Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks and Anza Borrego State Park offer desert serenity, winter blooms and quiet exploration! In January, our nearby Sierra mountains received over 400 inches of snow, while our valley was pelted with rain like we haven’t seen in years. If you’re suffering cabin fever and long for sunny, warm [...]
Update your travel bucket list with Southern California and Southwestern US destinations! Californians are blessed by close proximity to our state’s and the American Southwest’s incredible spaces, all within a two day drive or closer. With so many spectacular destinations nearby and a New Year, take the time to update your list of western destinations. [...]
Seeking a winter/early spring get-away in other-worldly scenery? A camping Mecca, surrounded by strange plants, alien landscape, hiking, biking and climbing opportunities and warm winter climate? Take in the intriguing stretch of California desert from Joshua Tree National Park to the Salton Sea. They’re all on your way to either Phoenix (for spring training games [...]
Golden canyons, dry, temperate winter climate, plenty of history, on the way to spring training baseball games in Phoenix and…wildflowers. The promise of wildflowers brought us to Death Valley National Park. In winter, our approach to Death Valley is by taking Highway 88, scenic with plenty of snow above 6000 feet but clear roads all [...]
We central Californians are blessed by close proximity to an amazing world just outside our door. Last week we ushered in a New Year with suggestions to update your bucket list of US and worldly travel destinations. This week we offer suggestions within California. August 25, 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of our National Park [...]
We live in, arguably, the most spectacular state in America. With all the wonderful destinations at your beck and call and the start of a New Year approaching, I suggest you update your bucket list of California destinations for 2015. To whet your appetite, here are some of our favorites – most of them in [...]
Kings Canyon National Park, sister to Sequoia, offers stunning vistas like this one! Seven weeks ago, we began a tour of our Golden State’s nine national parks, starting with Pinnacles National Park, south of Hollister, CA. Some of the best, most iconic and the second-oldest of all the US’s national parks are located in California, and most of them [...]
Author’s spouse Susan stands next to spindly but beautiful Ocotillo The Jumbo Rocks area is great for exploring/climbing and contains a nice campground Chollo cactus stand as eerie sentinels inside the park Skeleton of old travel trailer is part of the “ghost resort” at Bombay Beach on the Salton Sea, an hour’s drive south of [...]
These four massive de-silting ponds help remove most of the silt/dirt carried by the mighty Colorado, before the cleaner water is shipped to California’s Imperial Valley and SoCal cities. The All-American Canal carries Colorado River water west to the Imperial Valley and Southern California. We recently made a two-week tour of desert California and Arizona. [...]
Badwater Basin is home to alkaline flats, alkaline waters and the lowest place in the United States at 282 feet below sea level! This water trailer and wagons once hauled 36 tons of refined borax to the railroad, 160 miles from the Harmony Borax Works in the park. Harmony Borax Works boiler and refinery produced [...]
