotel. In the evening we gather for our Farewell Dinner and to reminisce our photo tour adventure.