Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction

A favorite place to stop on our way to or from Tucson is Lost Dutchman state park.   The campground there has huge nicely spaced sites with electric and water.   Beat of all is the amazing views of the Superstition Mountains.

 This is the view from our dining room window.     I took the sunset picture during a walk on our first night there.    The edges of a big storm was going through Arizona and this was a great place to wait out the wind and hike a bit.   

Next stop:   Tucson!

San Juan Bautista Mission

Another fun find thanks to the AAA book, was the Mission at San Juan Bautista.   The mission is over 200 years old with a beautiful sanctuary and a quiet pretty garden.   

Pinnacles National Park

Pinnacles National Park was a wonderful surprise.    The park facilities are small and limited but the hiking is fantastic.    We went to both the East and the West side.    The Moses Spring trail had great views of the rock formations.    The Balconies Cliff trail did too but it also ended up at the Balconies Cave which was a hard scramble for two shall we say "older" people.   In spots it felt more like a climb than a hike and if we had lost our footing or our grip the fall would have been over 10 feet down to very hard rock.   We were both very glad when it was over & have been patting ourselves on the back that we didn't turn back.

 We stayed at San Lorenzo Regional Park in King City but really wished we had stayed at Pinnacles.   San Lorenzo was nice and we enjoyed it but the national park campground was nicer and more convenient.

 

Redwoods National & State Parks

We found a great little campground just north of Redwoods National Park, called Klamath River RV Park.    Our spot was right on the banks of the river looking downriver.    There was still considerable fog off and on but the views were great when it lifted.

Redwoods is a combination national and state park system.    Nice to see the cooperation.   The scenic drives are so lovely both in the fog and in the sun.   The Lady Bird Johnson Grove is high on a hill and includes a quiet hike.   

The Trillium Falls hike is longer and very nice.   We were the only ones on the trail.

Fog Fog Fog from Bandon to the Redwoods

My one disappointment on the trip down was the fog from Bandon to the Redwoods.    That part of the southern oregon and northern california coastline is supposed to be dramaticly scenic.   Unfortunately we saw very little through the fog.    I am reminding myself how lucky we were to have 4 gorgeous days on the coast and trying not to whine too much.  

Central oregon coast; Newport to Bandon

It has been a very long time since either of us have been south of Newport on the coast.   We took off on another brilliant fall day.    It is so rare to have such beautiful weather.   We stopped at the Spouting Horn for a short walk and to see the water spray up out of the rocks.    But my favorite spot was the Heceda Head & lighthouse & hike.       

On the Road.... again

On the road again.... I know it is almost a cliche but love that song.    We are on the road to the Oregon coast.     The weather is amazing, sunny, calm, clear blue skies.    A bit cool but fall is like that.    Closing up the house took a while so our first stop was close, Newport, Oregon.   Our friend Warren is a camp host there so we wanted to say hi and check out South Beach State Park.

It is a great camping park with hiking trails, bike trail, beach, jetty, marine science center & aquarium all within a walk or bike of our camp site.   Lots of nice sized sites with reasonable privacy and pretty beach pines.    We walked the jetty trail to guess where?   the jetty.   Also rode our bikes and walked to the beach.   Nearby is Yaquina Head & Lighthouse, a national recreation area.   Luckily the government shut down ended so we were able to spend a day there at the visitor center and hiking.    Of course we had to go to the original Mo's on the Newport Bayfront for their famous clam chowder.    More sightseeing and then it was time to head on down the coast.   We were there 3 nights and could have spent longer.