RV Travel – OsteoPraxis on the road

After our epic run from Barstow to Santa Monica Pier, and the End of the Trail sign, we were feeling mighty pleased with ourselves for doing that chunk in the early hours of the morning…missing all the commuter traffic. (we were just trying to beat the heat…the traffic was bonus…!!) We were back at the trailer for 8.30 am…..and collapsed back into bed and slept through the hottest part of the day.

The plan for the next bit of the journey….essentially the road home, with a few stops…was a couple of days at a KOA in Visalia California.

Visalia is the jump off point for Sequoia National Park. It seemed like a good idea to utilise my National Park pass and get a hike in….we had been sadly lacking much physical activity.

The best laid plans of mice and men however……it was still just too hot….low 40’s celcius…..and the bit of the park closest to the gate we would be accessing….was on fire……

So…Sequoia went on the growing list of places to go back to……in cooler season.

Next leg of the journey was north to the Sonoma Valley to meet up with a couple of high school friends of mine and a university buddy of Scott. They were telling us how hot it was but by that time…33 Celcius sounded almost chilly….LOL.

I booked a spot at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds….its reviews were mixed…but I have learned that reviews reflect peoples expectations as much as the reality of the place. We had a well shaded spot, it was clean, the showers were clean, the laundry was clean and the staff were helpful and friendly. Plus the campground was a stones throw from Santa Rosa and close to the highway so pretty convenient.

The big shock entering California is how expensive it is, gas , groceries…eye wateringly expensive….but the wine, good wine, incredibly inexpensive…..

I have been in California before…but I flew into LAX and really only saw the coast…..I had no concept of how mountainous California is. and the roads……the paved surfaces are mostly in good condition….but windy, twisty, narrow and steep…….and busy…everywhere is busy.

Two of my good friends from high school live in the Sonoma valley…conveniently for me just 5 minutes apart from each other.

The beauty of reconnecting with friends from ones’ youth….you may not have seen these people for may years…..but when they are people you have known for so long its like there was no gap. A bit of a homecoming sense…like finding your favourite old jeans at the back of the closet…and they still fit….

Our first foray out from Sonoma , on a recommendation from my good friend Paul, was a trip back to San Francisco to take a short hike through the Presidio on the south side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

It was a beautiful day and the view of the bridge and the beach from the trails is quite impressive.

It was a pleasant stroll down the trail to the beach.

….and the chance to get all the way down to the beach was very attractive

……..we got to watch these huge flocks of pelicans take flight…

There was a small boat beached just a little down from where we were. We were kept entertained by the arrival of a coastguard boat and their ensuing effort to (unsuccessfully) free the boat from the grip of the sand.

It felt very agreeable to be in milder temperatures and to have a little exercise…even on that short little trail.

We did a short jaunt into the big city itself, parked at the chocolate factory to meet Scotts friend for a late lunch and a welcome beer.

Extra Pix

It’s difficult to comprehend (for me anyway) that Holbrook AZ is at an elevation of 1548m (5079 ft) above sea level, then continuing west on route 66 the road climbs another 558m (1830ft) to Flagstaff at 2106m (6909ft) above sea level.

The upside of this much up is that it also keeps the temps a little more livable which, as we were heading into the July 4th weekend….seemed important. Prepping for July 4th weekend in the US was a bit stressful……anticipating fully booked campgrounds and much Independence Day revelry, I was relieved to score a site at the somewhat dubiously named…Black Barts . There had been a great deal of emailing and phone calling to many campgrounds in the area, so it was a bit of a concern….thankfully it turned out to be just fine….(and they gave me a nice shady spot…..!!)

As we drove into Flagstaff, we passed a sign for Walnut Canyon …..Hmmmm…Interesting…I looked it up as we drove and it turned out to be yet another National Monument.

Walnut Canyon National Monument

From the visitor center (where they strongly advise everyone to carry water…and to drink said water…!!) there is a staircase down to a loop trail that takes you around the cliff dwellings that are estimated to be around 1200 years old.

It’s a long way down….and all the time you are acutely aware that 1. it’s blistering hot…..and 2. it’s a loooong way back up again…..LOL…

The trail is one way only…..and not very wide, so you really would not want to be passing anyone.

But it is an incredible little window into a time past…..

…as well as being a geological marvel…..

On the walls of the caves you can still see the smoke streaks from the fires used to keep warm in winter.

It was sufficiently fascinating to distract from looking over to the right where the drop off down the canyon was……..daunting…..

The path back up was not as bad as anticipated…..it was pretty brutally hot down there tho…the increase in elevation putting us ever closer to the surface of the sun

Totally worth the visit……those ever so helpful rangers pointed us in the direction of Sunset Crater and the Wupatki Pueblo as well……so…..off we went….

Sunset Crater National Monument

Here we find ourselves in another lava field. Maybe its just me , but I think these places are mesmerizing. 1000 years later the landscape has barely changed.

As the road winds through the park, there are designated parking areas for some short, marked trails. Much of the park is restricted access in an attempt to reduce erosion of the landscape.

Just about the time that it’s occurring to you that this is like a moonscape……the confirmation appears in front of you. Yes !!… this is the area that was used for training astronauts for their first steps on the moon’s surface.

….then we found lots of these little guys running around. You can only spot them when they move….they blend so well with their background.

The bigger trail up to the crater was closed following wildfire damage….so the closest we could get was this boardwalk trail. Probably a good thing…it was warm for hiking…!!!