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

    One night in Marina, CA–Big Trip #4

    We were in Marina in mid-October 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. Marina was a last-second one-night stop on the way from the interior national parks in Northern California (Kings Canyon and Sequoia) to our originally-planned first stop on the coast, Santa Cruz. We thought we’d be able to visit Monterey from Santa Cruz,…

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  • Pinnacles National Park

    Pinnacles National Park

    We visited Pinnacles National Park for a few hours in mid-October 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. We thought Sequoia National Park was the last national park we’d be visiting in California, and then we looked at the route from our campground in Three Rivers (near Sequoia) to our next campground in Marina, on…

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  • Sequoia National Park

    Sequoia National Park

    We spent two nights outside Sequoia National Park in mid-October 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. In Yosemite, we met our first giant sequoias, from a distance. In Kings Canyon, we got up close and personal with lots more sequoias, including enormous stumps and logging graveyards. Our sequoia grand finale was Sequoia National Park!…

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  • Kings Canyon National Park

    Kings Canyon National Park

    We spent three days in Kings Canyon in early October 2022 as part of Big Trip #4. From Yosemite, we continued south to the next Northern California national park, Kings Canyon. Do you know anything about Kings Canyon? Because we didn’t until we started researching. Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park are adjacent…

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  • Yosemite National Park

    Yosemite National Park

    We spent three nights just outside Yosemite in early October 2022 as part of Big Trip #4. From Reno, it was a long (and expensive! gas prices in California!) 4.5-hour drive to our next campground near Yosemite National Park. Our route took us up Tioga Pass, the highest elevation highway pass in CA, and a…

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  • One night in Reno, NV–Big Trip #4

    One night in Reno, NV–Big Trip #4

    We stayed in Reno in early October 2022 as part of Big Trip #4. Our friends moved to Reno several years ago for many reasons: they loved the climate, they loved that it’s an easy flight to all sorts of cool locations out West, they loved the proximity to Lake Tahoe (our previous location), they…

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  • Three nights in Lake Tahoe, CA & NV–Big Trip #4

    Three nights in Lake Tahoe, CA & NV–Big Trip #4

    We visited Lake Tahoe in early October 2022 as part of Big Trip #4. J and I had been to Lake Tahoe before: we went skiing at Homewood a million years ago, and while we don’t remember where we stayed or ate, or even all the people we traveled with, that bright blue lake framing…

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  • Lassen Volcanic National Park

    Lassen Volcanic National Park

    We spent two nights near Lassen Volcanic in early October 2022 as part of Big Trip #4. We had originally booked three nights for our Lassen Volcanic stop, but after being underwhelmed by our first hike, we decided to leave a day early. No offense, Lassen. It’s hard to compete with the other national parks…

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  • Crater Lake National Park

    Crater Lake National Park

    We visited Crater Lake in late September 2022 as part of Big Trip #4. Crater Lake National Park has been on my wishlist for a loooong time. It’s spectacularly gorgeous, but once you’ve done some hikes and stopped at the overlooks, you kind of get the idea. We’d planned on spending three nights there and…

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  • Three nights in Bend, OR–Big Trip #4

    Three nights in Bend, OR–Big Trip #4

    We visited Bend in late September 2022 as part of Big Trip #4. You can’t drive from Mount Rainier to Crater Lake and not stop in Bend! Everything you’ve read about Bend’s coolness is true. We loved it. Mountains, waterfalls, cute neighborhoods, the Deschutes River running through the city, multiple food truck pods (!), and…

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