Weekends on the road: The best of the American and Canadian West Coast The New York Times has been offering up dream weekends with practical itineraries in its popular weekly 36 Hours column since 2002. The many expert contributors have brought careful research, insiders knowledge, and a sense of fun to hundreds of cities and destinations, always with an eye to getting the most out of a short trip. Based on the best-selling book 36 Hours: 150 Weekends in the USA & Canada, the Times and TASCHEN now bring together the best of the West Coast . From the great urban centers on everyones travel list to surprising locales with undiscovered character and charm, the paths lead to the seaside cliffs and Hollywood cool of California, biking in Portland, island hopping in Hawaii, and well beyond. Featured destinations: Berkeley , California Big Sur, Calif. Carmel, Calif. Death Valley, Calif. Hilo, Hawaii Homer, Alaska Honolulu , Hawaii Juneau, Alaska Kauai, Hawaii Lake Tahoe, Calif. Los Angeles , Calif. Malibu, Calif. Mammoth Lakes, Calif. Maui, Hawaii Molokai, Hawaii Napa Valley, Calif. Palm Springs, Calif. Pasadena, Calif. Portland , Oregon Sacramento, Calif. San Diego , Calif. San Francisco , Calif. Santa Barbara , Calif. Santa Cruz, Calif. Santa Monica , Calif. Seattle , Washington Silicon Valley, Calif. Sonoma County, Calif. The Okanagan Valley, British Columbia The Oregon Coast, Oregon The San Juan Islands, Washington Vancouver , British Columbia Whistler, British Columbia Whitehorse, Yukon. Also available in this series: Northeast Southeast Midwest & Great Lakes Southwest & Rocky Mountains Barbara Ireland, a writer and editor based in western New York State, is a former deputy travel editor and deputy Op-Ed page editor at The New York Times. While on the Times staff, she commissioned and edited many "36 Hours" columns and wrote a few herself. She is a graduate of Cornell University and was a John S. Knight journalism fellow at Stanford University.