The adventure of the west is coming to an end.
What has been some of the most intriguing three and a half weeks of my life is ending, but will not be forgotten.
When I last wrote, Jacob and I were camping at a small ocean city where we spent a few eventful days.
After our blissful ocean experience, where we discovered our infatuation with Taco Bell, we continued down the coast to see some beautiful views.
Our next stop was the Redwood National Park in California. We struggled to find a campsite because we were not aware that we were in a national park. Expecting a formal entrance, we kept driving until we looked at our atlas and realized we were almost out of the park.
We backtracked and found a little campground about 30 miles back, after having a bit of trouble with the campgrounds in the park.
The next day we went and saw the third widest redwood in the park. It was great, but there was not as much to see as in other national parks.
We then traveled to another ocean side city and stumbled upon a campground that was literally on the beach. The price was a bit out of our normal range. However, when the lady saw our hesitation, she offered us a discounted price which was more than half off the regular price. What a deal!
The beach camp spots were not open for the season yet, but we were in a nice wooded area with a creek right next to us.
Next stop was San Francisco. I was so excited because that is somewhere I had always wanted to go. When we arrived, we entered the city on the Golden Gate Bridge and then spent some time at Golden Gate Park.
The park was a crazy maze with something new in every area. Someone we talked to in San Fran described it as forgetting you are in a big city, which is pretty accurate.
After the park we went downtown to find our hotel. The desk lady was a bit of a snob and the guy at the parking garage was a grouch too, so that kind of killed our vibe.
We hung out at the hotel for a bit to have some quiet down time and then continued our journey.
Being downtown, it was pretty easy to find something to do. We were both hungry and found a Cheesecake Factory (yum) just a couple blocks away by Union Square, so we were able to see a bit of downtown on our way to dinner. It ended up being on the rooftop and we lucked out with an outdoor table, so it was a good time.
The next morning we walked, we discovered more of downtown San Francisco and shopped for a while at their Westfield mall. In the afternoon we visited the park and bridge again, and then set sail to Yosemite National Park.
The drive was brutal because it was a constant traffic jam. We found a campsite about 15 miles from an entrance to the park. What we did not know was that it was going to be 100 degrees both days, that we would get covered in dirt without a water source, the bugs would eat us for every meal, and that the nearest food and service was 20 miles away. Other than that, it was a nice place.
Yosemite was very pretty. I would rate it higher than Redwoods and lower than Yellowstone.
After Yosemite, we changed pace again and went to Los Angeles. We tried to find camping, but the best place we found was 20 miles into curvy mountains with nothing around. We spent the night trying to find somewhere else, but ended up sleeping in a Walmart parking lot. It really was okay, just more of a pain to run around trying to find somewhere closer to the city.
We were able to explore some of Los Angeles, including: Hollywood, Santa Monica Beach, Venice Beach, and the Griffith Observatory.
From Los Angeles we went through Nevada and Arizona on our way to Utah. We stayed at the southwest corner of Utah in a very beautiful and very hot area.
Next stop was Salt Lake City. I took my car in for an oil change and they discovered a nail in my tire. This same day, my check engine light came on. It was late in the day when we got to the city, so places were closed by the time we found out about the nail. We did not want to drive far on it and we were planning on camping about an hour away, so we ended up sleeping at a truck stop.
We got the nail hole patched and the light checked out the next day and off we went. Before we left, we wanted to see the Great Salt Lake, so we stopped to see it before heading to Colorado.
We found a campsite on the western side of Colorado right next to the Colorado River and some lakes, and very close to some nice towns.
Next we journeyed through the mountains toward Boulder. We stayed about 30 miles away and saw some of the city. We stopped at Pearl Street Mall which I enjoyed a lot. When we were here, a storm was brewing and the sky looked crazy. It was even crazier when the storm was over.
We stopped to check out downtown Denver before heading back and then found a lake where we camped right next to the water. Unfortunately, a thunderstorm came through and forced us to pack up early.
I have to say I am pretty bummed that the trip is coming to an end. I have loved everything I have been seeing and doing and I love who I am experiencing this with.
I am so thankful to have had this experience.
(Disclaimer: All of my articles this summer are going to be about this trip because I will never not be excited about it.)
