Road Trip Daily

As I got closer to LA the 1 highway went inland and mountainous. I eventually made it to Ventura, an oceanside town where the ferry boat to Channel Islands Park departs. I reserved a spot on a kayaking trip and for tomorrow then watched the Mission Impossible movie and settled into a nearby campground with lovely mountain vistas.  The sea cave kayaking at Channel Islands is legendary and very fun. The waters were very calm and clear today. The views from inside the caves. The disposable camera I bought for the trip gave the pictures an interesting blur effect. Our tour had only five people, all young and from the east coast, and two guides, a very experienced and knowledgable couple from Malibu.   After the kayak, I hiked up a coastline trail and enjoyed great views of the rocky coastline and nearby islands. Vista down the coast. I made it back to the ferry just in time for the hour-long ride back and then camped at the lake campground nearby.

Big Sur coastline continues in its beauty.  Elephant seals practice sparring. They make a snore-like belly belch sound while sparring and then after ten seconds later lie back down to snooze on the sand.  The Hearst Castle is an incredibly luxurious complex on top of a high hill overlooking the ocean and coastal mountains. The feel was Mediterranean, royal and magical.  The outdoor pool had a Roman feel-- on a hill, in California. Strangely awesome.  But the indoor pool was the tops-- like a Turkish kings dream moment come to life.  I found a beautiful campground close to the castle and stopped for the night. 

Dad and I stopped at the famous Muir Woods early in the morning on the way to the airport. We were there before the crowds and enjoyed the peacefulness.  After dropping Dad off at the airport I went to Costco to get four new tires.  Road trip necessaries. I then continued south along route 1 to Pacifica and then further, in slow traffic, to Santa Cruz. The Santa Cruz beach with its picturesque arches was packed and pretty.  The Bixby Bridge is a top feature along the Big Sur highway.  The cliff drop off was dramatic.  I drove past campgrounds at dusk, trying to stay on the scenic road at this scenic time of day as long as possible. There was a modern house perked on a cliff side where this picture was taken. What a sunset! Many miles later, I found a known boondocking road, winding up a national forest hillside, and secured a small spot with a mystic view.  

Our second father-son travel day was to Napa Valley. A recent shift in winds had caused smoke from wildfires to float into Napa, but the views were still classically pretty.  We visited the Frank Winery first, early in the day before the crowds arrived. Their wines were very very good and our server experienced and kind. We then drove south down the valley, stopping first at the Beringer Brothers Winery. Their grounds were amazing-- like a disneyworld for wine lovers, fit with mansions, gardens, live jazz and tunnel tours. We just walked around.  We circled the south end of the valley and then headed back north, hoping to avoid crowds. After a nice lunch we stopped at a couple more wineries, but waited for Chateau Montelena for another tasting. Here is a pic of us in front of the Chateau.  This Chateau had a Japanese garden and fishpond. And a very nice Cab. We then returned back to the hotel where I napped and Dad read.  We celebrated our final night together with a steak dinner!

My first adventure day with dad was a doozy. We began our day with a pleasant drive through vineyards in Sonoma on our way to the coast. Following a Classic California road trip book, and our first major stop was a redwood grove. Jenner was our first stop on the coast.  We enjoyed a tasty light lunch there and also the great views.  We went north along the coast to an incredibly remote and scenic coastline view. Great stuff.  We pushed on another hundred miles up the coast, touring a cool old Russian fort, Fort Ross, from the 1820s, and finally arrived to our journey endpoint, the Point Arena lighthouse. The lighthouse was closed by this dusk hour, but the view up and down the rocky shoreline was top-notch.  Colorful arch. Our drive back to the hotel took us up an endlessly winding road where we saw one other vehicle--a broken down old truck.  Two hours later, arriving to civilization (aka cell signal), we had a very nice dinner (thanks Dad!) and crashed in bed back at the hotel. A ful

Our family day trip to SF began with a two hour rush job to finish the John Muir Trail packing, followed by a trip to the post office for mailing, followed by a long drive to a ferry terminal north of the bay.  Shaw had masterminded a jamboree of mass transportation in and out of San Francisco, including four ferries, two streetcars and a couple of long walks, taking us to the SF harbor, Alcatraz and the Giants-Nats baseball game. Here is the gang leaving the first ferry. I have the kiddos liberty to act like animals.  We walked down the harbor, grabbed a nice lunch, and then took our second ferry to Alcatraz. Here is the required pic of the kiddos in lockup.  The Alcatraz tour was fantastic: a narrated audio guide took you around the   prison at a steady pace and talked about prison life and famous escape attempts with passionate prose. The view from the outside area, experienced by prisoners for five hours each weekend only, was quite nice.  Dad and son.  After our third ferry back t

I went in to San Francisco one weekend to visit Chris, a friend from college. Chris had recently taken a year off work to travel through Africa and Central and South America. Two other friends from college had also recently taken sabbaticals. Travel is cheap and time is short-- every one who can take time off for a "big trip" should.  Chris lives in the mission district. We walked to this park for charming views of SF.  We walked down to the docks and saw this acrobat performing for the crowd. He was very entertaining and represented the youthful expression of this new city.  We walked further along the bay to a park overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.   Sublime.  I really enjoyed reminiscing with Chris and learning about the startup and tech scene in SF.  The vibe here is young, energetic, future-optimistic, but you do get a feeling that the hotness of tech is fueled more and more by greed not by invention.  The next few days were spent playing with Anderson, Carrington and

Hanging out with my sister, brother-in-law and their three kids was a perfect change of pace from solo adventuring! Our days were filled with relaxing at home, playing school and catch and fort, watching movies, drawing, driving to kids appointments, more playing. Uncle Lee became a member of the family for the last two weeks of summer.  Here are the kiddos, starting with the youngest Grayson, 2.  He loves climbing up tables and jumping (no fear), squawking like a bird, and his mommy.  Grayson is at his ultimate cuteness when he dances up and down next to you when holding something in his mouth. Carrington, 6.  She loves playing games where she can assume the persona of other girls (with lovely creativity).  She is a very good decorator of forts. Carrington and her friend Bella loved dressing up Uncle Lee as a princess.  Anderson, 7.  He is, in his own words, "obsessed" with baseball. Close followers of the Washington Nationals, father Shaw and son Anderson share a fanaticism

My road trip began in Las Vegas on March 21st, 2015. I have visited 72 parks, driven 18,000 miles and hiked 1,200 miles so far.  Here is where I've been. Nevada Day 1 - Las Vegas Day 2 - Valley of Fire Utah Day 4 - Zion - Angels Landing Day 5 - Zion - Kolob Canyons Day 6 - Zion Narrows Day 7 - Bryce Canyon California Day 9 and 10 - Red Rock Canyon to Death Valley Day 11 - Death Valley Day 12 - Death Valley to Trona Pinnacles Day 13 - Joshua Tree Day 14 - Joshua Tree part 2 Day 15 - Joshua Tree part 3 Arizona Day 16 - Superstition Mountains - Siphon Draw Day 17 - Superstition Mountains - Battleship Mount... Day 18 and 19 - Las Vegas to Grand Canyon Day 20 - Grand Canyon - South Rim Day 21 - Grand Canyon Rim to River Day 22 - Apache Trail and Lake Day 23 - Superstition Mountains - Weaver's Needle Day 24 - Aravaipa Canyon Day 25 - Aravaipa Canyon part 2 Day 26 - Saguaro Day 26 - Chiricahua Texas Day 27 - Arriving to Big Bend Day 28 - Big Bend part 2

Lassen Volcanic Park was my last stop before taking a break from adventuring to visit with my sister and her family in Stockton CA.  Mount Lassen was the first recorded US volcano eruption in 1904-1907 and is considered an active yet dormant volcano now.  I entered the park from its north end and was greeted to a lovely lake view of 10,500 foot tall Mt. Lassen.    Further down the park highway, I stopped at the Devastated Area, the site of a massive mudslide that destroyed all life on the northeast side of the mountain.  Trees and life have wonderfully returned to the valley 100 years later.  I decided to hike 2000 feet up to the summit of Mount Lassen.  I was rewarded with wonderful views of lakes around the mountain.  This blue horizon view reminded me of the North Carolina mountains. The mountain scenery surrounding the peak was colorful and ... volcanic. I made it to the top of the peak easily and had someone take this photo of me in front of the volcano crater.

First stop Stout Grove.  The early morning mist gives the towering Redwoods strength.  With loads of winter rain and juicy summer mist, foot thick bark and natural resistances to bacteria and fire, many Redwoods are 2000 years old.  Ancients deserving great respect. The nutrients of an enormous fallen Redwood trunk give life to new trees.  This fallen trunk has become an inscription tree. Redwood is also known for vast Pacific Ocean views.  Oceans... Argh. The next major stop was the Fern Canyon, a shady, wet, an fun vertical-wall canyon covered with ferns.  I enjoyed hopping and skipping over the fallen trees and streams in this unique canyon. After lots of driving through grove after grove of old-growth forests, I arrived to my final, grand destination: the road to the Tall Trees Grove, home to the tallest tree in the world. Here is a pic of four Redwood pals, ten feet from the tallest tree.  I found out later that a taller-tallest tree has been found, somewhere