bugsy running on lone rock beach with the airstream and f-150 in the background
  • One night in Tucumcari, NM–Big Trip #4

    One night in Tucumcari, NM–Big Trip #4

    We were in Tucumcari in early November 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. After we hiked in White Sands we were ready to leave Alamogordo, and the next interesting town to the east was Tucumcari, an old Route 66 town, so we moved there for a night. Wikipedia says it’s the largest city on Route…

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  • One night in Alamogordo, NM–Big Trip #4

    One night in Alamogordo, NM–Big Trip #4

    We were in Alamogordo at the beginning of November 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. Heading east from Tucson, you can’t not stop at White Sands National Park. Well, you CAN not stop–we’ve driven past it twice now and not stopped, thinking what’s the big deal about sand dunes, we’ve seen them before, and hiking…

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  • Four nights in Tucson, AZ (visit #3)–Big Trip #4

    Four nights in Tucson, AZ (visit #3)–Big Trip #4

    We were in Tucson at the beginning of November 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. Read about our first trip in 2018 here, our second in 2021 here, and our fourth in 2023 here. And I finally wrote a Tucson Favorites post! We weren’t supposed to go to Tucson during Big Trip #4. When building…

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  • Three nights in Palm Springs, CA–Big Trip #4

    Three nights in Palm Springs, CA–Big Trip #4

    We were in Palm Springs in late October 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. The main reason we wanted to go to Palm Springs as we headed east from Oceanside on the coast was for its signature Desert Modern architecture–the local spin on mid-century modern, adapted for a sunny, leisurely lifestyle. J also wanted to…

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  • Two nights in Oceanside, CA–Big Trip #4

    Two nights in Oceanside, CA–Big Trip #4

    We visited Oceanside in late October 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. When we first started planning Big Trip #4, it looked quite different from what it became: our original plan sent us east after Crater Lake and south through the Rockies. That would have been an incredible itinerary, but what we ended up…

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  • One night in Huntington Beach, CA–Big Trip #4

    One night in Huntington Beach, CA–Big Trip #4

    We visited Huntington Beach in late October 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. Huntington Beach was a last-minute addition to our itinerary, added when we learned our friend Sara from VA was going to be in the next town on business. We lucked into a sweet campsite and had a great time in town,…

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  • Two nights in Ventura, CA–Big Trip #4

    Two nights in Ventura, CA–Big Trip #4

    We visited Ventura in late October 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. Ventura was really only on our radar because friends had lived there until a few years ago, and they adored it, and they are cool people, so we should like it, right? Right! We loved it. Ventura’s a surprisingly quiet surf town…

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  • Two nights in San Luis Obispo, CA–Big Trip #4

    Two nights in San Luis Obispo, CA–Big Trip #4

    We visited SLO in late October 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. San Luis Obispo was originally supposed to be the next stop after Santa Cruz. We pictured ourselves doing the entire scenic drive along Route 1 through Big Sur in one day from top to bottom; instead, we did the top half of…

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  • One night in Big Sur, CA–Big Trip #4

    One night in Big Sur, CA–Big Trip #4

    We were in Big Sur in mid-October, 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. The Marina–Santa Cruz-Big Sur-San Luis Obispo portion of the trip is a little hectic because we had to shuffle some planned stops due to a work obligation that came up for J. The chaos worked out great for us, though, because…

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  • Two nights in Santa Cruz, CA–Big Trip #4

    Two nights in Santa Cruz, CA–Big Trip #4

    We were in Santa Cruz in mid-October 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. We made it to the California coast! Our original itinerary had us staying in Monterey at Monterey County Fair RV Park, but they scheduled an event overtop of our stay and canceled everyone’s reservations. Nice. So we reevaluated and decided that…

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