The rim of Bryce Canyon is at an altitude of about 8,000 feet and the overnight temperature at the hotel fell to 17°F (-8°C) so there was a heavy frost to scrape off the car this morning. After breakfast I drove into the park and stopped at Sunset Point to take a hike into the … Continue reading Day 46 – More Desert Wonders
Today I did something so spectacularly stupid I am ashamed to document it – but it is the things that go wrong that make trips memorable so I will. Before I get to that, however, let me describe the day’s itinerary. My alarm failed to go off (or maybe I slept through it) but I … Continue reading Day 45 – A Day of Splendor and Stupidity
The weather in Barstow was much better when I woke up this morning and so I traveled just a few miles east to visit Calico Ghost Town. This was a silver mining boom town in 1870s that went bust 20 years later but, being in the desert, some buildings are well preserved. The rest of … Continue reading Day 44 – The Desert Starts to Become Scenic
It was with regret, and some doubt about whether I am being too cautious, that I abandoned the border and headed east this morning. I had spent some time yesterday considering what I wanted to do and see on the way back and came to the conclusion that my favorite National Parks were the obvious … Continue reading Day 43 – Goodbye Pacific, Hello Desert
I knew that it was worth an extra day to travel down California route 1 as far as Morro Bay because I had done the trip, in the opposite direction, in the summer of 2014. The weather was mainly sunny but there was a stiff wind so the surf was quite rough in places. The … Continue reading Day 42 – The Last Day on the Perimeter is a Good One
It was raining heavily when I awoke this morning in Monterey. This was predicted and I had allowed for the possibility of staying an extra day here as Tuesday is expected to be fine along the central coast. I reserved the room for another night and planned to visit a couple of nearby state parks … Continue reading Day 41 – A Big Change of Plan
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