Thanks all! Everything is now in my list.
Quote Originally Posted by Hanna
... are you there on holiday or work?
It is a business trip, so I am limited in sightseeing only by weekends and nights.

Quote Originally Posted by rockzmom
there was a very short little part at the very end about the trees, but when I got to see the trees at long last, I recalled the cartoon.
Well, I was considering to go to L.A. on a weekend but it would take me about 6 hours driving to and then 6 hours driving back only for all the big letters "HOLYWOOD" be mine.

Quote Originally Posted by rockzmom
Do you have something in particular you are interested in that you would like to learn about or is your passion?
It is hard to have any particular interest in the place you have never been before. But I'd like to get as more impressions which would fill me up as to be able to say at the end "Well now I can think of myself as of a californian a little bit".

Travel by Train in the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California
The idea to take a train trip sonds really intriguing.

BTW. I've got some more advice:

Santa Cruz, 17-Mile Drive, and Monterey Bay Aquarium.