The topic of my website research is to find out places to see during my
proposed summer vacation. My vacation which is
schedule for the first week in July will include a trip to the following
destinations: Santa Cruz, Monterey, Big Sir, Morro Bay,
Santa Barbara, and Oxnard. This topic is of special interest to me since
it will be one of the first trips we take with our newly
formed family of six. We adopted two children during the past year. 
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Friends of Pinnacles, a non-profit climbing organization Friends of
Pinnacles Online. http://www.pinnacles.org/fop.html (Last
visited March 7, 2001) 
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This website provided me with a wealth of information on the Pinnacles
National Monument. Although I could not find the date
that the website was last updated, the site seemed to be very updated and
had daily weather conditions posted. The site was
created by Friends of Pinnacles Climbing Organization for the sole purpose
of informing climbers and hikers of the Pinnacles
National Monument. The site has good links to campground facilities
(pictures/fees-$5 for 7 days/services), park hours and
fees, map of how to get there, letters from previous visitors, and a
wonderful array of pictures. Through the sites pictures and
vivid descriptions of the parks geological formations, I have decided to
include this park in my vacation. 
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Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation Your Ocean Link E-Quarium Monterey Bay
Aquarium Online. (2001)
http://www.mbayaq.org (Last visited March 7, 2001) 
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Like the previous site, this site provided the user with a wealth of
information on the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The primary
purpose of this site was to inform the user of the services available at
the aquarium. The site includes links to online tickets
($15.95 adult, $13.95 student, $7.95 child), and maps. In addition, the
site includes a live camera that can be viewed during
normal business hours. The website also provides coloring book type
pictures for kids, crossword puzzles, and etc. The site
has again created enough interest for me that I will include the aquarium
in my vacation itinerary. 
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Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Online
(2001) http://www.beachboardwalk.com (Last visited
March 7, 2001) 
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This site provided me with information on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
that was useful. Since I have a family that ranges in
age from 2 to 43 years old, the height requirements for rides was very
helpful information. In addition, I learned that tickets
could be bought online at a greatly reduced cost ($22.95 for adults plus
$5 online discount) to the consumer. When reviewing
this site, I also found links to mapping information that allowed me to
determine how to get there from the Los Angeles area. In
addition, movie clips were available for viewing the rides in
motion. Overall, I would highly recommend the site to others who
will be visiting the Santa Cruz area. 
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Rabold, John A Guide to Californias Big Sur
Online. (2001) http://www.jrabold.net/bigsur/ (Last visited March 7, 2001) 
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This site was last updated on February of 2001 and was written as a public
service document for the purpose of providing
information on the Big Sur area. The site has links to Caltrans for road
conditions on Hwy 1 also links to all of the state parks
along Hwy 1. The site provided me with information on how I could reserve
a campsite at Phifer Big Sur State Park using
Reserve America. The cost of reserving a campsite through this service was
$7.00 plus the camping fee. In addition, to
determine the clothes that will be necessary for the trip, the website
offers a short term weather forecast. Since I have small
children, the website also provide me with a list of restroom facilities
along Hwy 1. 
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Scarey Trailheads San Luis Obispo County
Online.(1998) http://socalmtb.com/trails/montana.htm (Last visited March
7, 2001)
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This was the last website that I researched regarding my proposed beach
trip. This website was not very informative since it
provided very few links and pictures. The reason why I decided to view
this website was to provide me with trail information in
the Montana De Oro State Park that would be useful when planning a
mountain bike excursion in the park. The site provided
good reviews from previous riders on the trail conditions and parking
conditions. One trail review provided me with the
Thomas Guide map pages for locating the parking area. Overall the site was
useful in providing me with trail information, but
lack pictures and links which would have made the site a more useful.
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