Author: li***********@*****il.com

When we left camping with our friends, we drove through LA with the camper. It was midday on a Sunday, so traffic wasn’t too bad and we made it successfully. As we were driving on 126 West, we began driving through orange and avocado groves. It smelled glorious!

At one point we were stopped in traffic and saw a helicopter land on the highway in front of us. After we were able to proceed, we didn’t see any evidence of an accident, but thought maybe it was some type of medical emergency? We are not sure. We eventually made it to Santa Paula where we were staying at the KOA for a while. The campground wasn’t the greatest by KOA standards, but it was adequate. We set up and discovered that there were many wild peacocks wandering around the campground. Quite entertaining!

Early the next morning I dropped Matt off at LAX and returned to the campground via Simi Valley. The kids and I took it easy and worked on getting school done. It was a hot day and was going to be a hot week (90+ each day!). The next day we went to Santa Paula to do laundry and get groceries.

On Wednesday we went to Ventura. We stopped at Trader Joe’s for lunch and beach snacks/beverages. Then we went by Patagonia’s flagship store/headquarters first and saw their history walls with old gear- it was neat! And we finally ended up the beach.

At the beach we built sand structures and played in the waves. It was a glorious, sunny day. We were surprised by the amount of driftwood strewn on the beach (Google says it’s most likely from winter storms). There were several areas that were cleared of driftwood – probably by a bulldozer (there was that much driftwood).

Thursday we did school in the morning and then went swimming at the campground. They had opened the pool early because of the heat wave.

Then came Friday. The day the kids and I moved the camper to a different site in the campground. Matt was still out of town. I had scoped out the area and knew turning around/backing in was going to be tricky, but our neighbor (Julie from near Quebec City!) was going to help. The first approach we tried wasn’t working great, so I tried another approach which involved a wide turn at the beginning – which ended up being too wide and the stairs scraped on a short rock retaining wall… After about half an hour of going back and forth, trying different approaches, tearing out rocks, and smashing Reece’s fingers, I finally got us unstuck. Then with a slightly wider (but not too wide) turn, the first approach actually worked and we got into place. It was intense, but it has now passed. And everything and everyone are no worse for wear.

Saturday we cleaned and changed sheets because we were having visitors arrive! Our first visitors that came to us on this trip! We picked up Lisha, Micah and Erik (Matt’s sister and nephews) in Santa Barbara late Saturday night. They stayed in a cabin right near us at the campground.

On Sunday we had brunch with Lisha and Matt’s cousin, Michael, who lives southern CA and met us in Ventura. Then we hung out on the beach again and all the kids played for hours while Lisha, Michael, and I hung out. It was a lovely time even though the coast was totally foggy. We returned to camp and sunshine for a relaxing dinner.

Monday, we headed up to the Los Padres National Forest Ranger Station in Ojai, CA. We drove back roads there and got some fresh citrus fruit from a roadside stand! The ranger gave us some good hiking advice, and we took some pictures before driving up to Rose Valley Falls (3000 feet of elevation gain). The waterfall we beautiful and the short hike in required very little coersion on the part of the mothers! 🙂 Then we hiked the Wheeler Gorge Nature Trail on the way back down and the kids played in the creek. Before heading back to camp we detoured down to see if the sun was shining at the ocean, but it wasn’t. Micah and Reece still had fun building with driftwood.

We picked up pizza and returned to camp. Lisha took the boys swimming while I picked up Matt from LAX.

The next day we all loaded up and drove to Universal in Hollywood. It was such a fun day! Harry Potter World was a favorite, as were all the rides. We haven’t done many theme parks so it was a fun new experience for Claire and Reece.

Dinner at In-n-Out rounded out the day, and we returned to camp tired and happy. Luckily Lisha was able to switch their flight times so we didn’t have to get up at 2:30 am to get them to the airport. Instead, we dropped Matt off at work before bringing them to the airport. It was a wonderful few days with family!

The kids and I returned to Ventura to meet Matt for lunch and then visit the Channel Islands Visitor Center and the San Buenaventura Mission – both in Ventura. We then got a tour of Matt’s work while listening to the random marching band who was practicing in the parking lot next door!

Thursday Matt worked again while the kids and I got school done and organized to head out the next day.

Friday we packed up, said goodbye to our neighbor (Julie), and headed up the 101 to San Luis Obispo. We luckily found a great Harvest Host site up in the hills right outside SLO.

Upon arrival in San Diego, we stayed right on the beach at Silver Strand State Beach. It was an amazing ocean spot, but we discovered that it’s a little too close to the Tijuana River that is often contaminated with sewage. So after we missed the unsafe water sign the first night and dipped out feet in (and then washed them with antibacterial soap), we enjoyed the views, but not the water.

We had a lazy Sunday morning (after the time change) and ate crepes. (Matt’s specialty) Then we flew the kite and walked on the beach. Matt and the kids enjoyed some video game time in the afternoon (with the AC on – it was 84 that day), and I walked around the bay side of the state beach. There were lots of flower and butterflies and beautiful views.

That afternoon we headed over to the Beheler’s house. I worked with Kristin at the Dale House years ago and she and her husband, and two kids live in San Diego now. We hung out, had dinner, and the kids played. It was a lovely evening connecting with old friends (and new friends for the kids)! We forgot to get a group shot picture – in fact the only one is of Claire and their daughter with Reece peeking in the background after dark – which was actually sort of late because the time had just changed.

The next day we went into Matt’s work and met the one of his co-workers and saw the office/shop space. They have an outdoor shower and a fun rooftop hangout space – very CA!

After seeing Matt’s work, we got some lunch at Oscar’s Mexican Seafood and then went over to Balboa Park. We walked through the Spanish Arts Village, saw the huge Moreton Bay fig tree, walked on the towering bridge over the freeway, and saw the old buildings that were built for two world fairs, the Panama-California Exposition of 1915-16, and the California Pacific International Exposition of 1935-36. It’s a beautiful place! (And we only saw a tiny bit of it!)

The next morning we packed up again and headed up to our next campsite at South Carlsbad State Beach. We arrived a little early, so we ended up finding a parking spot along the road at the beach and ate lunch and hung out on the beach for a bit. After checking in and dropping off the camper, we headed back down to San Diego to hang out with Matt’s old bosses (they sold the company recently and retired). We arrived at their house and got a tour of their garden and rain collection/watering system (loved it!). And then Lynn took us skateboarding. Lynn Kramer is a world class slalom skateboarder and a great teacher. She outfitted the kids and I with boards, pads, and helmets (Matt’s ankle was still bothering him so he didn’t skate much), and we headed up to the Sprouts parking lot near them. She set up cones and gave us some pointers. It was great fun!

Then we went into Sprouts (in all our gear) and got food for dinner – very CA! While dinner was being made, Claire and Reece decorated the ocean hallway in their house. I only got pictures of Claire’s jellyfish, but Reece also drew Sponge Bob’s world on an eel! Makes me think we might need a decorating wall in our house…

After a tasty dinner of fish tacos, we played a couple rounds of Rummikub and remembered to get a group shot!

On our way out we borrowed a couple of boogie boards for the next couple days at the beach – which we used the next day! We got school and life stuff done, and Reece and I hung out on the beach. It was a good day. And that evening I got to meet my friend, Jenna, for dinner in Oceanside, which made the day even better. It was so fabulous to reconnect with her after many years. I was grateful for our short time together!

The next day was also spent on the beach doing school and life. Claire joined in on the boogie boarding fun that day. After fun times at the beach, we met up with Lynn again to return the boogie boards and watch her and several other slalom skateboarders practice for an upcoming race. Check out this video from 13 years ago – the course they were practicing on looked a lot like this (except it was on a bike path right outside of Legoland in Carlsbad).

We returned to our campground to watch a final sunset at South Carlsbad State Beach, because the next morning we were moving on.

We slowly got ready and packed up the next morning. We left around checkout time and headed to Ron Casper’s Wilderness Park in San Juan Capistrano. We made a quick pit stop for some food and new Crocs for Reece (we think one of his maybe escaped from the van without us knowing). We dropped off the camper and then headed back down the hill to the beach again.

This time we were meeting our friends, the Culps, at Three Arch Beach in Dana Point. I worked with Maggie at the Dale House years ago, and Maggie and Phil started the John Muir Trail with us – also years ago. They made it about a week into the trip and Maggie’s knees swelled up, so they decided not to finish, but it was a bonding time. They now have 3 girls and live in San Juan Capistrano, and luckily had an extra campsite for the weekend, so we got to camp with them!

After the beach we returned to the campsite, found a toad, and Matt taught all the kids how to use wire strippers and about electricity.

The next day we decided to try to go rock climbing, but unfortunately the place we wanted to go was closed off with threats of fines and jail time if you violated it. We decided to go get frozen yogurt instead!

We returned to camp and played some games and ate pie (it was pi day), before heading out on a short hike in the park. After that we enjoyed taco dinner together and went to the star party the park was hosting.

There were a number of telescopes and people teaching about constellations. Really great.

We unfortunately didn’t get a whole group shot, but I think most people were captured in a photo except for Matt and I. We had such a fun weekend together!

After leaving the Grand Canyon, we stayed at a hotel in Prescott, AZ for the night. We unpacked in the parking lot and then enjoyed freshly baked chocolate chip cookies in the lobby when we finished! We were very grateful for warm showers and soft beds. It was quite a treat!

The next morning we woke pretty early, ate breakfast at the hotel, continued towards Phoenix and our camper. We had ordered a part for our sway bars back in Tuscon (we discovered one of our sway bars had fallen off because a pin had popped out). We had jerry-rigged a solution back in Tuscon, but we were looking forward to having the correct part. BUT, when we arrived to pick it up, the company we had ordered it from online had never processed the order, so it wasn’t there. Luckily our fix worked pretty well, so we decided to stick with it and find another place to get the part shipped to later.

We made it to Phoenix and picked up the camper and headed west. We made it to a KOA on the border of AZ and CA. It was actually right next to the Colorado River! Like we had just worked so hard to get to at the bottom of the Grand Canyon! The sunset was beautiful there.

We decided to stay two nights to do laundry, an oil change, sway bar adjustments, and grocery shopping. It was in the 90s the full day we were there. We were thankful for electric hookups and AC! The campground also had a pool and jacuzzi which we enjoyed after getting school and projects done. Reece also got a haircut from Matt! You may notice it in upcoming pictures.

Before entering CA, we filled up on gas and then drove over to Joshua Tree, CA. On the drive over we saw a LOT of solar – like SO much. It was impressive. Driving I-10 was pretty uneventful, but then we pulled off onto a smaller highway and drove in a pretty remote area for about an hour. It was a lot of desert with mountainous areas interspersed.

We stopped at the Joshua Tree Cultural Center in 29 Palms, CA to learn about the indigenous people that lived on these lands before us. It was in impressive compilation from many tribes that are still active and upholding their heritage to this day.

We arrived at our campsite to discover we were next to a community park with a baseball field. The outfield was probably the only grass for miles. Reece and I made use of it and played some catch!

The next day we made a stop at the Joshua Tree Visitor Center in Joshua Tree, CA. Then we headed into the park. We scrambled on rocks at Quail Springs, hiked the Hidden Valley nature trail, checked out the Ryan ranch (an old homestead in the area), saw skull rock, and hiked the Discovery trail near there.

The next day we thought we might try to find some top rope climbing, but it was cold and windy, so we did some more rock scrambling off the Barker Dam trail, drove to Keys Vista (saw the San Andreas fault line and the Salton Sea), and then watched the sunset from a random rocky point in the park.

The next day we continued west and south to San Diego. After a few wrong turns and tour of Coronado, CA with the camper, we made it to the Pacific Ocean later that afternoon! From CO to the far northeastern part of the lover 48 and now to the far southwestern part of the lower 48 – we’ve covered a few miles!

This is one place that Reece had on his list, and Claire and I had never been before, and Matt went when he was really young, so we were all looking forward to going here.

Since Phoenix is under 2000 feet in elevation and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is around 7000 feet in elevation and they are a little over 200 miles apart, we figured there would be a decent amount of elevation gain. So to take it easy on Moby (the van), we decided to leave Richard (the camper) in Phoenix. We dropped him off at a storage facility on the east side of Phoenix and headed north.

Matt was on a work call for most of the drive up, but the rest of us enjoyed the scenery and hills. When we left Phoenix is was about 90 degrees, but when we arrived in Flagstaff there was snow on the ground (although the air temp was close to 60). We were running a little late from things just taking longer than we realized, so we didn’t get to Flagstaff until late afternoon. We stocked up on supplies at Walmart and ended up getting a 4 person tent (for car camping), new camp chairs (Matt had been wanting them), and groceries for the week.

We started on our way, but then realized we had forgotten to get shoe spikes. (Grand Canyon’s website suggested those and trekking poles for trails at the top of the canyon.) We had researched and discovered that Walmart in Flagstaff carried them, so we actually ended up at the other Walmart in Flagstaff to get the shoe spikes.

By this time, it was almost dark and we were quite a bit later than expected, but we made the drive (which I’m sure is beautiful in the daylight) past the AZ Snowbowl, got gas at a town south of the rim, and then dinner at another town since we realized we wouldn’t be making dinner at camp that first night (unless we wanted to eat at 10:30 pm).

But we made it.

We started setting up the new tent for car camping and realized it didn’t have a rain fly. It was supposed to have one, but this particular tent did not have it included… So Matt and I slept in our tiny 2 person backpacking tent instead.

The nights were chilly (low 30s), but the days were in the 60s and sunny. As one ranger put it, “an April week in February.” And we were grateful there weren’t April crowds!

On our first morning there we went to the backcountry information office to see what our options were for getting to the bottom of the canyon and the CO river. He suggested doing some day hikes and then coming back before the weekend to book permits/campsites.

From there we hiked the rim trail around to the Yavapai Geologic Museum. We listened to a ranger talk about the geology of the Grand Canyon – fascinating. The rock at the bottom is older than any living thing that was ever existed. After the talk we continued on to Mather Point and the main visitor center. We watched a great video on the history of, and continued connection to, Native Americans in the Grand Canyon. We also got some souvenirs and made some plans for the week. Then we took the shuttle back to our van and returned to our campsite.

The next morning we shuttled out to the South Kaibab Trailhead and did a day hike down into the canyon. It was pretty incredible. We made it a little over 2 miles down the trail before we decided to head back up. We saw mules and a number of other hikers. It went well and we didn’t even need the spikes we had purchased because most of the ice had melted or become slushy.

After the hike we relaxed back at the campground for a bit before heading to Powell Memorial point for the sunset – which as you can guess is pretty amazing.

The next day we took it easy in the morning. We worked on some school, enjoyed watching the elk and the deer walk through our campground, and visited the Shrine of the Ages. The shrine is nothing too exciting, but it does have a cemetery outside of it. There were old and new graves, but the one that caught our attention was the memorial to the 128 people that died in a plane crash over the Grand Canyon in 1956 (36 years after the start of flight). You can read more about it here. It was part of why the FAA got started.

After the Shrine, we ate lunch and headed to the backcountry office to get permits for the weekend. Next, was the Desert View Tower near the east entrance. It was a tower built for tourism to attract people coming through the area. It’s a really unique build and has an incredible view of the beginning of the canyon and the Colorado River running through it. Unfortunately we didn’t make it to the top of the tower, but we enjoyed the views and some ice cream!

Then we headed over to Lipon Point to watch the sunset. We were there a little early and were able to get some packing done for our backpacking trip and cook some dinner. We waited for a while after sunset to do some stargazing before returning to camp.

The next morning we finished packing for backpacking and packed up our campsite. We parked at the Grand Canyon Village and headed out with our packs on the Bright Angel Trail. We hiked 4.5 miles into the canyon to get to Havasupai Gardens where there is a campground, toilets, a ranger station, and a lending library! We set up camp for the next couple nights and enjoyed warmer temperatures down in the canyon. We even borrowed a couple books from the library – including The Emerald Mile, which we started reading aloud down in the canyon. It’s a fantastic book – I had read it before and highly recommend it! We currently have the audio book and are continuing to listen to it as a family.

The next morning we woke and saw helicopters circling to pick up/drop off supplies at the pump station near the Gardens. Although not a typical backcountry sight, it was pretty cool to watch (and we saw many more of them throughout our time there). They are replacing the water line that runs from the north rim to the south rim that was originally built in the 60s. It provides all the water on the south rim. It’s a project that was started in 2023, but should be done this year. The aquifer on the north rim is of unknown depth and amount, but it seems to provide sufficient water so far!

After breakfast we headed another 3 miles down to the CO river. Unfortunately Matt fell and sprained his ankle within the first mile of our hike. He toughly/foolishly pushed through to make it to the river with us and then back up the 3 miles to camp. It was an amazing hike though, and it would have been a bummer if he had missed it. The entire scale of being in the canyon, is mind-blowing. It is awesome to see it from above, but when you get down into the canyon, you realize the sheer magnitude of some of the single features in the canyon – huge cliffs, spires, etc. It is awe inspiring.

We all made it safely back to camp and went to bed early. We packed up the next morning and prepared for the slog up and out of the canyon. We took it slow, enjoyed the majority of the trail in the shade, and made some friends along the way – one friend being an 81 year old man from CO who started hiking the Grand Canyon back in 1965 and has done it numerous times since then.

Then we celebrated with pizza and garlic bread before heading to Prescott, AZ and a hotel room for the night. We unpacked in their parking lot and enjoyed hot showers and soft beds. (And returned the tent and shoe spikes to Walmart!)

The Grand Canyon was for sure a highlight of this trip!

From Hueco Tanks, we drove over to Las Cruces, NM. We had done part of this drive a few spring breaks ago, so it felt familiar (a rare feeling on this trip!).

We stayed at the KOA so we could get some laundry done and take legit showers. They also had coffee and baked goods available every morning! We were planning on just staying 2 nights, but because of predicted high winds, we decided to stay an extra night.

The first day we were there we did some organization and laundry in the morning before heading down into Las Cruces. We also tried not to get blown away with the crazy winds that were happening. The amount of dust obscured our view of the Organ Mountains to the east. The wind was a little less crazy down in town (the campground is up on a hill outside of town) and eventually died down while we were there.

First, we stopped for groceries and a new camper tire (pre-emptive, no disaster). Next, we stopped at the National Chile Pepper Institute of New Mexico State University where they study and propagate many chile peppers. Then, we visited the Zuhl Museum on New Mexico State University’s campus. It was a super impressive collection of petrified wood, minerals, gems, dinosaur bones, etc. Definitely worth the stop! Finally we went to La Posta de Mesilla, now an historic and famous restaurant, whose location is where Billy the Kid and others were known to hang out at. We enjoyed good Mexican food – especially their fried ice cream! (Thanks for the recommendation, Chris!)

The next day was school and more ‘repacking of the boats’ (our term from the Lewis and Clark expedition signs in Chamberlain, SD for getting ready for the next section), and trying not to get blown away again.

We got up early the following day in hopes of getting most of our driving in before it got too windy. Luckily, we were only driving about 3 hours to Willcox, AZ. And even with many signs along the way that said, “Dust storms may exist” and “What to do in a dust storm”, we made it safely there without any dust storms. There was some wind, so our gas mileage was not great, but at least we didn’t get swept away!

In Willcox we stayed at another Harvest Host location – the Cattlerest Saloon and RV Park! After we got set up, we all went to the saloon for drinks – Claire and Reece had Sprite and root beer and were told explicitly that they could NOT sit at the bar. We had nice conversation with the several locals that were there, played some shuffleboard, and the kids practiced some pool.

We decided to boondock for a second night at the saloon, so we left the camper in the parking lot and headed to our intended destination – Cochise Stronghold. It’s a rock formation known for its climbing. It’s also a natural formation where a Native American chief (and his tribe?) holed up for 12 years. It’s like a natural fortress with high rock walls surrounding an area of springs and trees, etc.

The drive there took us through several large pecan(?) orchards – they were expansive! We arrived and discovered the approach was a short, flat walk to the outside of the formation. We did a couple climbs and were joined by a couple from the UK. It was a pretty perfect day to be there. Then, after lunch we hiked into the stronghold itself. Really amazing.

Before we returned to our camper for the night, we stopped by the sandhill crane overlook in town. It’s one of the migration spots for the sandhill cranes! There were SO many cranes. We’re assuming the same sandhill cranes that also frequent San Luis Valley in CO and Kearney, NE?!

The next day we enjoyed sweet beverages from a local coffee shop and breakfast burritos from a local food truck. A tasty way to start the day!

From there we drove over to the Titan Missile Museum just south of Tucson. It is the last remaining missile silo from the Cold War Era. We did a tour underground and they walked us through the 58 seconds that would have launched the missile (one of many missiles and other strikes that would have meant mutually assured destruction). Reece actually got to volunteer and was the commander that turned one of the two keys to launch the missile. He seemed unphased by it, but all the adults in the room were silent – a sobering moment for sure.

After the museum we drove to our Harvest Host location on the NE side of Tucson. It was a welcoming couple who have opened up their few acres to RV travelers. She was an artist with a nice studio – I got some cute earrings!

The next morning we left our camper at their house and went to Saguaro National Park. We stopped by the visitor center, took a scenic drive, and did a short hike. There were so many Saguaro cactuses, is was pretty impressive. Definitely not a landscape that we have spent much time in!

After Saguaro N.P. we stopped for Sonoran hot dogs (thanks for the recommendation, TJ!) before going back to pick up our camper and head towards Phoenix.

We stayed on the east side of Phoenix that night and even enjoyed a late night swim and hot tub at the campground. Our short time there was used for preparing for our trip to the Grand Canyon!

The next morning, we drove to the west side of Phoenix and dropped our camper off at a storage facility so we didn’t need to haul it up to the Grand Canyon (next post!).