Inside are century-old coast pines and, farther ahead, a wisteria arbor, gnarled yet delicate.
We saw more of the mountains next day when we drove over them to the coast - pine forests at first and then rainforest and glimpses of 'minority' villages where the montagnards (mountain people) live and farm.
Tropical rainforests occupy the eastern lowlands, while evergreen forests clothe the lower slopes along the Pacific coast, and pine and oak forests grow at somewhat higher elevations.
The decor is West Coast country, with pine-framed cabinets, and either mauve or rust-colored appointments.
The beach has seen the likes of Giorgio Armani and Donatella Versace visit, and the streets, set back from the coast and shaded with pine trees, are wall-to-wall with the villas of the elite.
Similarly, on the east coast, the related southern pine beetle was prevented from spreading too far north by winters in the northeast.
He lives in predictable mock-baronial splendour in the genteel environs of Formby, on the pine-wooded coast 10 miles or so north of Liverpool, with his wife Alex Curran and their young daughters.
Banger after banger thumps along in the same one-dimensional vein until the more subdued Wash Away, whose opening verse is so dull that you soon pine for Coasts to return to pounding singalong mode.
Comprising a single and monstrous five-storey concrete housing block stretching almost three miles along the sand dune and pine-studded coast of the east German island of Rügen, the former Prora holiday camp is one of the longest buildings in Europe.
East coast-based Skinny Pines Brick Oven Caterer use innovative packages such as The Green Box, a recyclable pizza box that can be disassembled to making it recyclable friendly.
Well, look no further than "New Jersey: 24/7" (DK Publishing, $24.95), a rich collection of 540 mesmerizing photos that reflect the length and breadth of the Garden State: from fishermen on the coast to barns in the Pine Barrens, from inner cities to lonely farms, from familiar faces to gritty scenes of anonymous people hard at work.
