Since coming into California – it’s been so busy. A combination of exploring, spending time with family, and working. I honestly feel like I haven’t had a moment to just pause and write updates for fun. Of course, letting our friends and family know what we are up to is so important to us. I really do want to be better and update more often. [View last update here]
California
Since I’ve last updated, we’ve started our journey through Solvang, Lompac, & San Luis Obispo. We drove up the coast from Morro Bay to Monterey, spent some time at Pinnacles National Park, and went to San Fransisco for a week. We went to wineries in Sonoma and Napa, drove out to Yosemite, stopped by Nevada City for Easter, before ultimately ending this leg with a drive by Donner Lake.
It’s been a crazy journey, but an absolutely beautiful one. California definitely has some of the best drives throughout the country. When you get out in less populated areas, you can really take in the beauty of it all.
After a week in Nevada (more details on that below) we ended up driving to Death Valley. It was unexpected – but absolutely beautiful and we’re glad we were able to make it work. Death Valley National Park is not only the hottest places on earth, it also has the lowest point in North America. It was a beautiful park – definitely in our Top 10 National Parks that we’ve seen so far. If you decide to visit – definitely go early in the day, in the early spring or winter. Also, be sure to fill up gas in Nevada right before crossing over. We’re lucky we did. As we passed a gas station in the park that was selling gas for over $8 a gallon. Insane.
We loved California and definitely will be back without a van. California was the hardest for us in terms of finding safe and decent parking overnight. Trying to find a paid campground was nearly impossible on short notice. This wasn’t the case in most states so far. A lot of the camper vans we saw were simply parked on the side of the street. We did that for a few nights – but honestly, it’s hard to sleep, especially with cars whizzing by early in the morning.
Nevada
After leaving California – we went to Reno. Nevada wasn’t going to be a stop on our van trip at all – but due to cooler weather and snow, we thought we would delay going further into northern California until later in the trip when the weather might be a bit better.
I’ve never really thought much about Reno before – but it ended up being a fun city. We found one of the best dog parks on our trip out here, which was surrounded by snow capped mountains. It was beautiful. We want to come back to Reno and do a trip to Lake Tahoe at some point in the future when it’s not covered in snow.
Once we decided we wanted to go to Nevada instead – our plan was to go to Great Basin National Park. However, the drive over didn’t have a ton of towns and we worried about not having internet access during the week. That coupled with freezing temps/snow when we would arrive at Great Basin had us driving down the western coast of Nevada (which is absolutely incredibly beautiful), and headed into Death Valley.
Next, we made our way into Las Vegas – but unfortunately not to the strip. We felt it would be too difficult with both Pepperjack and the van. This lead us to just doing some chores in the city itself (groceries, laundry, showers) before heading to Valley of Fire State Park, a few hours outside the city. That is what we actually did this morning before work and might go back to later tonight.
It’s one of our favorite things – getting into state and national parks bright and early, either for the sunrise or right after. More often than not, the spots that we have chosen to visit or hike through are so quiet, it often feels like we have the space to ourselves. It’s been incredible.
What’s Next
We are going to continue disperse camping as we continue our journey to the pacific northwest. We’re planning on heading through a ton of National Parks through the southern part of Utah, before making our way to Boise to visit with Travis’s brother, our sister-in-law, and their two adorable kids.
Let’s Discuss! Comment Below:
If you’ve been to California, where’s your favorite spot?
If you had to choose just one, do you prefer mountains, desert, city, or beach?
Which do you prefer – Northern, Southern, or Central California?
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