2025

After leaving the Bandon area, Dave and I headed a bit further north, just outside the city of Newport, OR, camping at Beverly Beach State Park.  Dave picked a premier campsite, just 50 yards from the beach!  Boy was Murphy happy.  More sunrise walks on the beach and gorgeous sunsets in the evening. Beverly Beach […]

Thanks to the Oregon Beach Bill, signed into law on July 6, 1967, the public has free and uninterrupted access to the dry sand areas of entire coastline, 362 miles long. This bill was passed when private landowners and developers started putting “No Trespassing” signs or structures to restrict access which sparked public outrage.  Now

Our first stop in Oregon was to be Crater Lake National Park, but wait!  We were fortunate to be able to stop by the home of a family friend literally right on the way.   Steve & Betty live in Shady Cove, OR, conveniently located about an hour south of Crater Lake.    We “mooch-camped” in their

For our second stop in the area, we camped about 20 minutes east of Crescent City at Panther Flat Campground, on the Middle Fork of the Smith River.  The campground was just outside of Jedediah Smith State Park, which protects the redwood forests in the area.  We couldn’t wait to explore this area. ___________________________________ Crescent

For over 450 miles, from Monterey County in the south to just south of the Oregon Border in the north, California’s redwood coast is breathtaking.   Dave and I visited the northern end, from Eureka to Crescent City, specifically to visit the Redwood National and State Parks in the area.   From smelling the fresh ocean air

After leaving the acres and acres of lush vineyards in Napa, our next stop was a campground at Folsom Lake (near Sacramento, CA).   Why Folsom you ask?  Folsom is infamous for its prison which achieved notoriety in Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues. https://youtu.be/AeZRYhLDLeU?si=E1VQlDTXwQY9gWS4 Murphy and I enjoyed sunrise walks to the lake (and I played

Isn’t the proverb, ‘When in Rome…do as the Romans do”?  When in Napa, I am not sure what the Napans do (or the “Napkins” which is their informal nickname).  I do not think they do a lot of wine tasting, as it has become quite expensive.  I read the cost of tastings soared between 2021

After leaving Yosemite National Park, we headed toward Pinnacles National Park, just south of Hollister, California.  It was supposed to take us a little over 3 ½ hours, but Pacheco Pass was showing a long red line on the map that kept growing, so we headed south and went around.  It added another hour of

Yosemite is one of America’s most famous national parks, and rightly so, for its landscape is truly breathtaking. The iconic granite cliffs are seen throughout the valley, including the sheer face of El Capitan—a legendary challenge for rock climbers—to the majestic Half Dome. The park is also home to spectacular waterfalls, including Yosemite Falls, Bridalveil

This blog will feature pretty much one thing:  Giant trees!  Oh, and a few side trips for Murphy.  Like most national parks, dogs are not allowed on the trails, so Dave snagged a campsite in the Sequoia National Forest, where Murphy is allowed to hike.  There was a beautiful trail that led through a forest