California Day 6: San Diego

Yesterday was a lazy day, but we finally found some great food. After a slow morning, we went to the flower fields in Carlsbad. It was very cool to see fields of blooming flowers in every direction.

After walking around for a while, we went to lunch at the Stone Bistro in Escondido. This was very different than Alpine yesterday. Stone has a restaurant that must have cost millions. We sat outside in the "beer garden" that was actually a very large garden, complete with flowers, streams, bridges, and ponds. The food was absolutely amazing. The beer was good too.

We made a quick stop at the Port/Lost Abbey brewery on the way back, and then hung out until dinner. We headed to Ocean Beach Pizza Port for dinner, where pizza was cheap and delicious.

California Day 5: Traveling

This morning we left camp after breakfast. We embraced the sunrise after a very cold night and headed to San Diego. On the way we stopped in Alpine at the local brewery...another check off of Doug's list.

We are staying in San Diego in a hotel on the beach for the last few nights of our trip....plans to simply relax and enjoy!

California Day 4: Joshua Tree National Park

Our motel last night was definitely a part of the quintessential 1960s western road trip. Not the cleanest place, but it served its purpose. To build on the classic experience, we took the advice of the motel clerk and had breakfast at the Denny's across the street.

After breakfast, we headed in to Joshua Tree National Park. This is a very different experience from Death Valley. The park is much smaller and more populated. While still a desert, there seems to be an abundance of life in comparison. The Joshua trees and rock formations make the place seem like a Dr. Seuss theme park.

It was a short day of exploration, but we got a good feel for the park and we are now enjoying an early night to catch up on rest after a few hectic days. On to San Diego tomorrow!

California Day 3: Death Valley

It was a quiet night in the desert with occasional howls of some animal excited by the bright moon which glowed so brightly that it never became dark.

After breakfast and clearing camp we ventured off to explore the desert sites, amazed at how drastically different each site was. After climbing some sand dunes, we took an insane drive up narrow roads on very steep cliffs into the mountains to experience driving through Titus canyon. We were silent in the car because we spent the entire time admiring how the roads were only narrow enough for one car and on both sides rose steep, tall mountains (pictured above).

After Titus canyon we drove down towards Dante’s view where you can see all the way down to the salt basins, a drastic drop with a beautiful view (picture with Doug above). Then, we ventured out to that salt basin stopping to see Artist’s palate (mountains decorated in a wide array of natural colors-see above) and devils golf course (vast mounds of salt-see picture with Doug above). The salt basin was impressive, especially the texture under your feet, similar to snow crunching, but harder (Picture with Rebekah sitting above).

We had every intention of camping back roads that evening, and we were trying to find a place on our way out of the park to have a good start in the morning toward Joshua Tree. Our attempts, however, were unsuccessful. There were no places left in the park to get gas, which limited our exploration. We thought we found a place 5 miles off the road, started to set up camp when the winds picked up. We tried to move the jeep to help give us shelter from the wind, and found that the jeep was stuck…..Doug had to work to push it out. After seeing several dust devils we decided that the wind was just too strong to feel good about camping for the night, so we headed out keeping our eyes open for other possibilities on the way. The entire way out was vast openness where the wind was still very strong, and without gas for further exploration, we ended up leaving the park and driving until late at night to stay in a motel. Oh well, now we are ahead of schedule, at the very least.

California Day 2: Kernville & Death Valley

Waking up and walking down to the Kern River was a refreshing start in the morning. It was a beautiful juxtaposition to the desert landscape surrounding it.
After some breakfast we started our three hour drive towards Death Valley which included a stop for lunch at Alabama Hills Café in Lone Pine (a recommended lunch stop – BIG lunches with delicious homemade sandwiches).

Entering Death Valley there was a town (not sure you can call two buildings a town….) with a gas station, and restaurant. We stopped at the gas station to use the restroom and ask advice. They gave us excellent advice, provided us with a map and set us up for a great experience highlighting recommendations that were truly of interest to us.

It was already the afternoon when we arrived in the park, so we only had enough time for a couple stops before setting up camp. We saw these old beehives, stone buildings created to make charcoal in the 1800s and then headed up to Aguereberry Point (pictured above) where you could see both the highest and lowest points in the nation. It was truly spectacular.

We camped that evening at sea level in Death Valley on flat ground (pictured above). Setting up camp was exhausting as we were completely not used to the 80 degree heat. We had just enough time to set up the tent, enjoy a stroll into the dessert, make and eat dinner before it became dark. We did sit and enjoy the coolness of the evening outside for a while before turning into the tent to play cribbage while successfully escaping the desert gnats attracted by our light.

California Day 1: Los Angeles

Last night we arrived in San Diego and drove north 1 hour to spend the night in San Clemente, a place that deserved more exploration. Doug enjoyed Pizza Port (a local brewery) in the evening and in the morning before heading off, we walked along the pier and saw dolphins jumping in the ocean.

We hit the road and headed north stopping in Orange. The weather was beautiful; 75 and sunny. We walked around the old part of town, enjoyed a really cool large flee market with dozens of beautiful antiques and walked some of the shops waiting for The Bruery to open at 11, where Doug happily sampled their beers.

After beer, we headed to North Hollywood to visit my cousin who took us out to lunch at a delicious Mexican restaurant, something we have been craving since our arrival.

After a wonderful visit, we continued our journey to Kernville, where we found that our hopes of seeing the giant sequoias were unattainable as the roads are still closed for the winter. We found a quaint lodge to stay in and went to our third brewery on the trip, Kern River Brewing Company. Tomorrow, we head for Death Valley.

Maine Day 1.5

June 17th, 2011

Yesterday after the work day, we left Boston during rush hour and drove up the coast where we ended up staying the night at The Inn at St. John in Portland, ME (thanks for the recommendation Kelle & Jordan!). On the way we stopped in Portsmouth, NH at Portsmouth Brewing for mussels and a tasting of their beers on a paddle. We would sometime like to return to that town, it was an ideal place to visit.

This morning we hit the road early and took the scenic road north en route to Bar Harbor. Along the way, we stopped to see some various beaches and drove up a peninsula off of Bath, ME and took a look at a beautiful sandy beach. We stopped in Camden for a light lunch of oysters and truffle fries.

We are staying the night at Aysgarth Station, a delightful bed and breakfast with very helpful and friendly hosts. Jane, our host directed us to an excellent hiking path in Acadia National Park today, the beehive trail, which actually is so steep to climb, that there are iron rungs in place to help you vertically climb the rock. It was worth it – the views of the coast were spectacular! We were energized by the hike and hope to do some more in the morning.

For dinner, we had our awaited Maine lobster, served whole and we definitely had our fill. It helped to make the experience complete.

Tomorrow we will work our way back to Boston for our early flight Sunday morning, but plan to stick around Bar Harbor in the morning for additional hiking.