Our visit to Monterey was great. This is a photo and video review of Monterey. Monterey Bay is one of those places where it is easy to take beautiful photos. We need to go back. Some places are so perfect that you don’t need a lot of words to describe it. Revised September 2023 to …
Our Visit to Monterey, 12 Stunning Photos and underwater videos Read More »
What are the Amazing State Park Passes that we love to use? How did we get them? What is the cost and what are the benefits? Which ones are the best? This post is updated from the previous July 2020 post. South Dakota I also qualify for different state programs. South Dakota has discounts at …
Johnny Cloud (owner of the Cloud Museum) told me his father first purchased a Ford Model TT truck for their farm south of Yuma. (Pictured above) Then he drove it for at least a million miles when he was only eight years old. Now, this Ford Model TT truck is the star attraction at the …
It has been a wet winter in California and when that happens the desert in eastern San Diego County changes. We went seeking early spring flowers in the Anza-Borrego desert. In the summer, in the desert, I look past the small patches of dry vegetation surrounded by sand and instead focus on the dramatic views. …
Seeking Early Spring Wildflowers in the Anza-Borrego Desert Read More »
Classic Rotors is a special aircraft museum in Ramona California. One-of-a-kind refers both to the museum and the helicopters. The museum is dedicated to rescuing one-of-a-kind and unique historically significant helicopters. The all-volunteer museum staff is bringing these historical aircraft back to flying condition and then flying them. They have several one-of-a-kind helicopters and some …
Classic Rotors, a One-of-a-Kind helicopter (rescue) museum Read More »
Scientists have decided that the Cascade chain of volcanos ends at Mount Lassen. Mount Lassen is the last volcano in the chain. The Cascade chain spans more than eight hundred miles. When you count from north to south Mount Lassen is the last one. Mount Lassen is the namesake for Lassen Volcanic National Park. Lassen …
Campsite Review: March ARB Campground is located on March Air Force Reserve Base in Moreno Valley California just to the east of Interstate 215. This makes for a perfect spot to stop before or after crossing the Mojave Desert from the Los Angles Area. The best way to get to the FAMCAMP (Family Campground) is …
On our cruise, we went to Catalina Island and Cabo San Lucas. For us, the reason we went on a cruise was to go on the cruise ship. We were spoiled rotten on our cruise. We didn’t go on a cruise to go to the cruise ship ports. Instead, our goal was to experience the …
We were very spoiled on our cruise last week. We left our RV in Los Alamitos (south of Los Angeles) and spent the last week on a twenty-two hundred-mile cruise from California to Los Cabos in Mexico and back. This story is all about the ride, not the destination. We didn’t choose a cruise ship …
Campsite Review: Fiddlers Cove is a military-only campground located on the Silver Strand south of Coronado Island east of California Highway 75. It is one of the nicest RV parks we have ever stayed at. Fiddlers Cove is easily the nicest military RV Park we have ever been to. Fiddlers Cove is also probably the …
San Diego is not a liberty port. In the Navy, liberty is something you can have (get to go on) after you get all your work done. When in a liberty port, you get to leave the ship. The term is used in a sentence such as “Did you enjoy liberty?” Of course, this question …
Southbound Interstate 15 – Bad Roads for RVs – Sunday afternoon between Primm Nevada and Glen Helen California is a bad road for RVs. Since this is an Interstate Highway, there are at least two lanes and a slow lane on all the steep sections there are two steep sections. Typically the temperature is either …
Campsite Review Sweetwater Summit Campground a San Diego County Regional Park in Bonita California. It is a very nice campground. All campsites are in a small area south of Sweetwater Lake and spread out on a south-facing hillside near the California Highway 125 expressway (Tollroad). There are 112 sites on a sunny hillside in a …
Campsite Review: Guajome Park Campground a San Diego County Regional Park in Oceanside California, on Mexico Land Grant named Rancho Guajome. This grant predates the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the creation of the state of California. Prior to the land grant, the park was part of the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia founded …
Campsite Review: Lake Elsinore West Marina Campground is on the northwest end of Lake Elsinore, California. It is not a good fit for us. We are not going back. From Interstate 15 take State Route 74 west for two miles and then make a left turn into the campground. As State Route 74 passes under …
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Campsite Review: Seal Beach Campground is a military-only campground located on the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station California. It is an extremely nice campground. Ignore directions from Google maps and GPS units. These devices will take you a much longer way through the congestion of Seal Beach. From Interstate 405 exit on Seal Beach Boulevard …
From Yuma to Phoenix and now going back to California We are now going back to California. We stopped at the General Patton Museum near Indio and are now camping on March Air Force Base in Riverside. Yuma & Gila Bend At Yuma, where we had a great time looking through telescopes and relaxing in …
Campsite Review: Chiriaco Summit Campground is located north of Interstate 10 halfway between Palm Springs and the Arizona border. To get there take Interstate 10 east or west to Summit Road and turn north. As you are traveling north turn east on Chiriaco Road and you will observe the General Patton Museum parking lot on …
Campsite Review: American Girl Mine “Campground” is near an evaporated town on the California side of the Colorado River on the border of near Arizona. In my understanding, it is not subject to BLM rules but rather is private property. My guess is that it may be abandoned property. Any remnant of the town of …
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Laguna Summit – Bad Roads for RVs, is on Interstate 8 west of San Diego and Ocotillo CA. The road is steep and often has high crosswinds especially as you get near the descent into the desert. Since this is an Interstate Highway, there are at least two lanes in each direction and the curves …
Campsite Review: Del Mar Beach Campground is on Camp Pendelton, along the beach north of Oceanside California. This is a military-only campground. The nearest city with services is Oceanside. The campsite has about 120 campsites for RVs and tents. Here is a post when we stayed at Del Mar Beach Details Website: Del Mar Beach …
We are California dreaming, currently camped on the sand, right on the beach at Camp Pendleton. Sand, surf, and traffic.
Our Anniversary Yesterday was our anniversary of living in an RV full-time for two years; tomorrow will be our wedding anniversary. Comparing the two would be a fool’s errand. Most importantly let me stay upfront how lucky I am that Tami married me. I am very lucky. Travels However, this is a travel blog and …
Campsite Review: Point Mugu Campground is a military-only campground located on the NAS Point Mugu California. It is an extremely nice location but not a good campground. This review is for the campground right on the beach at NAS Point Mugu, it is not for Point Mugu State Park, which is not on the beach …
Campsite Review: Vandenberg Campground is a military-only campground located on the Vandenberg Air Force Base west of Santa Barbara. The location is west of US Highway 1, south of Santa Maria, and west of Santa Barbara. All RVs must use the Lompoc gate. Depart US Highway 1 on Santa Lucia Canyon Road then northwest on …
Campsite Review: San Luis Obispo Campground is a military-only campground located on Camp San Luis Obispo just west of US Highway 1. The location is between San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay. All RVs must use the Main Gate — stay to the right, this is the truck lane. The guards will open the gate. …
California Central Coast. Incredible sights above all have to be the Hearst Castle and Morro Bay they were very beautiful.
Happy Thanksgiving Thanksgiving came late in the month this year. We haven’t waited to be thankful. Just like last year, this year has been wonderful. We are currently in a small Army National Guard Post, between San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay. Thankful for You The first and most important thing that we are thankful …
Big Sur and Pebble Beach. We were warned that Big Sur and Pebble Beach is not RV country and I don’t disagree, but given our drives, it is not as bad as I was led to believe. We have gone down many roads that are worse, especially in Oregon, where we shared the roads with …
Mud Baths and Gold Camp Calistoga to Calaveras County. Last weekend, we were in Calistoga at the north end of Napa Valley, known for grapes and hot springs. The only easy access to Calistoga is via Napa north along Highway 128. Well for us it made for an easy departure (our trip to Calistoga southbound …
Redwoods to Grapes: If you travel south from Oregon along the coast, you will first travel from the redwoods to grapes country. Starting in Eureka we travel south through the redwoods to Ukiah heading into the heart of Napa Valley and Calistoga known for grapes, wine, and spas. Eureka to Ukiah The distance between Eureka …
Departing the beach. Solar panels on the roof, kayaks on the car… Be in Bonita for one more week, then we turn east for our longest route ever. Our objective for 2019 includes almost every cowboy state and most of the entire Oregon and California coast. Our stay at San Onofre was very nice and …
Our view at San Onofre at sunset was the best of the stay — So far. This is a great start for 2019. You can see our car and our RV and the great view of the lifeguard shack right in front of the RV. It may just be the location, but on this day, …
Why would we leave San Diego, where we have a great parking spot on San Diego Bay, overlooking the marina and sailboats and go to Boise for Christmas. The answer is family. Several of our friends have offered to come to house-sit for us, in our RV, seems like all of them are further north. …
We have a lot to be thankful for this year at Thanksgiving. At Seal Beach, it is delightful. We put 6580 miles in our travels this year (plus car miles). The last time we saw the ocean in San Diego was February 24. Since then we have explored the small roads across the west, crossed …
Halloran Summit – Bad Roads for RVs is located on Interstate 15 between Baker and the Nevada border. This road is steep for an extended distance. Since this is an Interstate Highway, there are at least two lanes and a slow lane on all the steep sections. The curves are not part of the problem. …
Cajon Pass – Bad Roads for RVs is located on Interstate 15 between San Bernardino and Victorville. This road is steep for an extended distance. Since this is an Interstate Highway, there are at least two lanes, occasionally four lanes in each direction. The curves are not part of the problem. There are dedicated slow …
Mesquite Springs It was quiet in Death Valley especially at our new campsite in Mesquite Springs. and beautiful. Eight days might be a little long. Each day provided new views and light shows with unexpected attractions. We saw the Milky Way span across the sky, identified Mars and Saturn without a telescope and counted at …
Westgard Pass – Gilbert Summit is on California Highway 168 west of Big Pine California to Oasis California. This is a bad road for an RV. In Oasis Highway 168 connects to Nevada Highway 266. Westgard Pass connects to White Mountain Road and leads to Grandview Campground. Nevada Highway 266, south from Oasis is also …
Westgard Pass – Gilbert Summit, Bad Roads for RVs Read More »
Death Valley Days 2018 brought to you by 20 mule team Borax. It is still very warm in Furnace Creek, Death Valley National Park at the end of October, next time we visit the bottomland will be in January. I am surprised that anyone ever came to the valley in the summer, especially to work. …
Not Recommended We found our comfort limit today. It is 8! We did a narrow winding road, 30 miles long at less than 20 mph at 8% grade, sometimes it got steeper, and we went both up and down in first gear. At one time the canyon walls narrowed the road down to one lane. …
A million-dollar view and we own it. Joshua Tree National Park is a wonderland. We have no electricity, no water, no sewer, no cell phone coverage, and no computers. It sounds like the introduction theme to Gilligan’s Island. We do have a view. Wow-what a view out our window. You can’t buy such a view, …
Campsite Review: San Onofre Beach Campground is on Camp Pendelton, along the beach south of San Clemente. This is a military-only campground. The nearest city with services is San Clemente. The campsite has 118 campsites for RVs and tents. To get to the campground, the primary way (and usually the only way) is to enter …
Fiddlers Cove We traded our spot on the beach for three weeks overlooking San Diego bay. Our new digs are Fiddlers Cove Marina and RV Park, operated by the Navy on the Silver Strand, south of Coronado Island. I’m hoping from the picture of Fiddlers Cove, that you will agree that this is a very …
Campsite Review: Lake O’Neill Campground is on Camp Pendelton, on the north side of Lake O’Neill. This is a military-only campground. The full name is Lake O’Neill Recreation Park which includes the campground, lake, and other recreation facilities intended for use by military personnel. The nearest city with services is Oceanside. The campsite has 40 …
Surfing on New Years Day in San Diego (Alas, we don’t surf) Camping at Camp Pendleton this December and January has been interesting. In mid-December, we moved north from our campground at Admiral Baker in Mission Valley San Diego to Lake O’Neill in Camp Pendleton (spared by the Lilac Fire). Mission Valley was great but …
(I promise this will not turn into an hour by hour blog.) On our first night, we have a problem. First, there was a loud knock on the door and the neighbors are screaming fire. Who could make this up? Indeed there was a brush fire, racing up the hill directly across from the campground. …
On our first day, as full-time RVers, we weren’t going to go very far. Towing the toad On our trip to Idaho, we towed our car. It hardly seemed worthwhile to hook and the car up for twelve miles on our first day, so instead, I drove the car behind the RV as Tami drove …
This is our first-day damage control story. Wildfires With our hotel stay extended and our RV not in the direct path of the fire we are set for one more day. I got reservations starting on the next day, December 9th at a different military campground in San Diego named Admiral Baker thirty miles from …
Gumby Style means, be flexible. On our first day of RV living full-time, we are cancelled before our arrival at our first campground because of a wild fire.
