After leaving Scotts Valley, California, we made our way across the Sacramento Valley to Lake Tahoe where we spent three weeks in the tall pines. It was a little early in the season, but our campground is open year-round. Snow could still be seen on the mountains.
My sister came for a few days and stayed in one of the cabins in the campground. We showed her the sights, like Emerald Bay, Fanny Bridge and the grounds of the Gate Keeper’s Museum (It wasn’t open yet for the season.)
We ate a picnic lunch looking out over the lake at the Gate Keeper’s Museum grounds.
While we were in Tahoe City, we took a walk along the Lakeside Trail to see the Penny Bear, (officially named, Ursa Mater). The 12 foot tall mama bear and her cub is made of over 200,000 pennies.
Another day, my sister and I went on a hike in Van-Sickle Bi-State Park. We didn’t make it as far as the waterfalls because it was a hot day and the trail was long and steep. But we did see views of Lake Tahoe. It is a Bi-State park because it straddles the border of California and Nevada.
After delivering my sister to the airport in Carson City, Nevada, we took a little drive around the historic district where we saw the stone building that used to be the location of the United States Mint in Nevada. It is now the Nevada National Guard Armory.
On our way back to the coast, we stayed at Oregon House Campground which was one we had never stayed at before. It is in the foothills northwest of Lake Tahoe. On my walks, I frequented the lake for some really beautiful views.
While we were there, we adopted a campground cat. We don’t have room for pets, so we enjoyed spending time with this friendly kitty. We had brief thoughts of adopting her, but decided she would prefer hunting in the woods and being free to come and go instead of being cooped up in a trailer.
We spent nine days in Coarsegold, California, where we visited our dentist, our storage building and familiar places around our old hometown of Mariposa.
I was excited to stay in Morro Bay, California, for three days between campgrounds. We enjoyed walks on the beach, eating at Dorn’s Breakers overlooking the bay, and visits from family members who also enjoy the beauty of Morro Bay.
On our last evening there, I walked across the road from our campground to watch the sunset one last time.
Our next stop was Paicines, south of Hollister, California. This campground is a preserve, so there’s always plenty of wildlife around. We got to see some brand-new baby deer.
While we were there, we celebrated our nation’s 250 birthday. Happy Birthday, America!
This season of travel was centered around California because of medical appointments in California. However, at this point, we decided we wanted to sell our Airstream trailer and buy a new Arctic Fox trailer. The trailer was being held for us in Portland, Oregon. So, our next travels were going to be a fast trip up to Oregon and back.