In search of the continuous road trip
Our original goal was to hike into the Grand Canyon, all the way to the bottom, in early March. But we didn’t plan well, and we didn’t end up having enough time to do it on our way back east. Still, we were practically driving …
We went back to Death Valley for the third time, a place we said we wouldn’t visit again on this trip, at least until we got a more rugged version of our Toyota Sienna (lift kit, anyone?). But it was a place that I still …
Eureka Mine is a tiny dot on the grand Death Valley map. It’s located off Emigrant Canyon Road, a small, in-and-out road whose primary purpose is to take hikers to the trail to the highest point in the park, Telescope Peak, and to take tourists to …
The first time we were in Death Valley, we tried to do the Golden Canyon/Gower Gulch Loop hike. We tried, but didn’t succeed, because the beginning of the hike, the Golden Canyon portion, is on the tourist must-do list. It was so busy the last …
We’re back in Death Valley and it feels both like we’ve never left and like it’s our first visit. The great thing about being able to return to the same place for the third time is that we can pick up where we left off …
Oh, Death Valley, how I love thee! Let me count the ways… You’re silent. I don’t mean quiet – I mean silent. As soon as I’m a mile away from a road, the only thing making noise is me. Maybe there’s a little wind, or …
After spending a few days in Paso Robles, enjoying the local produce, it was time to start heading back east. We had camped for the past four weeks – that’s right, we hadn’t spent a night, or more than a few hours, indoors for a …
Zinfandel (red, not white, as I’ve told many a server) is one of my very favorite wines. Zin is the extrovert of the wine varietals. It doesn’t hold anything back — it’s right there, in your face, giving you everything it’s got. As an introvert, …
I shouldn’t have looked over the edge. A few miles back, we had passed a sign recommending that trailers and RVs were not advised on the next sixty miles of Route 1 past San Simeon. Seemed like an overreaction at the time. Then we were …
It has occurred to me that I use the P-word too much. That’s P as in Paradise, of course. Give me clear skies, temps between 65 and 95 (I’m flexible), nice vistas, good trails, and few humans, and I’m in paradise. That’s why I’m trying …
In just about every campground, we find them. They’re the snowbirds, the kind and retired folks who’ve set up shop in this place for as long as they’re allowed before moving on to the next site (each campground has different limits on length of stay; two …
We’ve been to so many interesting and beautiful places, but when it comes down to it, we’re just not going to write an essay, say, on the Sycamore Canyon campground at Point Mugu State Park (summary: fun, cold, dramatic). But, since my camera has become …