| There are many fun not-too-far-off places to go | | | | geographically and home to the volcano Mauna Kea, |
| during the winter to get away from the freezing | | | | the tallest mountain in the islands. All the islands were |
| weather. My favorites are California, Florida, Hawaii, | | | | formed from volcanoes. Honolulu, the capitol and |
| Mexico, and the Caribbean. (Actually I live in California, | | | | largest city in Hawaii, is on the island of Oahu. Hawaii |
| so I don't have to go there on vacation!) | | | | also has many beautiful beaches. |
| California is my favorite state. I have lived there for | | | | Florida is another gorgeous state with lots of sun and |
| about half my life and I never get tired of it. Both | | | | nice beaches. Fun places to go in Florida include Miami, |
| northern and southern California are quite exciting in | | | | Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Daytona, and the Florida |
| very different ways. When people think of California, | | | | Keys, Key West in particular. Orlando has many |
| they usually think of southern California - the | | | | theme parks, including Walt Disney World and Sea |
| beaches, Hollywood, and Disneyland. These are all | | | | World. |
| very fun places to visit. The three main big cities in | | | | From Florida it's easy to get to the Caribbean by |
| southern California are Los Angeles, San Diego, and | | | | boat. A cruise is the best way to tour the Caribbean |
| Santa Barbara. | | | | Islands, which include the Bahamas, St. Martin, St. |
| Northern California is another world. San Francisco is a | | | | Lucia, Martinique, and Puerto Rico. The Islands are |
| beautiful, large old city surrounded by water on three | | | | beautiful but very poor. However, the natives are |
| sides, the San Francisco Bay to the east, the Golden | | | | quite friendly. |
| Gate to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the | | | | Mexico is another spectacular place to travel during |
| west. The Bay Area, the metropolitan area of San | | | | the winter. Besides Tijuana, which is a dump, the only |
| Francisco, is comprised of the nine counties along the | | | | places I've visited in Mexico are Cancun and the |
| San Francisco Bay and is one of the largest | | | | Yukitan Peninsula, which are quite beautiful. Cancun is |
| metropolitan areas in the country. It includes San | | | | one of many resort towns in Mexico, built primarily |
| Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, San Rafael, Santa Rosa, | | | | for tourists, some others being Acapulco, Mazatlan, |
| and San Jose. | | | | and Puerto Vaerte. To see the real Mexico, you need |
| Hawaii is the southernmost state. It consists of eight | | | | to take day trips from these cities. The Chichen Itsa |
| islands: Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, | | | | is a fabulous Mayan pyramid in the Yukitan peninsula, |
| Kahoolawe, and Hawaii. Hawaii is the biggest island | | | | an easy day trip from Cancun. |