WORLD OF WILL

It's hard to believe that Sacramento is the state capital of California. It's not very big, about the same population as Leeds, and it's a bit rubbish. We found a cheap spot to stay in a dodgy trailer park, in an area of town that seemed to consist solely of dodgy trailer parks, and then got a 'light rail' to 'downtown' (a tram to the city centre). It was ever so disappointing. There was a cathedral that was quite nice and the capitol building was fairly grand but everything else was either run down or closed. Or both. There was an ageing Westfield shopping arcade and a large police presence – though they just seemed to be interested in hassling tramps. And where was everybody? It was Saturday and yet there was hardly a soul to be seen. It was all a bit depressing. But then, just as our will to live was fading, we spotted a sign pointing to "Old Sacramento". We followed it through an underpass and emerged into a whole new world, blinking in disbe...

Just north of San Francisco are the famous vineyards and wineries of Napa Valley. I very generously let Claire drive the van for a day so that I was free to do the arduous chore of tasting wine. Purely for research you understand. There are hundreds of wineries along the valley and if, like us, you don't know the area, choosing which ones to visit can be a bit of a lottery. From experience, we have learnt to avoid the big posh-looking wineries with long driveways and immaculate topiary. They tend to be a bit snobby. Not the sort of place to welcome some idiot in a newly acquired Golden State Warriors T-shirt. Instead, we found that the smaller, slightly more rustic-looking ones tended to be a bit more friendly. First stop was a great little winery which had taken the novel step of dying their Sauvignon Blanc green as it was St Patrick's Day. It's a bit odd drinking green wine because your mind is telling you it should be minty or something. Once over that initial shock...

For me, Yosemite is a bit like The Beatles . Because so many people insist that The Beatles were the best band ever, eventually everyone just accepts that as fact. People are worried to point out that, actually, while The Beatles were a competent four-piece beat combo with some pleasant songs, the title of "best band ever" is a purely subjective one. Some people might think the same of The Rolling Stones or Queen or Brotherhood Of Man . Possibly. So it is with Yosemite National Park. So many people told us we "just had to go there", "it's an amazing place" or "it'll blow your socks off" that the pressure was on to actually get there and see what all the fuss was about. And while it is a lovely and beautiful place, I'm afraid my socks remained firmly on for my whole time there. Perhaps my expectations were just built up too much – maybe I was expecting rivers of gold and grazing unicorns or something. Instead I got the equivalent o...