Alcossebre Sea ExperienceBalcony over the Mediterranean on the coast of Spain!Beautiful Coast of Azahar.Modern lighthouse protecting the Irta Mountains.There are the Serra d’Irta in the background.Castillo de Xivert in those mountains overlooking the plains.An Islamic fortification built in 10th century, conquered by Knights Templar in 1234, then a Christian stronghold in the 15th century.Alcala de Xivert in the valley – this is the season for artichokes.Peniscola is a castle surrounded by sea with a long history. Just ask El CidIt looks pretty defensible!Someone covered this house with shells- that is a lot of collecting!Avignon pope Benedict XIII (Pedro de Luna) lived here after the Knights of Templer. The castle was renovated for the film El Cid and also parts of Games of Thrones 5th season was filmed here.We had to hike to the Tower which sent signals to the castles – no cell phones!High Tech Communication!Happy hour back at our balcony – our collection of 2 euro wines!Sunset in the mountains reflected in the infinity pool.
We parked for the night at BLM’s Amboy Crater and hiked to the caldera in the morning. The other side of those mountains is Twenty Nine Palms, where my Dad was stationed when he brought his young bride to California on Rt 66.
We are headed to these mountains across the train tracks into the Mojave National Preserve.
We found a nice site at Hole In the Wall campground. Is there a hole in the wall to continue our hike?
Really is there a hole in the wall?
Well what do you know. Jungle Gym rings to pull yourself up the slot.
Gorgeous cactus and vistas along the trail.
Beauty in the details.
We motored through Las Vegas and followed the Virgin River into the Gold Buttes National Monument established in 2016. Another new monument on BLM land!
We enjoyed the sunset and solitude. We will have to come back to explore more of this park.
We drove through some Vermilion Cliffs to Lees Ferry. Many changes have come this way with paved roads, pullouts, parking lots, and dedicated campground.
Channeling Wesley Powell: A fabulous day on the Colorado River! This is part of the Grand Canyon National Park and where rafting trips to the canyon begin.
This is another release site for California condors – we were lucky to see a pair fly over the canyon.
We looked through a sun telescope as there were some astronomers holding a special event. The Navajo Bridge leads you to Glen Canyon Recreation Area. We have come full circle on our trip.
Pinnacles was established as a National Monument by Teddy in 1908 but upgraded to a National Park in 2013. So until another is upgraded, we have now visited all western mainland US National Parks.We snagged a camp site with electricity for four nights so we could relax and enjoy several days of hiking.There are some unique stairways carved into the stone on several trails.And caves created by falling boulders.California Condors are released here. We talked to a scientist who tracks them with radio collars like the wolves in Yellowstone. He confirmed the three we had seen overhead were condor sightings!There are also specially marked trails for rock climbers.Interesting rock formations up close and personal.One trail took us to this peaceful reservoir.with some calm water reflections.another stairway – actually gets you to the top pretty fast!And what a view!So we can find a spot for our lunch break and contemplate the path back to camp.Heading South, we spent the next night at Carrizo Plain National Monument in the Central Valley. We had the parking lot to ourselves and enjoyed the quietness of the plains.This was our view of sunset. A big change from crowded Pinnacles campground: Someone at Pinnacles “borrowed” our leveling blocks for 3 nights but luckily they returned them before we left. Can you imagine that lack of courtesy to your fellow camper?This is the beautiful white alkali flats of Soda Lake – there is a neat boardwalk to take for a closer look. This is another landlocked Basin surrounded by Range.Another new monument in 2012, Cesar E Chavez National Monument in the California Central Valley was created from his home to recognize the importance of his contribution to the hard working farmworkers. Yes, we can! This is his grave site and memorial garden with water features commemorating the 5 martyrs killed during the protests.
We left our cozy camp before dawn to minimize morning rush hour. We were parked in Presidio of San Francisco at 7:30.
We took a shuttle bus to the beginning of the bridge. This was easier than trying to park in this area.
Such a beautiful sight to see! We walked on bridge to first pier on this perfect morning.
We walked the coast of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. We visited the new National Park Presidio Visitor Center. An enjoyable morning.
We walked to the marina and then by the Palace of Fine Arts on our way back to the Travato.
We drove to Golden Gate City park and were lucky to find near by street parking at 12:10 because it had been closed for street cleaning until noon. There was a marching band competition in the park so a lively time to visit. We wandered into the Japanese Tea Garden for a break.
This is oldest Japanese tea garden in the United States, built in 1894. And is only 3.5 acres but extremely well designed and maintained.
Here is another unique gate at the top of the garden.
There is also a 5 tier pagoda that is over 100 years old.
Nice vignettes of quiet spaces. This white rock is raked with large waves with some islands of green.
His desk has been preserved as when he was using it to write so prolifically. The national park system considers him the father of our incredible parks – how wonderful to have someone so focused on conserving these lands for all generations.
The Travato now thinks it is a sports car since it has done all those twisties on Highway One. It drove us to Laguna Seca Raceway where we had a great camp site on Turn 5. It is all Recreation.
There was a Superbike motorcycle school going on for us to spectate. We drove down to the pits to get front row action.
We raced (just kidding) to Monterrey Bay to enjoy the seaside. We walked Cannery Row to hang out with John Steinbeck and friends.
We enjoyed watching the pelicans, cormorants, seals and kayakers.
Wahoo! We are back to the pacific Coast! First time in the Travato. The drive over those last foothills is pretty unreal. Note to selves: if navigator says 37 miles is going to take over an hour then turnaround and find another route!
This public land was added to the California Coastal National Monument in 2014 which gave us great access to the ocean.
We enjoyed several hours of beach combing and listening to the waves. A nice wide sandy beach north of the historic lighthouse.
The Point Arenas Lighthouse is the closest point to Hawaii from the mainland, or so they claim.
We enjoyed the waves crashing on the rocky coastline south of the lighthouse. There were also harbor seals sunning themselves.
Yosemite! First day begins with hike to Dog Lake. Suprisingly we had not been to this lake near Tuolumne Meadows.
We enjoyed the reflections in the still morning water.
And enjoying some sunshine.
After lingering, we headed to nearby Lembert Dome as part of our day hike.
Tuolumne river and Meadows view from top of Lembert Dome.
We finished the hike with a bit of the John Muir trail for some solitude.
The next day we went for the Cathedral Lakes, a trail to views we had especially enjoyed 10 years ago.
The lower lake had beautiful meadows.
And a nice spot to enjoy the lower lake among the mountains.
At the upper lake we were able to walk around the entire perimeter to enjoy the peak from many angles.
We felt really good to do this almost 10-mile hike with over 2,000 foot elevation gain!
We drove to Lake Tahoe after our Cathedral Lake hike – that was a difficult drive with a lot of mountain climbing. We luckily arrived before dark but were tired puppies.
Watson Lake above Lake Tahoe had this incredible dispersed site where we could walk to the Lake Tahoe overlook.
We appreciated the beauty of this lake. Nice there are such accessible places outside of our national parks.
Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument became a monument in 2015 from both Forest Service and BLM land.
We sustained high winds that night. Little did we know that power was out across this area of California – the first of many of the PG&E shutdowns to prevent fires.
Is it a gorgeous day or is it a gorgeous day?! It brought out the Ansel Adams in both of us. This could be the best shot…
Or is this the best photo?
There are a type of sand flies that breed here. We learned they were a source of protein for native cultures.
Keep safe! A fisherman on the river across from where we camped slipped on a wet rock. Several of us campers and his son lend aid until the professionals arrived. It reminded us all to be careful out there.
