After a couple of Airstream Rallies this fall, we decided to go to one of our favorite parks close to home, Pinnacle National Park, with Ann and Bruce. It’s only a couple of hours from home.

The weather was beautiful when we arrived, dry 75 degrees and a little breeze. Our Wednesday hike took us over the High Peaks trail and down Condor Gulch trail, where we saw a Condor several times as you can see from the pictures.

The next day was overcast early and then cleared to another beautiful warm day. The turkeys were on parade again in the morning. We hiked the Bench Trail along the creek from the campground before returning to camp. Enjoy the photos.

Next stop was Ogallala, Nebraska. In its day, it was for cattle and the railroad. Today, it’s not so well off, but it’s trying to make a comeback. I did find the replacement storage tub for our travel grill that I’d been looking for all over the west! Notice the smoky background in the photos.

From Ogallala we drove to the northwest corner of Nebraska and Fort Robinson State Park. On the way, again following the wagon trails, we stopped by Ash Hollow State Historical Park. The settlers going west were very, very tough!! Fort Robinson is a keeper. Great camping, very interesting historic grounds, lots of hiking, and although in the middle of nowhere, a good stop for a few days, plenty to do.

We next travel to Lander, Wyoming to visit Bill and Karen and meet Bruce and Ann. Bill and Karen have a beautiful cabin in Sinks Canyon, their retreat from San Luis Obispo. We hiked, checked out ghost towns, and explored the very interesting town of Lander. 

Next we traveled through Montana, visited Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, and stayed near Three Forks where three rivers come together to start the mighty Missouri River. Next we stayed in a small campground near Clinton, Montana. Again great hiking along fishing streams. 

Our next destination was the Elks Club in Coeur d Alene, where the smoke from fires around the region was intense. Then Clarkston, Washington, across the Snake River from Lewiston, Idaho. On the drive, the huge wheat fields were amazing! The stay in Clarkston on the Snake River was pleasant after all the smoke, with good bicycle riding along the River to Hells Gate, the beginning of Hells Canyon. 

After Clarkston, we traveled parallel to Hell’s Canyon (and the Snake River) to Lake Cascade, staying in the small town of Cascade for a couple of nights. Another beautiful stop on our adventure. Lastly we motored to Winnemucca, Nevada, then the Elks Club in Tracy, California and home. Lots of beautiful back roads and amazing landscapes. 

We can’t wait for 2022 adventures!

After a few days at Buffalo River, we moved on the John and Teri’s house on Crookneck Lake in northern Minnesota, a beautiful house right on the lake. The loons were incredible to watch and listen to. It was a wonderful week on the lake, and miraculously no mosquitoes!

Next on the itinerary was Faribault, where we both grew up. We still have lots of family in the area and so it was a busy time. Steve installed a 30 amp outlet for us at his farm, it made the heat and humidity tolerable. Still no mosquitoes! Yea! We enjoyed the downtown of Faribault that has been renovated in the past few years. Also, there is an extensive trail system along the rivers and old rail lines that run through the town and area. 

From Faribault we traveled to the southwest Minnesota to Lanesboro. This part of the state is noted for the bicycle trails along former railroads, Rails to Trails. There are great little towns along the trails, reinvigorated by the bikeways, and world famous pie!

After two days of bicycling, we went west across the southern part of the state. We saw corn, beans, and wind generators, and did I say corn and beans? As in much of our trip we tried to avoid interstates, but did spend a little time on Interstate 90, not too bad. Then we cut across the corner of Iowa to get to Lewis and Clark SP, on the Iowa/Nebraska border. It was a beautiful park but with the heat index above 105 degrees, it was hard to do much beyond short hikes.

Then onward to Eugene Mahoney State Park on the west side of Omaha, NE, where we met our old friends from college, Jane and Brad. It’s amazing that even after many years, it seems like only yesterday we last saw them. 

For our post-COVID-19 trip (before Omicron), we traveled back to Minnesota to visit our relatives, first John and Teri at Crookneck Lake in Northern Minnesota and then to Faribault in Southern part of the state. We left California at the end of June, the west has been too hot so we were looking for cooler weather!

Our first stop was Angela’s house in Sparks, NV, and then on to Ely, NV, on Highway 50, “The Loneliest Road in America”. It’s actually a great road, smooth pavement, shoulders, and very little traffic! The KOA in Ely is good and we meet a group of Airstreams heading east to an event.

From Ely, our “real” stop was Deer Creek SP near Heber City, UT. It’s located on a reservoir with beautiful views and hiking in the mountains nearby.

Next we traveled north to Fort Bridger, Wyoming. A small town on the historic Lincoln Highway and served as crossroads for the Oregon/California trails, Mormon Trail, Pony Express, and Transcontinental Railroad. At onetime it was a busy place, now peaceful and very interesting. We stayed on a very comfortable RV park as you can see on the photos.

From Fort Bridger our path took us to a small town in Wyoming, Kaycee to stay in a small RV park on a farm/ranch. On the way, we stopped by Independence Rock on the old Oregon Trail, on other historic park of our trip. Kaycee was not a memorable place, but there were few places near there to stay.

The next day we were off to Devil’s Tower National Monument, also in Wyoming. We avoided the interstate and found great roads without traffic. People in oncoming cars and trucks actually waved and smiled! We stayed at the KOA at Devil’s Tower and were treated to amazing views of the Tower, it’s hard to believe that the KOA was so close.

Next we went northeast to North Dakota and to Cross Ranch SP, north of Bismarck. Again we enjoyed the backroads on the trip. A lot less stress than battling trucks on the interstates. Cross Ranch SP is on the Missouri River, a natural section of the river. The park is located in the trees, very peaceful.

From North Dakota, we ventured into Minnesota and stayed in Buffalo River SP. I’m sure you noticed that we are staying at small, out of the way places. With so many people traveling, these destinations are fun to explore. Buffalo River SP is on the prairie and they are restoring much of the lands around the developed areas in the park.

For our next destination, we traveled north of Phoenix to Cave Creek Regional Park. We’ve stayed there before and really enjoy the openness and being close to hiking. As we were enjoying the area, we checked ahead for the weather in Winslow, Arizona. Starting in Flagstaff and all through the area was snow and very cold weather. I guess traveling in March at those altitudes can be tricky. So, on to the AllStays Camp and RV app to find a replacement. We decided to go back to Organ Pipe Cactus NM for another three nights before heading home. Check out the photos.

After Organ Pipe Cactus NM, we traveled to Patagonia State Park south of Tucson. This was the location of the Four Corners Airstream Rally. A beautiful state park on a reservoir and streams keeping it full. We met lots of new people, stayed safe, listened to great music, and hiked. There are some photos of the activities.

Next we Traveled to Catalina State Park, north east of Tucson. Another beautiful park but we were only able to book two nights. (All those retired people I guess…) We had beautiful weather and great hikes there too.

We left San Luis to attend a safely distanced rally in Patagonia Lake State Park in Arizona, south of Tucson in March. We had rain the night before we left but awoke to a beautiful morning. We decided to take the south route to Yucca Valley and then to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument before the rally.

Well, the weather changed as we approached the Palmdale area, rain, wind, dust, and traffic. Bummer! We arrived at the Yucca Valley Elks in a wind storm and found no one there, no electricity, and no water. The forecast was wind and 30 degrees! We decided to try 29 Palms and found a nice RV park for the night. Then off on a beautiful day to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. We decided to take the back roads to avoid Interstate 10 as much as possible. It worked! Beautiful drive and no traffic.

Organ Pipe Cactus is a beautiful area, great hikes, and a great campground, right on the Mexico border in the Sonoran Desert. We’ll be back! (Prophetic words)

A little late with this update, but things are finally looking good for COVID travel, we’ve had our vaccines. So, I’d better update last November before I start on our trip to southern Arizona.

November 2020 we had to get away and so we socially distanced at New Melones Lake near Angels Camp in the Sierra foothills for three beautiful days. You can see from the images, the water, beautiful oaks, and hills were a soothing respite form the pandemic.

Then, we met Bev and Fredric for three days at Jackson Rancheria, near Jackson, CA, also in the foothills. The weather changed and we had old fashioned thunderstorms. One of the images is of cooking outside, in the rain, in the early evening. I call it “cooking up a storm”. The rain was refreshing since we’ve had little rain this year.

Enjoy the images, more to come now that we are traveling, still being careful.