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When was the last time you saw a 5-letter word using only the last 3 letters of the alphabet? No? Me neither. It’s in the middle of the Mojave Desert in California, but the car ahead of us exited so apparently people go there. Imagine my surprise when I asked Mr. Google about this word and it turns out it……
(Fear not, loyal reader… after a brief hiatus when celebrating Christmas and the New Year with our families took priority over blogging, we’re back. We WILL continue sharing our trip and we’ll hopefully finish before memories start to fade. Thanks for sticking with us and for your patience!) Our last night spent in California was a stop at the KOA……
October 17 (no comment about this post coming 2 months afterward…) was the anniversary of my birth (thanks Mom!) and I got to spend a beautiful Southern California day at the San Diego Zoo with my favorite people. Am I such a huge zoo lover that we planned our trip around going to the world famous San Diego Zoo on……
Welcome back! My apologies for the recent blogging hiatus. I realize it wasn’t clear whether the blog would continue to recount the rest of our adventures even after we have returned home. I will continue writing it for myself even if no one continues to read. But I hope you will, because there’s still about a third of our trip……
(For those who don’t speak any Spanish, this post is called “To Mexico” in Spanish. Not “A Mexico”) To Mexico or not to Mexico, that was the question. As we headed to San Diego, we knew we were only a short distance from the border. Should we cross the border or not? Cons: risk of insurance issues, possibility of border……
Crystal Cove State Park is along the Coast Highway in the Laguna Beach area of California. We went there mostly to check out the tide pools and let the kids play in the sand on the beach while we waited for low tide. What we discovered was a beautiful beach, perfect conditions for a swim in the Pacific, and an……
Our friend Maggie lives in Orange County with her five kids. We connected over Facebook and she invited us to come and stay with them on our way through California. We happily took her up on the offer! A chance to catch up with an old friend and a free place to stay? Definitely! Here we met our first driveway……
We left Santa Barbara, headed for Orange County, California, and took a detour off the interstate to drive through Beverly Hills and Hollywood. Even on a Saturday, there was a lot of traffic and since we were towing the trailer it was nearly impossible to park. So Beverly Hills for us was a drive-by, and all our pictures were taken……
In Santa Barbara we were hosted by the Parsons, some of the sweetest, most encouraging, most hospitable people we’ve ever met. Also some of the busiest – though they always seem present in the moment and you never get the sense that they’re overwhelmed or stressed when you’re with them. Someday I would like to learn that skill. Among other……
One more night on our way to Santa Barbara. We stayed at the Oceano Campground in Pismo Beach, which is a San Luis Obispo State Park. We weren’t far from Santa Barbara, but we were waiting for our friends to get home. We picked Oceano because it was easy walking distance to a beach, a duck pond and a large……
We worked our way slowly south through California for many reasons. The weather was amazing and there was so much to see and do. We also felt like California is so far away from where we usually are when we’re in the US that we’re unlikely to get back there again any time soon. And at this particular point in……
Our next stop in California was along the coast between Santa Cruz and Monterey, at the Santa Cruz/Monterey Bay KOA (creative name, I know). At over $50 per night (before our member discount) for the most basic campsite, this was by far the most expensive campground we’d stayed in yet. In fact, we chose to stay an extra night in……
Almost four years ago, Staffan and I were privileged to be a part of a group that was sitting on a rooftop terrace at a Coptic monastery in Egypt. We had the chance to ask questions of a wise old monk, who was willing to share the wisdom he’d gained from decades of monastic living. But to one question he……
Our next stop was a visit with Staffan’s cousin, Olof, his wife Brandy, and their sons Henrik and Lukas, who live outside of San Fransisco. As we drove south from the Albion River, following the directions on the GPS toward their address, we suddenly found ourselves approaching the Golden Gate Bridge! Except just before we got on it, really thick……
We stayed in three different campgrounds as we made our way south through the northern California/Redwood area: Hiouchi RV Park, Sounds of the Sea, and Albion River Campground. Here are reviews of all three: Hiouchi RV Park Price: $31/night Location: Just outside the entrance to Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park, a 10 mile drive from Crescent City Site description: gravel……
