Leaving Lincoln Nebraska

Today we are leaving Lincoln Nebraska, heading (circuitously) to Minneapolis.

Here is the latest map of our travels to date.  You can click on the map if you want more details.  Be patient though, it may load slowly.

  

Death Valley

Badwater Basin in Death Valley is the lowest point in North America.  It is normally dry.

When Badwater Basin fills with water it is called Lake Manly.  There had been significant rain in the Death Valley area so we went there to see the lake.

 

California South

Our trip through California took us past Mount Shasta to Redding.  We spent the weekend there to watch the NFL playoffs then headed south.

Welcome to California

The view of Mount Shasta was obscured by clouds from the rest stop on I-5

Mount Shasta appears on the horizon

Mount Shasta

Morning frost in Redding

Sundial bridge in Redding

Statue in Redding

After Redding we spent the night at Lake Minden, just north of Sacramento.

Lake Minden

Geese at Lake Minden

From Lake Minden we went to Cordoniz campground, an Army Corps of Engineers campground north of Fresno.

Cordoniz campground on Eastman Lake

Sunset on Eastman Lake

From Cordoniz we headed to Bakersfield and spent the night at Kern River County Park.

Kern River County Park

We spent a few days in Huntington Beach before heading East to Arizona.

Bolsa Chica State Beach

Huntington City Beach

Sunset over the Huntington Beach Pier

California Roadtrip

We left Huntington Beach and headed north.  We stayed one night at Kern River County Park, north east of downtown Bakersfield.  It is a beautiful campsite but we were only there one night.

Kern River County Park

A joyful burst of color

We spent one night at Medeiros campground near Santa Nella.  It was muddy and dark when we arrived and there was a loud party at the far end of the campground.  We moved as far from the music as we could.  In the morning we were greeted with this wonderful view.  We packed up and continued on.

Medeiros primitive campground

There was an accident on the southbound side of I-5 that backed up traffic for miles.  We were glad we were going the other way.

Traffic on I-5 near Patterson

We crossed the San Francisco Bay from Richmond to San Quentin.

Richmond San Rafael Bridge

We joined the 101 in San Rafael.  We would stay on 101 into Washington when we turned east near Aberdeen.

US-101 north of San Francisco

In Santa Rosa we spotted statues of Peanuts characters from the freeway.  We investigated and found that this was the home of Charles Schulz and there was a great Peanuts museum as well as many of the statues scattered around town.

Hangin' with Chuck

We stopped so that Rebecca could give back to the community.

Dr. R

We spent a few nights nestled in the trees along the Russian River

On December 5th we were driving through the Redwood forest when we received emergency alerts saying there had been an earthquake (7.0) and that there was a Tsunami Warning in effect for coastal areas.  We pulled off on the Avenue of the Giants at the Immortal Tree to figure out what was happening.

No tsunami developed but there were some landslides and tree debris on the road as a result of the earthquake.

The Immortal Tree

Landslide on Avenue of the Giants

Fallen tree debris on Avenue of the Giants

Back on 101 we continued on through the canyon of redwoods.

A canyon of redwood trees

We stopped in Crescent City to eat and enjoy the view at Battery Point.

Battery Point Lighthouse

The California coast

We stopped to visit with Paul Bunyan and Babe and some other friends.

We walked the trails in the Redwood State and National Parks

We scratched off another National Park

Wait! Did you see that?!?!?

Elk grazing near the Oregon border

Earthquake

We were on our way to Arcata we received an emergency alert that there had been an earthquake in our area.  It was followed shortly by an emergency alert that there was a tsunami warning in our area.  with limited cell service we pulled off on the Avenue of Giants and set up Starlink.  

The red icon is the earthquake epicenter.  The blue dot is us.

Tsunami warning area

We determined that we could safely proceed.  Sure enough the tsunami warning was soon lifted and we stopped looking up the road for large waves.  

The biggest impact was that CVS sent all their employees home, then had to wait for corporate approval to reopen so we spent two hours in Arcata, just north of Eureka.

Huntington Beach

Our bonus trip to So Cal started in Huntington Beach near the pier at HB RV Park.  Winter is the perfect time to visit.  Weekday reservations are fairly easy to get, but weekends are still challenging.  

HB RV Park

Sunset at HB RV Park

Our backyard at HB RV Park

Next we headed out to Prado and had a great weekend.  We met up with some friends and enjoyed an evening together.

Spent the weekend at Prado Regional Park

Back in HB we set up camp at Bolsa Chica.  This was the start of our originally planned stop in So Cal.

Stuck in the sand (no one we know)

Sunset in Bolsa Chica

We met up with my parents on their way back from far flung places and celebrated an early Thanksgiving and my Mom's 89th birthday.  Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Our final stop was at Waterfront RV Park.  Not as nice as either HB RV Park or Bolsa Chica, but more expensive to make up for it.  Still a great location.

Sunset from the parking lot that is Waterfront RV Park.

Aren and I went hiking at Crystal Cove.

An early birthday celebration for Aren's 21st birthday. 

We spent Thanksgiving with Cybele and others at their house in Pasadena.  Thank you for inviting us into your home.

Thanksgiving with Cybele and her family and friends.

We headed north at the end of November to meet up with my parents again in Washington to celebrate Hannukah and Christmas.

Heading north on the 405 through LA.

Descending to Grapevine on I-5.  The unofficial gateway to LA.