Late Summer 2024 With great memories of our visit to Yosemite, we left the park with a promise to return in the future. We turned west and headed to the California coast. We jumped onto the Coastal Highway (Rte 1) at Bodega Bay. Ah, the blue of the Pacific! Further up the coast, we camped at Hendy Woods State Park, one of our favorite parks, near Philo, CA. You camp among the trees, and then you can hike into the…
Yosemite National Park has been on our bucket list for several years. Actually, my interest began in the 1970s, when I got my first 35mm camera and started monkeying around with photography. Ansel Adams’ photos sparked both my desire to capture better images and also to visit the place that so inspired his work. Booking campsite reservations in the National Parks is a high tech sport in itself. On-line reservations for mid-June opened on February 15, at 7am, PST. With…
Route 61 stretches 1,400 miles from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Wyoming, Minnesota. The highway, for the most part, hugs the twisty Mississippi River. The southern section, which we planned to visit, is referred to as The Delta Blues Highway. For over 100 years, it’s been considered the heart of blues music. More famous blues musicians have come from this area than anywhere else in the country. Son House, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, BB King, Sam Cooke, W.C. Handy, Albinia Jones,…
After visiting friends in Arizona, we started making our way back to Texas to catch the eclipse. When we attempted to make camping reservations, every place that was in the Path of Totality was completely full. We wound up booking a campsite at the state park in Abilene, Texas, thinking that we could make a daytrip on April 8, to get a better view of the full eclipse. Enroute, we camped at several spots in Arizona, including Homolovi in Winslow,…
Early spring weather in the Southwest is a mixed bag. Days can be brilliantly sunny and warm with clear blue skies. The weather can also turn on a dime and deliver wind, rain, or snow. We spent a week in south Texas, working our way west into New Mexico, and we were quickly reminded how windy it was the last time we were here! In several years of galavanting through Texas, our timing has always been a little off for…
Our travel year is already off to a busy start. To quickly recap, we spent Christmas 2023 in New Orleans. We zipped around and enjoyed a whirlwind visit to Preservation Hall for some jazz and a night on the town. Habitat for HumanityIn January, we returned to Dade City, Florida, to volunteer again as Care-A-Vanners for Habitat for Humanity. We’ve worked on this building project several times, so the territory is familiar. And so are the volunteers. It was fun…
September – October 2023 Floyd, VA We spent the last two weeks of September in Floyd, VA, helping with a Habitat for Humanity housing project. We’re part of Care-A-Vanners, which is a Habitat program for RV’ers. We had helped with this same project in the spring and were asked to return to help the project move forward. Each Habitat build is different. This particular project has had way more than its share of challenges. Overall, the build still has a…
August to Early September 2023 Maumee Bay State Park, Oregon, Ohio We had stayed at this campground several times during our travels and were impressed. The campground and amenities are great, as is the location. The park is on Lake Erie not far from Toledo. The campsites are sunny and grassy, the bath house and laundry are spotless, and there are great bike paths to the beach. On one visit, we chatted with volunteers who encouraged us to consider camphosting….
June – July 2023 Crater Lake We visited Crater Lake on June 20th, one day before the offical start of summer. Surprise! We arrived to find a fresh dusting of snow and frosty temperatures to match. A clear, bright blue sky made the water look dark navy blue. Crater is the deepest and purest lake in the U.S. This mountaintop lake was once a volcano. An eruption 7,700 years ago created the crater and set the stage for this 2,000…
June 2023 We spent our last night in Colorado at Williams Fork Reservoir near Parshall. This first-come, first-served campsite was a great find and a good place to relax before beginning our swing through several National Parks. The next day, we continued west and stopped at the Dinosaur National Monument near Jensen, Utah. This park has a rich and interesting history. To make a very long story short, millions of years ago there was a drought in this river valley…