California – Love, Laughter, and Luggage

California 21 May 2025

Driving Through Death Valley National Park in July

At first glance, the title of this post probably seems a little crazy. Why would you go to Death Valley National Park in July? If you’re a teacher and you have a school-age kid, this stop along a massive road trip makes perfect sense. In 2022, we set out from Joplin, Missouri, to undertake one of our longest road trips to date. A couple of days before, we’d stopped overnight along the highway, and we’d also spent a night at Grand Canyon National Park at Kachina Lodge. Our next overnight stop was scheduled for Lone Pine, California. Along the way, we hoped to spend some time in Death Valley National Park, even though it was so hot we didn’t want to leave our car for very long. Visiting in July is possible, but I wouldn’t plan on any major hiking during the day. Be sure to have plenty of water…

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California 10 Apr 2025

Staying in a Cabin Among the Redwoods at Crescent City/Redwoods KOA Holiday

When we made a reservation at Crescent City/Redwoods KOA Holiday, I knew a stay at this campground would be memorable. We wanted to spend a night among the majestic redwoods, and a cabin at this KOA seemed perfect. We only spent one night here, but I’ll never forget it. In the summer of 2021, we took a road trip that began in Joplin, Missouri, and headed west. We spent time in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. We zipped up to Glacier National Park and then over to Seattle. After a few days in the city, we took a detour to Mount Ranier National Park before landing in Forks and Astoria, two towns known for their connections to popular movies. From Astoria, we drove along the Oregon coast before arriving just inside California. To read about that drive, click here. This placed us at our stopping point for the evening…

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California 13 Jan 2025

Visiting Manzanar National Historic Site

Everyone should visit Manzanar. The lessons within its borders are necessary. I didn’t know Japanese Internment during World War II was something that happened until well after high school graduation. I’d never heard the slightest murmur of such things all through high school, and I took advanced history classes. At 22, I’d moved to Front Royal, Virginia, a small town about an hour from Washington, D.C. One December day in 1997, I had the opportunity to visit the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of American History. Fortunately, I’d visited twice before as a child and a teenager. It was a favorite of mine, and I looked forward to seeing the First Ladies’ exhibit and the pop culture section. Imagine my confusion when I stumbled into a portion of the museum that looked like a neighborhood in California. Shops and restaurants in this replica San Francisco street were closed and boarded up,…

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California 1 Feb 2024

Two Days in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park were stops on one of our epic Missouri to California road trips. As we planned the trip, we couldn’t wait to experience the majesty of the enormous sequoia trees. Like many people, we’d seen the pictures and videos of these amazing trees. Now it was time to experience them for ourselves. Though we only spent two nights in the park, it’s an experience I won’t ever forget. We stayed at the only lodge within Sequoia National Park–Wuksachi Lodge. This one is a little different from some of the classic lodges we’ve stayed in because the check-in building is in a completely separate location from the actual lodges. While the lobby is often in a different building from the actual rooms, this was the first one we’d encounter in which our building was a short drive away from the lobby, gift shop, and…

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California 19 Nov 2023

The Winchester Mystery House

When I realized our summer road trip in 2022 would take us right by the Winchester Mystery House, I knew what we had to do. That’s right. We had to stop. The History of the Winchester Mystery House The Winchester Mystery House is a historic mansion located in San Jose, California. Its construction began in 1884 and continued for almost 38 years until Sarah Winchester, the widow of firearm magnate William Wirt Winchester, passed away in 1922. The house is renowned for its unique architectural features and its intriguing history. Legend has it that after the death of her husband and infant daughter, Sarah Winchester sought solace in the belief that she was haunted by the spirits of those killed by Winchester rifles. To escape their vengeful spirits, she began an extensive and continuous construction project on her family’s unfinished farmhouse. Over the years, the mansion underwent constant renovations, resulting…

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California 5 Jun 2023

A Visit to Monterey Bay Aquarium

When we plan our long road trips, Kristin is always hoping for a chance to see some animals. She was super excited to learn that we’d be visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California, during one of our road trips out west. We love a good aquarium, and Monterey Bay is one of the best in the country. This aquarium is right on the water, which makes a visit there all the better. It’s also on a road in town known as Cannery Row, an old sardine packing district. These details make Monterey Bay Aquarium a unique place to visit. Arriving at Monterey Bay Aquarium At the time of our visit, the aquarium was still operating on a reservation system due to reopening restrictions after Covid-19. We scheduled ahead of time to be sure to get an opening reservation so that we could explore some other attractions later in…

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California 22 May 2023

Staying at Yosemite Valley Lodge

Yosemite Valley Lodge turned out to be the perfect place to relax on our trip. When planning our trip to Yosemite National Park, one of the first things we narrowed down was lodging. Since national park lodging can fill up early, it’s best to plan your trip a year out or more. And though I would’ve loved to stay at the flagship lodge, The Awahnee, it’s a little pricy. Since we were on a three-week road trip, we chose a more economical choice this time–Yosemite Valley Lodge. On this road trip, we’d already had several adventures that included four national parks–Grand Canyon, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Death Valley. We’d also been to some great cities (and towns) in California–Lone Pine, Monterey, and San Francisco. Even after all those experiences, we still were awed by the sheer beauty of Yosemite. It’s like no other place we’ve seen. Arriving at Yosemite Valley…

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California 16 Oct 2022

Alcatraz Night Tour

As we learned about visiting Alcatraz, it was soon apparent that the Alcatraz Night Tour was the option for us. We initially weren’t planning to stay in San Francisco on this road trip; we planned to drive through on our way to Yosemite National Park from Monterey, California. But as we planned our trip, we realized we’d need to stay a night near San Francisco. So why not check out some of the attractions in the city? And though the Alcatraz Night Tour isn’t technically a ghost tour, the description sounded close enough. After all, we love a good ghost tour in a new city. Planning Our Alcatraz Night Tour To visit Alcatraz, you need to buy tickets for a tour, and the tickets are only available through the Alcatraz Island Tickets website. If you purchase tickets from another source, they may not be valid. If you visit Alcatraz during…

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California 4 Sep 2022

Exploring San Francisco’s Chinatown

If you’re heading to San Francisco, you simply must plan to spend some time in Chinatown, the oldest in North America and the largest outside of Asia. San Francisco’s Chinatown is a sensory delight; the art, the food, the music, the shopping–China’s culture is a fantastic experience and was a highlight of our road trip. Though we only spent a few hours there, it’s one of my family’s favorite memories. Planning Our Visit to San Francisco’s Chinatown We only spent one night in San Francisco, but our limited time was packed with experiences. Honestly, as we planned this three-week road trip from Missouri, we didn’t initially plan to stay in San Francisco; we intended to drive on through. I thought San Francisco would be its own trip for us one day. As we continued to plan, we realized that we’d be staying somewhere nearby anyway as we drove from Monterey…

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