California, Here We Come!

Posted on July 31, 2025 by womanwifemotherchild

We left Lake Tahoe and crossed into California on a Friday. If you want to read about our prior adventures, check out From Utah to Tahoe.

Saturday morning we got up super early in search of a hidden and highly recommended gem of a trail in Little Lakes Valley. Rock Creek Road in Bishop, California, led us up a steadily narrowing passage to the trailhead at Mosquito Flat. It was one of many white-knuckle drives we’d take over the course of our time on the road. We had no idea what we’d do if we met a vehicle trying to come back down while we were driving up. Luckily, we didn’t have to find out.

The drive was well-worth it. We claimed a corner parking spot and prepared to hike. Although we didn’t hike the full eight miles to see all of the lakes, what we did see was beautiful! And I even spied a Clark’s Nutcracker for the first time, high atop a tree .

I should probably mention that there’s absolutely no cell service in Little Lakes Valley. We’d planned to join a Zoom call with our adult children that morning after we’d driven the two hours to claim a coveted parking space. But when we arrived to find no cell service, we didn’t want to leave without hiking. So, our kids spent several hours wondering if we’d gone over a cliff somewhere. Whoops. We learned to keep them better informed after that.

We camped at Oh Ridge in June Lake, California, that night. And we had a few interesting encounters there. A Stellar’s Jay visited us while we ate supper. Then our campsite neighbors generously shared eggs from their own chickens because they had many and would find even more when they got back home. (Mark returned the generosity by sharing a Tree House Brewing beer we had in our cooler.) And then a deer crossed our path as we drove out to June Lake Brewing after supper.

We made a very early start again the next morning in order to get into Yosemite National Park before the crowds. It was a good plan, but there was so much to stop and see when we first entered the park that by the time we got to the Visitor’s Center, hours later, the place was mobbed. We were lucky to get a parking space. It was a hot day which made the crowds even less tolerable, but we made the best of it. Mark went for a run and I tried to find a quiet path to search for birds. Mark found Mirror Lake and I found a few waterfalls. I also spotted a male and a female Western Tanager, for the first time, in a roadside stand of trees.

The raven in that last photo flew uncomfortably low over my head before landing on the railing next to me. It then posed for multiple photographers!

On our way out of Yosemite, we almost drove right past El Capitan. A crowd had gathered in the field across the street from it and many people had trained binoculars and large cameras at the huge rock formation. We pulled over to find out what was going on. Turned out there were two sets of climbers scaling the vertical rock face! My stomach flipped just watching them. Insane!

For those who’ve been following the saga of the bench seat that we had uninstalled from the van floor and were trying to get rid of, you’ll be interested to know that we began to text back and forth with an interested party from southern California as we headed west from Yosemite. We weren’t traveling to southern California, but apparently he had family in Santa Cruz. A couple of days later, we actually met up with the man’s father in a Walmart parking lot in San Jose. He left with the seat and we left with cash in our pocket and a lighter load. That was a good day! 🙂

We stopped in El Cerrito, California, just north of San Francisco, overnight to visit a high school classmate of Mark’s. Keith welcomed us and cooked us a great supper that night. In the morning, the two of them biked the hills of El Cerrito together and then we hit the road again, heading north.

First stop, Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa. Apparently, Charles Schultz lived and worked in the area for decades before his death. Fun fact! But no, we didn’t check out his museum. Maybe next time. Later that evening, at our campground, a California Towhee and an Oregon Junco visited our site. Both firsts for me. But I only got a photo of the Towhee.

Next on our list was Mendocino Headlands State Park—highly recommended by my friend Michelle. We passed miles and miles of vineyards as we drove north. Beautiful scenery! And when we neared the coast and began driving up Route One, we drove through passages of redwoods. It felt like we’d entered another world.

As we pulled into the dirt parking lot at Mendocino Headlands, before we’d even parked, we were flagged down by a man approaching our van. Mark rolled down his window. Rocco, as he introduced himself, was from Germany and had been on the road for a while. He was flying home soon and wanted to know if we wanted any of his ‘stuff’. We checked out his stash and gained a camping chair, a handy plastic bin, a large plastic bowl, paper towels, unopened pasta and sauce, among other things. Score!

Then we parked and enjoyed the Headlands. Gorgeous! I texted Michelle on the spot to thank her for sending us there.

Numerous black and white birds covered the flat tops of a couple of large rock outcroppings at one end of the headlands. They were far away, so I had to zoom in to identify them. The large all-black ones I knew were some kind of Cormorant. Turns out that some of them sported bright blue bills, which meant they were Brandt’s Cormorants. Their bills turn blue during mating season. The smaller black and white birds reminded me of penguins. I learned they were Common Murres. Both of these were new to me.

So many birds!! And at the campground that night, I found two more birds species I’d never seen before. An Ash-throated Flycatcher and an Allen’s Hummingbird. There was a bush full of cheeping hummingbirds, but of course, I couldn’t get a clear shot of one until it landed in a nearby tree.

On our last day in California, we aimed northward, driving up the windy, cliff-hugging Pacific Coast Highway. We wanted to see more redwoods. First, we set the GPS for Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Later we aimed for Redwood National and State Parks. I have to say, we enjoyed Humboldt Redwoods State Park over the other, although we did find a beach at the latter parks’ visitor center.

I also found a few photo-worthy birds that day. The first was a puzzler, but I finally identified it as a Varied Thrush. The Pacific Wrens were so tiny and well-hidden in the dark woods that it was hard to get a decent picture. I also saw an Oregon Junco, a White-crowned Sparrow, and a Barn Swallow.

We left Redwood State and National Parks (and California) behind that afternoon and crossed into Oregon. More about the end of our northwestern adventure and the trip back home still to come. Stay tuned… 🙂

PEI and Nova Scotia

Posted on December 30, 2024 by womanwifemotherchild

It’s been several months since we traveled to Canada for our fortieth wedding anniversary, but it’s better late than never to finish up the story of our trip…

In my last post, A Taste of Canada, we had just crossed the Confederation Bridge onto Prince Edward Island. What we hadn’t realized was that it was Old Home Week, a local ‘family fun’ celebration that originated over a hundred years ago.

On our first morning there, we had planned to visit nearby Charlottetown. It looked to be a charming city with a boardwalk and plenty to keep us busy. But as we drove toward the city, we could tell something was up. People were parking along the streets and walking toward the downtown area. Up ahead we could see road closures. Apparently a parade was about to start. We pulled over to re-group and quickly turned around and headed to the north shore of the island instead, away from the crowds.

We found a bike trail in Morrell and spent the morning biking from there to St. Peter’s — about a seven mile trip. We stopped for lunch and then biked back. Such beautiful, peaceful scenery! And a surprise bird encounter along the way. (I should also mention a few other surprise encounters: several other Massachusetts residents spending time on the bike trail that day.)

After our bike ride, we traveled west, following the northern coast, to check out Brackley Beach in Prince Edward Island National Park. Apparently, a rain shower had just passed through, even though we encountered nothing but sunny skies on our way. The rain made the dark sand even darker, almost muddy. Very different from the Cape Cod beaches we’re used to.

We rounded out the day with a stop at P.E.I. Brewing.

The next morning was my birthday. And as a special treat we’d booked a ride on the ferry from P.E.I. to Nova Scotia. This would cut off several hours of driving. We’d never taken the van on a ferry before. I’m not a huge fan of boats, so I had mixed feelings about the whole idea. At least we got to drive through Charlottetown on our way. While we waited to get in the ferry line (we were so early that the ferry before ours hadn’t left yet), we checked out a nearby lighthouse.

The ferry trip lasted about seventy five minutes, but felt much shorter. Before we knew it, we were disembarking in Nova Scotia. We scoped out our reserved campsite before heading to quaint downtown Pictou for an early dinner.

Our campsite backed up to an inlet and offered a beautiful view. The photos aren’t great, but they’re evidence of the Short-billed Dowitcher, the Lesser Yellowleg, and the Great Blue Heron right in our backyard.

The view behind our van was nice, but the campground itself felt more like someone’s hilly backyard and the bathroom facility was extremely ‘rustic’. We decided not to stay a second night.

After realizing we didn’t have enough time to enjoy a coastal drive around Cape Breton, we thought a night in a hotel in Halifax might be a nice change of pace, along with another ferry trip back to New Brunswick. To make a long story a lot shorter, that didn’t work out. We made a ‘non-refundable’ reservation at the Marriott Harbourfront, only to discover that our van couldn’t fit in their parking garage and the parking lot they sent us to, blocks away, was closed. It took a little pleading at the front desk to cancel the reservation. And there was no room for us on the ferry, either. Oh, well.

But before we arrived in Halifax, we stopped in Antigonish for a walk and a bike ride. And a quick peek at St. Francis Xavier University.

We also stopped at Good Robot Brewing in Halifax, right across the street from Halifax Common, a large green space with recreational fields, facilities, and walking paths in between and around them.

We ate lunch and took a long walk around the Common. After leaving Halifax with no place to say for the night, we found a KOA close by. With room for us. Whew!

The next morning we aimed the van toward New Brunswick. After a stop in Amherst, Nova Scotia, for a hike around Amherst Point Bird Sanctuary, we took a detour to check out a monarch sculpture in Dieppe, New Brunswick (thanks, Tricia S.), before landing back at Rockwood Park in St. John, which we’d left a mere four days earlier.

It was drizzling and foggy the next morning as we headed west for one last stop before crossing the border into the U.S. St. Andrews did not disappoint. We first visited Kingsbrae Gardens.

After the gardens, we drove downtown to have lunch in the seaside town.

We left Canada mid-afternoon that day with a bucket-load of memories and a camera card full of beautiful images to help us remember. We spent the night once again parked in our son’s Maine driveway before heading home the next day. And of course, we made a couple of stops on the way: Mast Landing Audubon Sanctuary in Freeport for a walk/run, Mast Landing Brewery, and lunch at Bissell Brothers in Portland.

Forty Years . . . and Climbing

Posted on August 20, 2024 by womanwifemotherchild

We hit the road for two weeks recently to celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary. You can read about our first stop at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in the previous post, Northbound!

That night, we parked in our son’s driveway in Winterport, Maine, before heading down to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park the next day. It was a rainy drive over the bridge onto Mt. Desert Island. We drove to Bar Harbor and walked around a bit in the drizzle before checking in for a night at the Bar Harbor KOA campground.

It rained overnight, and the van rocked most of the night in the strong wind gusts. I kept waking up wondering if the next gust would tip us right over! In the morning, we drove through the fog toward Blackwoods Campground. It was early and check-in time wasn’t until noon, so we pulled over at Seal Harbor Beach to stretch our legs.

With a little more time on our hands, and as the fog lifted, we found Canon Brook Trail just down the road from the entrance to Blackwoods.

We checked in to our Blackwoods site a little after noon and found the Cadillac Mountain trailhead that starts inside the park.

We planned to do a sunrise hike the next day, on our anniversary. Starting inside the park would add 0.7 miles to the hike in each direction. So, in the end, we decided to skip the extra part at the beginning and drive out to Route 3 where hikers park along the edge of the road to do the South Ridge Trail.

We went to bed at 8pm and set our alarm for 2:45am. We actually woke before the alarm, dressed quickly, ate a breakfast snack, and drove out to the road. We weren’t the first vehicle there, nor the last. After donning our backpack, camera vest, and headlamps, we started our Garmin watches at 3:20am to record the climb.

Hiking in the dark is an experience like no other. I thought I’d be totally stressed out by the possibility of running into a bear. But the concentration it took to keep up with someone whose legs are a lot longer than mine, while making sure we could find the blue trail markers ahead of us, left no room for imaginary bears.

At times, we could see headlamp-light from other hikers in the distance, behind us and ahead. We ran into a couple of pairs of hikers who were struggling like we were to find the trail in certain places and we managed to help each other along the way. There were only a couple of extra-challenging spots but the two-hour, 3.5-mile climb was a good workout. The sky began to turn red before we reached the summit and I was worried we’d miss the sunrise.

But we made it to the top with time to spare. As we neared the summit, we could see headlights from cars that were driving up the mountain road. The parking lot was almost full and people had chosen their spots along the rocky summit to view the sunrise. We found a spot and waited, using the time to eat our second breakfast.

After the sunrise, I overheard a young couple nearby wishing each other a ‘happy anniversary.’ I had to say something. Turns out they were celebrating their first anniversary! When we told them we were celebrating our fortieth, they wanted to know our secret. We offered some wisdom, but really, as anyone knows who’s been married for a long time, love is a day by day decision.

The hike back down felt like we were on a whole new mountain. We could see where we were going and we could take in the view that had been hidden from us in the dark.

We took it easy for the rest of the day. The ocean was just down a short path and across the Park Loop Road. The rocks were warm and the water’s calming rhythm was mesmerizing. We even caught a glimpse of a few birds along the way.

Early risers get sleepy pretty early in the evening, so bedtime came soon after an early anniversary dinner at Galyn’s in downtown Bar Harbor. And that gave us a chance to dream of the next adventure to come. 🙂

Homeward Bound

Posted on April 8, 2024 by womanwifemotherchild

We left home in mid-March, and you can read about the first part of our trip by clicking here and here. As we approached the last full week of March, we turned our van around and headed north.

Before we left Florida, we found ourselves in St. Augustine again. The first time through we climbed the lighthouse steps and visited the rookery at the Alligator Farm. This time we drove to the historic downtown.

First stop, Castillo de San Marcos. We took the free version of the tour. In other words, we walked around the grounds outside.

Next stop, the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche. What beautiful grounds, church, and chapel. And what a great image of Mary as a nursing mother!

In the afternoon, we drove over the distinctly beautiful Dames Point Bridge in Jacksonville, before entering Georgia.

In Georgia, we found an interesting community park in Richmond Hill for a walk/run. At J. F. Gregory Park we discovered sprawling grassy fields, a large pavilion hosting an artisan fair with live music, and miles of biking and walking trails. My camera battery ran out of juice, so I wasn’t able to take pictures of any of the birds I saw along the way, but that gave me a chance to just walk and enjoy.

We stopped in Savannah around suppertime, ate at a small, very average burger place, walked around a little and then left. The next day was basically a driving day from the campground in Yamassee, South Carolina, to the another in Lumberton, North Carolina. We broke up the drive with stops at Buc-cee’s and South of the Border in South Carolina. And I actually ran into a friend from home in the middle of the restroom line at Buc-cee’s! I think if we’d planned to purposely meet there we’d never have found each other in the crowded chaos of that popular rest stop. So weird!

At the Lumberton KOA, there was a nice 1.3-mile nature trail beside the campground that made for a peaceful walk after supper. And a great place for a walk/run in the morning.

By this time, we were thinking more about home than about having any other adventures. But a quick Google search of interesting stops along I95 listed a whirligig park in Wilson, North Carolina, that sounded intriguing. So we drove to Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park for a peek. Unfortunately, the nearby whirligig museum and store was closed for the day. But, fortunately, we discovered a great little brewery across the way.

From North Carolina, we headed to The Veil Brewing Company in Richmond, Virginia, one of Mark’s favorite breweries. We found that they’d moved to a new location and offered food from their Noko Ribi kitchen. I left Mark to enjoy the food and drink while I made my own dinner in the van, parked down the street and around the corner.

We stayed in Richmond that night and left early the next morning in search of a place to walk/run. It was the morning after the Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore and we didn’t know what kind of traffic we might hit driving past the area. Our RV GPS took us on an unexpected route through DC. We ended up in bumper to bumper traffic without a lot of gas. It was a bit hairy, but we got through it and made it to a gas station.

We drove all the way to our next scheduled campground in Clarksboro, New Jersey — the same one we’d stayed at at the beginning of our trip — arriving in early afternoon. There, we walked/ran along the street in front of the KOA.

Since it was still early, there was time to do laundry and make plans to visit a local brewery for dinner. Unfortunately, the parking lot at Death of the Fox Brewing Company was packed. No room for an over-sized van. We found out the next morning that we’d tried to visit on their open mic night. Oh, well. Luckily, they’re not only a brewery, but a coffee roastery, too. So, we stopped there in the morning on our way out of town for a cup of tea, an espresso, a couple of cans of beer, and some merch.

On this (our last) day, we drove about four hours to Albany, New York, to another of Mark’s favorite breweries, Fidens. After an enjoyable dinner, (best sweet potato fries ever!), a couple of beers, and the purchase of some cans to bring home, it was my turn to drive the final few hours home.

With another adventure under our belts, we were home in time for a quiet Easter weekend. Plenty of time to dream of the next trip. 🙂

July Camping and Summer Fun!

Posted on September 30, 2023 by womanwifemotherchild

Every trip we’ve taken in our Sprinter van has involved a series of one-night stays. So, we decided to try a long weekend of camping in July, not too far from home, staying in one place for a whole four nights. It was a different experience being able to roll out our awning, set up our chairs, and relax! Here are a few pics from that trip to Lake Dennison in Winchendon, Mass.

And just for the fun of it, after Lake Dennison, we drove up to Meredith, New Hampshire, and parked overnight at Twin Barns Brewing Company.

A couple of weeks later, we drove out to Albany, New York, to Fidens Brewing Company. We took the opportunity to park at a Cracker Barrel for the night — something we’ll probably do more of in the future.

At the end of August, we took the Sprinter with us to Cape Cod, even though we’d rented a house in East Dennis. It came in handy as we had some house guests that week and the van became an extra bedroom. All of these short trips over the summer were nothing, compared to the fall trip we were planning… Stay tuned.

Destination: Carolinas

Posted on February 23, 2023 by womanwifemotherchild

In this third installment of our recent van trip, we finally reached North Carolina. If you need to catch up on our adventures, check out From Wilmington…To Wilmington… and What Happens In Virginia…

We left the Holiday Inn in South Hill, VA, on Thursday morning, looking to take a walk/run before getting back on the road. We found a pleasant trail called Tobacco Heritage Trail in La Crosse, VA. The first sound to hit my ears there seemed like an unfamiliar birdsong, but after checking with a group of locals on the trail, I learned that frogs were making all that noise. More throaty than the ‘peepers’ we have up north, but not as low-pitched as bullfrogs. They were loud, but seemingly invisible, so no pics of them. We saw a few birds and a very small snake along the rest of the trail.

After walking/running the trail, we got back on the road and continued south, arriving at our friends’ place in Charlotte, NC, around four in the afternoon. Cathy & Don live in a separate in-law apartment on the property of their daughter and her husband. Their RV was parked alongside their garage, so we spent the night parked on the street next to it.

It rained overnight and was still spitting on Friday morning. We spent a quiet day doing laundry, blogging, and visiting with Cathy & Don & their new grandbaby, Evelyn. Around 3 p.m., we followed Cathy & Don in their Tiffin RV down to Andrew Jackson State Park near Lancaster, South Carolina, to camp for a couple of nights.

Cathy & Don were gracious hosts, even while camping. We ate supper in their RV and played cards until late. We taught them how to play Pitch. Team Mark & Cathy beat Team Chris & Don in spectacular fashion. On Saturday, we hiked around the park, found the site of Jackson’s boyhood home and a museum that was open for exactly one hour everyday. We hit it about eight minutes before closing.

Saturday afternoon, the four of us piled into our van and ventured over to Benford Brewing in Lancaster, SC.

From there, we checked out The Dream Chaser’s Brewery in Waxhaw, NC. What a cute little town! Perfect for browsing all the Main St. shops. The only drawback was that the whole town closed its doors at 5 p.m. Oh, well.

We left Andrew Jackson State Park on Sunday morning. On the way back to Charlotte, we stopped at Anne Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mills, South Carolina for some easy hiking.