Joshua Tree

Leaving the California coast we headed inland toward Palm Springs to a city called Indio.  This town was picked based on campground and it's proximity to Joshua Tree National Park.

A Place Where Everyone Can Spell Diego

We left Long Beach and drove south.  Diego has family in this area too, so we were planning a little reunion.
We camped at Guajome Regional Park in Oceanside, CA.  The campground was just okay.

We spent a couple of days in San Diego.  We drove by Balboa Park to see things.  Then to Seaport Village to get some work done.  The weather was just beautiful and there was a Starbucks right next to the village.  We all got a little work done and then the girls all headed down to the park by the water.

All I Want To Do Is Have Some Fun.........

We left Santa Maria and took Hwy 101 down towards the coast through Santa Barbara and Ventura.  At Ventura we headed down towards hwy 1 on the coast.  Once the ocean came back into view we were near Point Mugu and had a hungry group.  Took the first ocean side spot that we would fit into and made some lunch.


We took our time relaxing with the beautiful view and somewhere in those relaxing moments we locked ourselves out of the truck :)

Butterfly Trees

This next stop was picked because it was literally the only place we could find for Thanksgiving weekend.  Making reservations has proved to be our least favorite activity this past year and in our denial we waited until the last minute to reserve something.  As we started calling around we realized, wow, a lot of people go camping on Thanksgiving.  Finally one lady called us back and had a spot.  At this point I was wondering, why does she have a spot?  How bad is it? :)

It turned out to be fine and the girls loved it because there was a Boomers next door.  It's a race car, putt putt, batting cage place.  The weather was very nice and even warmer than our previous stop.

Visited the little Danish town of Solvang that was nearby.  Cute little place with a neat history.

Bubble Gum, Anyone?

A little southeast of our previous stop, we headed to Paso Robles.  We were trying to make our way down the coast and based on campground preferences and a recommendation to check out San Luis Obispo, we ended up in this area.

The campground was a nice little place.  Nothing fancy, but had lots of sun since we had been covered by redwoods at the previous spot we were happy to have it.

The car and camper had a professional bath this week.  They are white again.

Not a Derelict to be Found

We cut back across the state and headed back out to the coast.  We were aimed for Watsonville, because I had found a campground that seemed nice.  We arrived in the dark and it was raining. When we arrived I looked at Diego and said, "I'm not gonna stay here."  We have driven into several campgrounds this past year that have not been the best, but this particular evening I either wasn't in the mood or it was that bad, I'm not sure which.  We found another place and headed that way.

 We ended up staying at Santa Cruz Redwoods RV Resort.  It was fine and definitely better than our first option.  Paid the most for a week at a campsite that we have the whole trip.  We were just outside of a town called Felton and it was a quaint place.

This week we visited San Francisco and spent some time on both sides of the Golden Gate Bridge that we learned is called that because it is built over the Golden Strait.

Golden Gate from the north end.

Lake "Taco" and the Captain

Our next destination was found in an effort to get as close as we could to Lake Tahoe and Yosemite NP, but not be freezing cold.  The campgrounds were slim pickins, but we found one called Commanche Lake Recreation Area and even though it didn't have many ratings, the other options had terrible ratings, so we took a gamble.  It felt like we left civilization to get to the site, which if you're on vacation is good, but if you living everyday life it is not always the best.

The campground itself was nice and our site was on the lake.  Apparently it can be a pretty rowdy campground in the summer, but for us in early November, it was quiet and peaceful.

That's our camper out there in the distance.  Commanche Lake Rec Area.

Hallow Redding

Made the pass from California's coast inland toward Redding.  The drive was very scenic with a hint of fall colors.

The pass from Arcata to Redding.  Beautiful drive.

NPS Recreation area on our way into Redding.

Redding was a nice change of scenery.  Much drier conditions and lots of sunshine!  The laundry has become my humidity test.  There are so many things that we don't put in the dryer and when I hang them out to dry, depending on our where we are, it can take anywhere from 30 minutes up to 3 days to dry.  In the Coos Bay area I thought they would never dry.  This was a "30 minutes to dry" stop.

Tree Giants

We left the Coos Bay/Charleston area a day earlier than we had planned and followed Hwy101 south. Had a travel day with on and off rain and sunshine.  The air at some times seemed so thick with moisture it was like driving through the clouds.  We were headed for the town of Arcata, CA and excited to see some redwoods.  We took lots of pictures because the views of the ocean and cliffs from Hwy 101 were so beautiful and there were lots of pull off areas.