A 66-year old Solana Beach, California man, Dr. David Martin, was attacked by a shark while swimming with a group of 9 others Friday morning at 7:21 AM. The AP reports that the man was bitten across both thighs as the group swam north from Solana Beach.

It is reported that some of the other swimmers realized what was happening and looked back to see the man under attack come up out of the water after initially being pulled under.

There are many good general guidebooks to California travel including: "The Unofficial Guide to California with Kids and Fun With the Family in Northern California." There is even a book called "Weird California" that will let you in on some of our states strangest destinations and best kept secrets.

We are lucky to have access to many city, county, state and national parks in our area. Day hikes and camping can help you get in shape and experience the unparalleled natural beauty around us. The Foghorn Outdoors series of books include: "California Camping," with listings of 1,500 tent and RV campgrounds, "California Waterfalls," with maps and descriptions of more than 200 waterfalls, and "250 Great Hikes in California's National Parks." The library has trail guides to local parks like Henry Coe too. If you do decide to go hiking, check out field guides to help you identify the birds, trees and wildlife you might see.

Who doesn’t love California’s parklands? For many of us, it’s why we live in the Golden State.

So when the California Travel & Tourism Commission sent me a news release Tuesday titled “Experience California’s Beauty at State and National Parks,” I eagerly read on.

“California State Parks alone owns or manages 1.52% of the total area of California,” Caroline Beteta, president and chief executive officer of the commission, said in the release. “That is a considerable amount of land that has been put aside for residents and visitors to enjoy…”

USATravelPal.com is slowly becoming a player in the online traveling world because of their free state traveling guides. At the point of this article, the website owner has confirmed the completion of 15 state guides; including California. Laid out much like any other traveling guide, the state of California guide is split up into distinctive geographic regions: Northern California, Wine Country, San Francisco, Greater San Francisco, Gold Country, High Sierras, Deserts, Central Coast, Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles, Disneyland, and San Diego.

Within each of the geographic regions are the specific details of the destinations of interest to travelers. Some destinations have just an overview page but others, by virtue of being more popular, are more thorough. For example in the Greater San Francisco article, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Jose have more thorough traveling guides while Angel Island, Bay Bridge, and Sausalito have just one article.

CheapTickets turned me on to an assortment of California hotel deals going on this spring. Choose from four- and five-star hotels in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, Anaheim and San Diego.

Deals: A few hotel discount examples include $60 off per night at Sofitel Los Angeles or 30% off three nights at the Westin St. Francis, W Hotel or Palace Hotel in San Francisco. There are also 15%-25%-off stays for three nights or longer and I found two fourth-night-free deals in San Jose.

When: Deal dates differ at each hotel. You can find the dates near the bottom of each page when you click on the link for the individual hotel.

Most of the new visitors are from Europe, she said. "They're all staying at very high-end properties," Buffo said.

Visitors from other countries are finding their money is buying more U.S. goods and services than it did a year ago.

After slipping for months, the dollar fell to record lows against six major currencies this month, reflecting the nation's weak economy.

The county's hotel tax receipts for the third quarter of 2007 were 9 percent above 2006. The exchange rate might not be the entire reason, but it's a factor, said Michelle Heston, who handles public relations for Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa.