Travel letters

A fine pier group

As Christopher Smith’s story [“A Case of Pier Pleasure,” July 1] points out, the piers on the California coast give everyone a chance to “walk on water.” Another resource for piers is the California Coastal Access Guide, which provides information about the many facilities at the coastal piers.

Take a walk on one. It is worth the effort.

Conrad vonBlankenburg

Torrance

Smile-worthy

Carrizo Plain has its admirers, especially in the spring after good rains [“On the Road to ‘Nowheresville,’” by Susan Spano, June 24]. The wildflowers are renowned. But for me, it is impossible to think of Carrizo Plain without wanting to spend time in Parkfield, a hamlet to the north. Parkfield is dubbed “the earthquake capital of California” because it is actively sitting on the San Andreas fault, and experts have been waiting for the Big One to become apparent there first. The resident United States Geological Survey representative eagerly shares information about the instruments planted around the area and all the tremors that occur almost daily. You can practically watch the split between the tectonic plates bend the bridge leading to town.

For me, the best aspect of Parkfield is the rustic motel and restaurant across the street. It’s quiet, it’s quirky and you can get a great barbecue dinner. In late spring, there is a bluegrass festival, which I vow to attend one day. Parkfield is the smile for the “lonely, desolate spot” of the national monument to the south.

Gwen Rigby

Santa Barbara

We live in the mountains of southern Kern County, so we must often travel to Bakersfield for errands. Intrigued by the story on Hanford [“No-Hurry History Beckons,” June 24], we decided to work in a visit. Permit me to inform you that anyone using Ryan Ritchie’s article as a guide will see nothing covered in the story.

There were no directions to any location. Exiting Highway 198 at Hanford provides no information as to where downtown is. We drove north up 10th street, seeing some pleasant ‘50s suburbs, then south past the fairgrounds. Then we GPSed the Clark Center on 10th Street and found that. It is miles from anything else. Nowhere in the article is there a single address for the civic auditorium, the court house, the theater, the ice cream store or China Alley.

In contrast to the useless Hanford article is Susan Spano’s coverage of the Carrizo Plain, which is on the way to the coast, sort of, from our house. She has the sense to tell you how to get there. We’ve been to the Plain, as well as to Taft. She’s right on.

More Carrizo. Less Hanford.

Carolyn Ziegler-Davenport

Pine Mountain Club

Vacation renters

In the July 1 Travel section, there was a tip about staying at an apartment as an alternative to using a hotel [Readers Recommend, “Home Comforts”]. I live in an apartment building that has contracted out to rent short term to travelers. It is a nightmare. People on vacation want to have a good time, and that means not thinking about lowering your voice at 2 a.m. when you get home from the local bar. I’ve had a soda can dropped into the plant on my balcony. One “visitor” started a fire in the kitchen.

If I move, I will make sure that there will be no hotel-type visitors invading on a regular basis.

Hinda Lee Sheffer

Los Angeles

Wisdom gained

Regarding “Next Stop: Somewhere Else” by Christopher Reynolds, June 24: After graduating from college in 1988, a friend and I took off to backpack through Southeast Asia and the South Pacific rim. I was gone 14 months. My dad worried I’d become a bum, my yuppie boyfriend didn’t understand my desire to travel instead of getting a good job and settling down, and my restaurant co-workers asked whether I had rich parents underwriting my trip and whether or not we had booked all our hotels and rental cars.

All I had was $5,000 in savings, a package of open-ended airline tickets and a backpack. It was an adventure I will never forget — and a life-changing one at that. Not only did I see and experience amazing things and spend far less money than I would have had I stayed home that year, but I also found myself and the path I was meant to be on. For that I will be eternally grateful.

Cathy Housman

Fullerton