California - 2008 Official State Visitor's Guide and Travel Planner - (Page 41) play n certain haughty circles, California is derided as a place lacking in serious purpose, a lotusland of carefree fun seekers who will trade work for surf at the drop of a hat. To which we respond, precisely. Serious purpose has its place, and that place is two steps behind play. In fact, play can have serious purpose. How else to explain Yosemite climbers scaling Half Dome’s sheer face or surfers paddling into growling, apartment-size waves at Mavericks? And what better place to play? In the 1800s one did not gaze upon the Sierra Nevada and proclaim it righteous for skiing. Today, however, modern comforts have seen California’s topography segue from daunting to delightful; our vast spread of multifaceted terrain is I now the ultimate playground. Power up mountains here, zoom across groomed desert sands there; sprinkle in redwood forest hikes L ADA [ trails] and kelp forest dives. Add snow, sunshine, and surf. If we build it, they will play. Snowboarding, skiing, hiking, climbing, kitesurfing L kitesurf], [ scuba diving, a game of beach volleyball with your family witnessed only by the setting sun: Play is an essential part of California’s fabric. Certainly Californians have accomplished many gravely purposeful adult things, but they have never lost their sense of perspective. CEOs sneak off to pedal mountain bikes up perfect trails in the mountains around Lake Tahoe. Surgeons trade glove and scalpel for Enter rope and chalk and a go at Joshua Tree’s sandpaper walls L rock [ climb]. Families eschew laundry and yardwork for soaring orcas and splashing rides at SeaWorld. Why, even the governor slips out for a ski. A people of action, we’ve also built our own fun: Disneyland, Six Flags, Indian casinos, roller coasters that go from zero to 82 miles an hour in 2.3 seconds, towering waterslides that will set the weak of heart to weeping, artificial wave machines that will rip your board shorts off. Frivolous and immature? Perhaps those haughty, dour sorts have lost sight of the more pertinent question: What good is a playground without freewheeling frolickers? KEN MCALPINE 41 L keyword in Search box at visitcalifornia.com http://www.visitcalifornia.com
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