Once again, I will bless you all with stories of the trip.
We stayed in many different places along the way, some were alike and some were very different.
The first place we camped was between Cody, Wyoming and Yellowstone when we were unable to find any open spots inside Yellowstone. It was in a state park and it was an open field by a river, and in between mountains. It was very pretty, but the open field ended up being a bad deal. All of the other places around that had trees and shelter and had bear warnings that warned against tent camping, so we opted for a safer option. The open field ended up exposing us to the wind and snapping the tent poles which ended up being the most difficult part of the trip. Good start, because the tent was unusable, we spent the next night at a truck stop. It was better than you would expect.
We found a new tent and moved into Idaho. We stayed between two mountains by a lake where we could hear the coyotes howling back and forth. It was rainy and cold, but we were comfy cozy in a tent that was not fallen apart.
Next, we stayed with Jacob’s family who we had not met before. They were fantastic and full of hospitality and kindness. They had a little house separated from the main house that we were able to stay in and they lived in a small neighborhood surrounded by trees. It was hard to leave because we were having so much fun.
Our first hotel stay was in Portland, where we found an affordable option not too far away from the sites we were seeing. The hot tub was down for maintenance though so we were a bit bummed about that.
From Portland we went to the little ocean town of Lincoln City. We camped in a state park by a lake which was just a short walk from the ocean. We were lucky to find a spot because it was over Memorial Day weekend. There were lots of raccoons hanging around us. This ended up being one of the best camping spots we had.
We went from Lincoln City to Redwood National Park. Once again there was nowhere to stay inside the park, so we backtracked a bit and found a little campground. It was nothing special, but it had showers which were something that ended up being a plus.
Next, we stumbled upon a beautiful ocean-side campground. The lady at the desk gave us a good deal on the spot and we were right next to the ocean. We also had a creek that went next to our campsite and were surrounded by trees for shelter. This, too, was one of the better campgrounds.
Our second hotel stay was in San Francisco. We were right downtown and we figured it would be really nice. The lady at the desk was a crab and we had to park the car in a parking garage a block away. When we got to our room, it was the size of a bedroom and only had a sink and a closet. The showers and toilets were down the hall. We lied down to relax a bit and were surprised to find that the bed felt very much like plastic. There was also no air conditioning. It ended up being fine, just not quite what we were expecting.
The next stop was Yosemite National Park. Our campground was about 20 miles away from the entrance to the park. It was really hot and there was no water source. There was forest fires there, so the trees around were black at the bases. It was very dusty and dry and we ended up wishing that we had access to showers.
Next we went to Los Angeles. Jacob found a great spot in the Angeles Mountains but I did not want to stay there because I felt it was too far away. We drove around the rest of the night looking for somewhere to stay but had no luck. We stayed in a Walmart parking lot that night. The next night we went back up into the mountains and had a comfortable night.
After Los Angeles we entered Utah and went a bit north of St. George. It was around 100 degrees, but we were by a lake and everything was very pretty all around. The dirt was red and there was only one other campsite occupied.
We went to Salt Lake City after St. George where we discovered that our tire had a nail in it. We were unable to take care of it the same day because places were closed. We were planning on staying by the Great Salt Lake but we changed our minds because of the nail in the tire. We stayed at a truck stop and got the tire fixed the next day.
Next we went by Grand Junction, Colorado by a lake. It was in a state park right by the town but it was pretty cute.
From Grand Junction we went about thirty minutes from Boulder. It was a very nice place to spend our time. We had views of mountains all around but there was less shade than would be desired.
Our last night was spent on the largest lake in Nebraska where we were able to camp right on the beach. We went into town to get water tubes and ice cream and when we got back a storm was brewing and it was super windy. We shoved the entire tent into the back seat and waited out the storm and then set back up in the dark. The next morning before heading home we were able to float on the lake. It was a great way to end the trip.
