In Travels With Charley, John Steinbeck wrote of the Redwoods, “No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe.” It’s impossible to fully appreciate how accurate Steinbeck’s words are until you walk in the Tall Trees and Ladybird Johnson groves…
Tag: California
San Francisco – An Accidental Pilgrimage
San Francisco wasn’t a place I had ever thought about visiting before this trip, and in some ways we only planned to stay there because it was on the way to the Pacific Northwest. All I really knew about San Francisco was that it’s extremely expensive to live there, and it’s foggy and hilly. I…
California’s Central Coast
We were in for a rude awakening when we hit the central coast of California. After a few weeks in the Southwest where it was at times too hot to move and several hikers actually died from the heat, we had gotten used to having our choice of campsites. After lunch at In-N-Out in Santa…
One week, three deserts – White Sands to Joshua Tree
The Southwestern United States comprises multiple deserts, each with distinct plant life and geology. Between Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California we spent time in the Chihuahuan, Sonoran, and Mojave Deserts. We visited White Sands National Monument early in the morning after Carlsbad. The sand is gypsum blown off the surrounding mountains, and it is blindingly…
The Indigents Abroad 