Travel dates: July 2-9, 2017 And then we made it to the Pacific. After Lassen, we went west as far as we could go until we hit the ocean, and then we had to turn around and start heading east again. But first we spent a week in Livermore, CA, an hour or so inland […]
Mt. Lassen/Shingletown KOA: Our Favorite KOA… So Far
Travel dates: June 30-July 2, 2017 We stayed at a lot of campgrounds last summer. I think if I had to declare one our favorite, the honor would have to go to Ingalls Homestead….but that’s because it was at Ingalls Homestead, not because of anything particularly special about the RV spots themselves. But if I were […]
Lassen Volcanic National Park: Hey, What Do You Know? Even MORE Volcanoes!
Travel dates: July 1, 2017 The party line on Lassen Volcanic National Park is that it’s a hidden gem–an amazing but underappreciated spot where one can go to soak up natural wonders while escaping the crowds. Lassen Peak itself is a huge plug dome volcano which erupted most recently in 1915. The park is one […]
Lava Beds National Monument: Fun with Volcanoes Continued!
Travel dates: June 29-30, 2017 Not many people make it to the remote northeastern corner of California to see Lava Beds National Monument, but the ones who do are rewarded with low crowds and a bunch of really cool caves to explore. And maybe with one of their favorite photos from their whole summer trip: […]
Believe the Hype: Crater Lake is Really, Really Blue
Travel date: June 28, 2017 At Crater Lake National Park, in very late June, we encountered the most snow any of us had ever seen in one place in our lives. We were looking forward to doing a boat tour of Crater Lake. Maybe hiking Wizard Island, the small island in the middle of the […]
Collier Memorial State Park: Campground Review in which Oregon State Parks Continue to be Cheap
Travel dates: June 27-29, 2017 I love a campground that offers something extra…like some kind of interesting attraction right there on the property….like, say, a big outdoor museum about the history of logging! For example. Collier Memorial State Park was our campground choice for visiting Crater Lake National Park, about thirty minutes away. Dave’s sister […]
Two Days in Bend, Oregon: Tumalo State Park, the High Desert Museum, and Cousins
Travel dates: June 25-27, 2017 First a quick shout out to Vale Trails RV Park, our overnight stop on the way from Arco to Bend. The owners were super friendly (they loaned us a can opener and gave us chips and salsa!) and the campground was nothing special, but it was clean and safe and […]
Craters of the Moon National Monument and the Arco KOA
Travel dates: June 23-24, 2017 We had had a long day getting to Arco, Idaho, complete with nearly 300 miles of driving, a monster traffic jam, and a stop at our beloved Museum of Clean. Rarely have we been as happy to see a campground as we were to see the Craters of the Moon/Arco KOA that […]
Visiting the Museum of Clean in Pocatello, ID
Travel date: June 23, 2017 Way back when we first started planning our cross-country trip, we put two quirky-sounding museums in Idaho on our tentative itinerary: the Idaho Potato Museum and the Museum of Clean. I’m not kidding when I say that my kids were as excited about the Museum of Clean as they were […]
Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park and West Yellowstone, MT: Campground Review and MORE!
Travel dates: June 17-21, 2017 We stayed in a lot of fairly rustic campgrounds last summer, which is not something we mind….but the tidy, pristinely landscaped Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park, with its orderly grid of well-kept campsites was a welcome mid-trip oasis. We loved the town of West Yellowstone itself, too: compact and walkable and […]