When we were in Texas, I mentioned this quote (by my sister’s friend), referring to Texans. The sentence in full—that I love so much—goes, “Texans are caricatures of themselves and they don’t even know it.” It turns out you can find people and places that exemplify caricatures all over the country. Texas is just an […]
Tag: California
“Where the Kelp Meets the Sycamore Tree”
This exactly describes where we’re camped at our first California State Park campground by the ocean: Leo Carrillo State Park, directly west of LA at the foot of the Santa Monica Mountains. We walk under the bridge with this mural (imagine dolphins jumping up to meet bald eagles, all painted by children) to get to […]
In Search of the Bloom
For a week, we’re boondocking on BLM land at the Carrizo Plain National Monument, the largest native grassland in California. Before I get to why we’re here, I’ll give you a rundown of how we got here, because my friend Susan told me that people don’t understand that this, too, is part of our lifestyle. […]
Lola’s La Jolla
This is Lola. Lola is a good friend. When we were first camping near her part-time home of San Diego, the only spot we could find was in Laguna Mountains, where she drove up to camp in a tent beside the trailer in the cold to visit us. Lola loves La Jolla. Now that we’re […]
Sweetwater Summit
It’s a chilly, drizzly day on top of Sweetwater Summit at its regional park campground—in the town of Chula Vista, directly east of San Diego. But no matter: we have full hookups, which means we can run the heat pump on city electricity (saving our propane for nights in the tent), and I’ve been gleefully […]
The Beach Every Day, Several Ways
Today, we move on, from Tijuana River Valley Regional Park to a whole honking half-hour away, to a county park east of San Diego. A week there, then up the California coast. As I leave here, I realize it might be the only place we’ll be on the entire Pacific Coast where we could walk […]
Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes
You know I’m unsure how I want to say what’s on my mind when I resort to quoting Jimmy Buffet. Sadly, this isn’t the first time on my blog, either. I do have lots of impressions floating in my head that I want to get out on paper, mostly about being back on the road […]
Pacific Ocean High
After eight months of mostly glorious Southwest desert, we finally landed near San Diego to begin our trek up the Pacific Coast. Not a moment too soon. (And I realize the John Denver song is about an elevated place, whereas the ocean is the namesake for sea level, but let’s go with the other meaning […]
Banjo Visits Mars, Again
Our long-planned spring trip up the Pacific Coast begins with reservations in San Diego soon (but not yet), so we needed a stop west on the way there. Why not revisit Mars (aka Imperial Dam LTVA)? Our seasonal pass is still valid, and we can get mail and packages here, plus a handful of other […]
Cave Troll Plots Escape from Mars
Okay, maybe I’m taking these metaphors too far. But a travel blogger who finds herself stationary in a near-lifeless desert and then gets stuck in her bedroom, thus reducing her world to a smaller sphere than her readers’, has to resort to colorful language. The good news behind all the flourish is that this cave […]
