2017 Pacific Coast Trip - Sequoia National Park

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/XxRkKhLwAjo1VA8N7

Monday, May 1^st – Saturday, May 6^th 

Three Rivers Hideaway RV Park, Three Rivers, California

We drove east from the coast toward Sequoia National Park, through some beautiful mountain valleys, then down to the “central valley”, passing through many agricultural and industrial areas. This area is the San Joaquin Valley, which is known as one of the largest agricultural areas in the country.  As we neared the eastern side of the valley we thought we saw huge clouds in the distance, when we realized this was snow covered Sierra Nevada Mountains. Wow, we didn’t know that these mountains were so high and still had snow. We entered the town of Three Rivers and setup our RV in a park just 3 miles from the entrance to the Park. This was a neat little mountain town, no cell service except in the south side of town.

We spent one day in Sequoia, visiting all the iconic huge trees. Even though we were close to the Park entrance, the drive up into the mountains was a winding, switchback mountain road for 24 miles. We visited the Sentinel Tree, General Sherman Tree and the Giant Forest of Sequoias.  The Giant Forest Museum was interesting to learn all about these special, ancient trees. It was amazing to view such huge trees and to learn about the life and ages of the trees. The General Sherman is the largest tree in the world by volume. Our hikes around the trees were easy, 1-3 miles in length. The northern portion of the Park was still closed due to snow on the ground and some road closures. That was okay for us, as we saw the main attraction trees. Kurt also hiked up to the peak of Moro Rock, where the views of the Sierra Nevada’s were spectacular. After a few hours of “sequoia gazing” we returned to the RV Park. It was a long day, and driving the winding mountain roads was very tiring. Anyway, we did enjoy the trees and the beautiful mountains.

Another feature in the area is the Kaweah River. With the massive snows and early warm weather, the snowmelt had turned the Kaweah River and its three forks into a raging, white water, dangerous rivers. While we were there, a local 18 year old man slipped into the river and was found the next day downstream. Very tragic for his family, so many people do not understand the power of these raging rivers. The Park ended up closing all river access to protect people from the danger. Our RV park was right on the Kaweah Middle Fork. There was a “swimming hole” on a side section of the river. We did take the dogs down to that beach and hang out a few times, but the water was extremely cold and we didn’t let the dogs go near the river part. In the days we were there, the river rose about 2 feet at the swimming hole.

There were mountain biking/hiking trails a couple of miles from the RV park. We drove up in the foothill mountains and spent two days there biking and another day we took the dogs for a hike. We all enjoyed the activities there and got some exercise.

Another day, Kurt drove back into the lower part of Sequoia NP to hike the Marble Falls Trail. He hiked up the mountain on the trail the followed the river. There were several waterfall cascades and then Marble Falls at the top of the trail. The pictures are amazing, as the surrounding rocks on the side of the falls are bright, white marble. Very different from other waterfalls we have seen.

Kaweah Lake is downstream of the convergence of the three forks into the Kaweah River. We spent our last day on this lake at the Slickrock Recreation Area. We took the dogs and a picnic lunch to the lake. Kurt took the kayak and did paddle around a little. We had a nice day with beautiful weather. After six days visiting this area, we were ready to move on to Yosemite National Park.

2017 Pacific Coast Trip - Morro Bay, California

Photo link:
https://goo.gl/photos/9jVx1hUVWZh5oVDz8

Monday, April 24^th – Saturday, April 29^th

Morro Strand RV Park, Morro Bay, California

As we drove on the 101 north out of the Santa Ynez valley, we passed through the cities of Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo, then on highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) over to Morro Bay. What an amazing coastal community! We stayed at an RV park that was a short walk down to the beach and a 1 mile bicycle ride to town. This is one of the few remaining “beach towns” that feels like it’s stuck in the 70’s. The town lies along the bay and the harbor is filled with commercial fishing boats, restaurants and shops along the harbor shore. What a quaint little town filled with friendly people. The first evening we walked the dogs down to the beach and let them run off leash. Luca went crazy and ran way down the beach, then turned around and ran back. He was in doggie heaven! Kody (Kruzer) even went wild and ran around like crazy. The wind was blowing about 30mph and got them all wound up, they had so much fun! The premier landmark is the huge rock at the beach named Morro Rock, by Juan Cabrillo. He was the same Portuguese explorer that first landed at San Diego. South of the Rock is a long expanse of high sand dunes that create the bay and more beaches. The beach with the Rock and the harbor town was such a wonderful surprise!

The next day we drove south to the Montana de Oro State Park, which lies along the coast. There were mountain bike trails there and a great bike path along the shore. Our first stop was at Spooner Bay, where there is a beautiful crescent beach with rocky cliffs. We rode our bikes along the Bluff Trail for over 2 miles, then headed back. The wind was so strong, at some points we felt like we would be blown over; but fortunately the wind was blowing from the ocean to the shore. We stopped at several areas to view the incredible cliffs, beaches, tide pools, and the mountains just to the east. It was actually very chilly due to the cold wind, but very enjoyable.

One of our dreams for California was to drive north on the Pacific Coast Highway 1 (PCH) up to Big Sur. We found out that some sections of the road were closed due to the winter storms that caused mud and rockslides; even the iconic Pfeiffer Big Sur Bridge was damaged so badly that it had to be demolished and is in the process of being rebuilt. What a bummer. However, we were able to drive up to Ragged Point, which is the most southerly part of the Big Sur coastline. It was beautiful and gave us a good feel for what the Big Sur looks like. Along the way we stopped in several areas; including Moonstone Beach, with its black sand, the Piedras Lighthouse, and the Elephant Seal Rookery. Some areas along the drive were covered in fog, so the views were diminished.

We spent another day back at Montana de Oro SP to ride the mountain bike trails. Boy, were we surprised at such well-designed trails that made the ride so much more enjoyable. Even though the elevation gain was several hundred feet, the ascents were not so difficult because of the switchbacks. I rode further than I thought was possible and enjoyed the incredible views back towards the ocean. While Kurt was still riding I headed back to the trailhead and visited an historic ranch house on the property. The Spooners were the original settlers there who were involved with gold mining and cattle ranching. The stories were amazing of these brave people who came to the California Coast to start a new life. Also, their property overlooked the view of the bay. This property was eventually purchased by the state which now manages the park.

Another bucket list item we were able to check off was a visit to the Hearst Castle! This property is along the coast about 40 miles north of Morro Bay, near a small historical fishing village of San Simeon. Looking east up at the mountains, the Castle is visible from the highway. William Randolph Hearst built this amazing home on the top of a hill where his family had setup a camp when he was a child. He loved this part of the coast so much that we decided to build something really grand for his family. The tour started with a museum and some history of the family. Wow, to be that wealthy back then to afford their lifestyle was amazing. The Hearst’s gained their riches in gold mining and then cattle ranching, and eventually in the newspaper business. The Castle is magnificent, with its European architecture, antiquities and designs. The gardens on the property were extremely gorgeous and filled with amazing statuary. There were three exquisite guest houses surrounding the Castle. He was like many rich moguls at the time and loved to entertain guests, among them many movie stars (he owned some movie studios and also the newspapers) and friends from back east. He even built a landing strip down near the shore so he could fly in his guests! He only lived there for about 13 years before he passed away. After that, the estate donated the house and surrounding 128 square miles to the state. It is now managed by the California State Parks. We truly enjoyed the tour, learning the history and visiting San Simeon. If you are ever in the central coast of California, do not miss this tour!

On our last day, we rode our bikes into Morro Bay for breakfast and to explore the town. At the wharfs, we found a group of sea otters hanging out in the warm waters, some with babies at their side. It was fascinating to watch them sleeping, eating and playing with the pups. We could have watched them for hours.  As we rode our bikes back toward the RV park, we noticed a huge gathering by Morro Rock with kites flying everywhere. What a surprise, there was a Kite Festival going on at the beach! Wow, we stopped by there and watched the kite flying competition and all the attendees with their amazing kites. The competitors flew their kites choreographed to music, some of the presentations were with multiple kites in synchronization.  We rode back to the RV and walked the dogs down to the beach, viewing the event from the north side. We had never seen anything like this, only in California! So much fun, what a delightful day at the beach.

Our stay at Morro Bay was so enjoyable, one of our favorites. We really loved the quaint little harbor town, a hidden gem. It was not busy like so many other places in California. This is a place we would definitely visit if we are ever in California again. Another destination that we didn’t want to leave so soon.

Our California adventure continues as we head northeast to Sequoia National Park.

2017 Pacific Coast Trip - Santa Barbara, California

Photo link:
https://goo.gl/photos/mguT2yCRPmG4sRDY9

Tuesday, April 18^th – Sunday, April 23^rd

Cachuma Lake County Park – Santa Barbara, California

The next destination of Santa Barbara brought us back to the west coast of California. We drove the back highways and stayed north of the Los Angeles area. The highways took us through a huge valley north of the Angeles National Forest, through the Santa Clarita area, then to the coast. Another amazing, scenic drive. At this point the coast runs east and west along Santa Barbara County. After driving through part of Santa Barbara, the highway headed over the Santa Ynez Mountains to Cachuma Lake. This huge lake is a Santa Barbara County Park. There were over 400 campsites, cabins and yurts.

The next day we headed down to the shore to check out the city and beaches. The drive was on a small mountain road, winding down along huge estates, vineyards and hillsides filled with tree groves. What a beautiful city! We noticed right away that this is a very upscale area. Palm Beach has nothing on this town. Also, we noticed that no buildings were higher than three stories! It was wonderful to not see high rise buildings anywhere.  The Spanish/Mediterranean architecture of almost all buildings was a nice touch. The beaches were beautiful and they are all dog friendly. There was a paved bike/walk trail all along the beach, which we rode one day. There were parks and cafes along the beachside also. There was an area on the west beach that rose up to craggy cliffs, it was a great view.

Offshore of Santa Barbara there are several islands, The Channel Islands National Park. There are ferries to a couple of the larger islands. These are all preserved, even fishing within a few miles of the shores is not allowed. It’s so strange to look out over the Pacific and see mountains! We also noticed the haze along the coast and the islands. We were told that this is due to smog from the California cities and even from across the ocean.

Another thing we noticed were the oil rigs offshore. These are now not operational, as they were shut down many years ago. The huge city marina there is home to a large commercial fishing fleet. The Steams Wharf is a huge pier where one can drive their vehicle. There are numerous shops and restaurants. We rode our bikes onto the wharf and saw amazing views back toward the city and mountains.

Another day we took the dogs down to Goleta Beach State Park, where we could let them run off leash. It was a gorgeous day and we all had a nice time.

At the lake found the Sweetwater Trail, a nice mountain biking/hiking trail along the lakeshore. It turned out to be a challenging, 2.5 mile trail with steep, rocky ascents and descents. This trail was our activity for two days. The views were amazing with mountains to the north and south. Kurt hiked a trail in the Santa Ynez Mountains, near the campground. The Tequepis Trail follows ridges up to the peak of Tower Mountain, where there were 360 degree views. He took some great photos up there.

We truly enjoyed the Santa Barbara area and the valley where we camped. It was one of the most gorgeous places we have been so far. It certainly is a great place to visit, but I don’t think I could live here. We thought taxes were high in Palm Beach County, everything is so expensive to live here. Again, we hated to leave so soon, but we were heading to see more of the coast. Next stop, Morro Bay.

2017 Pacific Coast Trip - Joshua Tree National Park

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/cbMsBkAt7RqwYpKr7

Tuesday, April 11^th - Monday, April 17^th  

Twentynine Palms RV Resort – Twentynine Palms, California

Our next destination took us north and then eastward to Joshua Tree National Park. We had to drive on some interstates, but found back highways that were more interesting. This drive took us through more valleys surrounded by mountains. There were some very high mountains that still had snow on the peaks, among them San Jacinto Peak at 10,833’. The valley is surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest. This area is definitely a desert environment.

As we approached the town of Twentynine Palms where we stayed at an RV resort, we began seeing Joshua Trees scattered throughout the desert. These trees are in the yucca family, but are unique to this area, which is actually part of the Mojave Desert. Even though the Joshua trees are one highlight of the park, the landscape is scattered with odd shaped, rounded edge boulders. These huge boulders create interesting hiking trails and some areas have primitive campsites among the rocks.

Joshua Tree National Park was definitely a hiking event. While there we hiked the Arch Rock Trail and Skull Rock Trail. These two trails consisted mostly of the large rounded boulder rocks and many wandering paths among them. We also hiked a loop trail called The Lost Horse Mine Trail, which went back up in a mountain area to a historic gold mine. This mine was one of the most productive gold mines in the area during the Gold Rush of California. My favorite hike was the Ryan Mountain Trail, where we hiked to the peak of the mountain and had incredible views of all the surrounding valleys. The Barker Dam Trail was a mile and a half loop that took us back to a lake that was created by a farmer named Barker when he built a dam. This was a very nice trail again meandering paths throughout the rocks.

One day we drove back west towards Yucca Valley to ride some mountain bike trails that we had found online. The trails were very much a desert environment and were mostly sandy double tracks. I rode a couple of miles and then decided it wasn't worth it. Kurt headed on out to the more difficult single-track trails and was able to ride a couple more miles. As we have found in our travels, not all mountain biking trails are what they are said to be.

One day we drove south in the Park to the Keys View Point overlook, which provided an amazing view of the valley south of the park. The San Andreas Fault lies in this valley. The fault fissures are visible from the viewpoint. Also within this Valley are the towns of Palm Springs and Coachella, amount other smaller towns.

We really enjoyed our stay at this amazing desert National Park, but we were ready to move on back to the coast. Looking forward to her visit in the Santa Barbara area.

2017 Pacific Coast Trip - San Diego, California

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/HJELeCjHhdhYTG737

Tuesday, April 4^th - Monday, April 10^th  

Mission Bay RV Park – San Diego, California

The drive to San Diego took us across the southernmost desert of California and then over mountains through the Cleveland National Forest. Wow, we had no idea there was a major mountain range to cross. There were several windmill farms in the valleys, along with growing communities with homes dotting the mountainsides and valleys. Again, we saw more new urban sprawl outside of a major city. The drive was through a different environment than we have seen before. As we descended the mountains and entered the urban areas, the population (housing) density was even more incredible. Houses on top of mesas, on sides of mountains and along the highway.  Finally, we arrived in Mission Bay, such a gorgeous area of San Diego.

We stayed a week at Mission Bay RV Park. This park was our choice due to the location (on Mission Bay waterfront) and the amenities. There was a walk path along the bay where we were able to walk our dogs with a waterfront view.

The first day we headed out for a drive around the area and to visit the Cabrillo National Monument. This monument honors the landing by Juan Cabrillo, being the first European to discover the west coast of America. We were so surprised to find an amazing peninsula with high elevation and rocky cliffs. This property is also occupied by the US Navy, with various naval institutions operating there. The views of San Diego are spectacular! On the Oceanside, there are whale viewing areas for the winter migrations. Anyone visiting this area should drive up there to see the beauty and views. We drove through many areas of San Diego heading back to Mission Bay.

Another day we headed north to the Carmel Valley (not to be confused with Carmel By the Sea near Monterey). This is a sprawling valley with many housing communities. Black Mountain Community Park is located there, which has a mountain bike trail system. We rode several miles and enjoyed the views from the trails. From there, we headed over to La Jolla, a community along the elevated, rocky coast. It is very upscale and is the location where Scripps Research institutions were founded. The coast was incredible with high rocky cliffs, tide pools, beaches and coves where seals and sea lions were hanging out. It was a beautiful day and we truly enjoyed walking along the shore.

We discovered there is a trolley (actually a train) public transportation, so we found a parking place near the station, which happened to be next to Old Town San Diego. First we walked through the historic area, viewing the buildings and learning about the founding of San Diego. We also had a great lunch from a taco stand, authentic Mexican tacos and salsa. After that we got back on the train and took it to San Ysidro at the Mexican border. Kurt just wanted to see the border and he saw that the traffic going into Mexico was miles long and was told that if we entered then the return could take up to a couple of hours waiting in line in immigration. Fortunately, we did not cross over to Mexico, I just was not excited about going into Tijuana. On the way back, we decided to get off the train in downtown San Diego.  We walked around checking out the area, what a nice clean city. We were impressed. Anyway, the train trip was long and we finally got back to our truck to return to camp. It was a long but fun day.

The next day we took our bikes down to Pacific Beach and rode the beach boardwalk from the north end down to the inlet at Mission Beach. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun people watching. The beaches are so different here from those in south Florida. After returning to camp we took the dogs to Dog Beach, on the south side of the inlet at Mission Beach. This is an off-leash, dog designated beach. Our boys had so much fun running, sniffing and playing with any dog who wanted to play. It was one of the nicest beaches for dogs we have seen, other than our Jupiter Beach at home.

One afternoon we decided to take the dogs to a beachside area called Sunset Cliffs. This is on the south side of San Diego and has a walk path along the several miles. The dogs enjoyed the walk and we all had fun. Again, the coast line beaches are so amazing with the big waves, cliffs, rocky ledges and great views.

Our last day there we decided to go to the world renowned San Diego Zoo. We don’t normally go to zoos, but this was the San Diego Zoo! And we didn’t know if we would ever make it back out here someday. It was worth the price and we spent most of the day there observing the wonderful animal habitats and looking at species we had never seen before.  Our favorite exhibit was the meerkats! A few years ago we watched a series on NatGeo called Meerkat Manor, so we were already biased about this sweet little animals.

We were sad to leave San Diego, but again, California is a big state and there is still so much to see! On to Joshua Tree National Park.

2017 Pacific Coast Trip - Yuma, Arizona

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/j96UN1gYANbqBbg26

Thursday, March 30^th - Tuesday, April 3^rd 

Riverfront RV Park - Yuma, Arizona

As a stopover heading toward California, we stayed in Yuma for five days. Yuma is located at the extreme southwest corner of Arizona where the state borders California just north of the Mexican border. We were very surprised to see that this is such a huge city, spread out for miles around the desert area and the green Colorado River valley. The area was desert environment and very flat. The only mountains were very distant. We saw extensive agriculture within the valley and were surprised to find out that winter lettuce is one of their largest crops, along with wheat, alfalfa and melons. Because of the climate, agriculture is a year round business. The development of a major irrigation system drawing water from the Colorado River, the valley is very fertile and productive. Also, the city is full of RV parks, since many north westerners spend their winters in Yuma.

Yuma also has a very large military presence. The military installations include the Marine Corp Air Station and the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Grounds. Because of this, we observed many aircraft flying around the area, from fighter jets to large bombers and helicopters.

We quickly found out that there are not many outdoor adventures around the area. We did find a mountain bike park in the desert, but after riding just a few miles, it was a big disappointment. So most of our days there were spent exploring the town. The city has many bicycle trails and green parks. One day we rode our bikes on a trail that passed right by the RV park. We were able to ride into town, explore some historical parks and see the Colorado Crossing location. The historic Yuma Territorial Prison is now a State Park and part of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area. The Colorado Crossing is historic as most frontier explorers and settlers passed through here heading to California. At that time the Colorado was a huge rushing river and the crossing was dangerous. Many settlers had to leave many of their belongings in Yuma, since it was difficult to carry them all across the river in their covered wagons. Because of this, there are many antiquities remaining in the area.

The fortunate (or unfortunate) event was that our grey water tank valve broke while we were in the park. Kurt spent a whole day working on this and was able to get the parts at a nearby RV parts store (fortunately for all the RV’s in Yuma) and was able to replace the valves for all the tanks. This was a nasty job to do, but he saved a few hundred dollars by not having a repairman come out and fix it. Now he can add RV plumbing to his retirement resume J …

We were very ready to move on to California and enjoy the great weather and beautiful landscapes. On to San Diego!

2017 Pacific Coast Trip – Tucson, Arizona

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/kHUQbZas5WsJuFs9A

Thursday, March 23^rd  – Wednesday, March 29^th

Catalina State Park – Tucson, Arizona

The drive from New Mexico to Arizona was spectacular, as we chose to drive highway 60, a back road mountain drive. After spending a night at the Walmart parking lot in Show Low, Arizona, we woke up to a very cold morning and snow falling. Wow, we knew it was cold, but snow in March? However, Show Low is at a high altitude of 6345’. The scenic drive from Show Low to Globe, Arizona was one of the most beautiful and surprising drives we have ever taken. We passed over high altitude mountains, through a few passes and two major canyons. The first view to take our breath away was Corduroy Canyon, with multi-colored reds and browns along the canyon walls. Further along the road we passed through the Salt River Canyon, which was even bigger and longer. At a rest stop down in the canyon, we were able to view the river up close. This area was used for white water rafting and kayaking. We watched a few paddlers receiving training for an upcoming white water trip. After a few hours, the road wound out of the mountains and down into the Tucson Valley. We finally arrived at Catalina State Park, at the base of the Catalina foothills. We stayed at this park back in 2014 when were in Tucson. We love it there!

While there, we hiked some amazing trails in the park. The longest, most challenging trail is the Romero Canyon trail, which I hiked by myself, while Kurt mountain biked at the Golder Ranch. Kurt hiked Romero Canyon on the next day. Another day, I hiked my favorite trail, Montrose Pools, a smaller canyon with a creek flowing down through the canyon with multiple small waterfalls and water pools. The hike was challenging with steep climbs, rock scrambling and trying to follow the trail among the rocks and water. It was very enjoyable on a beautiful day in the mountains.

We also mountain biked at Tucson Mountain Park, on some great desert trails. After biking, we stopped at the Saguaro National Park Visitor Center. The Saguaro (sa-WAH-ro) cactus are unique to southern Arizona in the Sonoran Desert. This time the Saguaro were not yet in bloom, too early in the season. In 2014 when we were here, they were in full bloom with gorgeous white flowers on the very tops of the cactus arms.

On our last day there, we went back to the Golder Ranch trails. The weather was perfect for riding; sunny and a little chilly. We both rode trails that we enjoyed. At one point, I took a wrong turn and ended up in a field where cattle were grazing. No problem, until I realized I was not on the right trail, turned around and on the way back, a young black cow was standing right in the middle of the trail facing me. We had a standoff for a few minutes before he decided to move along off the trail.  Whew! I didn’t want to stand out there much longer, it was a little nerve racking. Anyway, I got back on track and really had fun on the rest of the ride.

Now it was time to continue westward. The next stop will be in Yuma, Arizona where we have never been.