In October 2016, we went on a road trip for 3 weeks around California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. We started out in LA, where we picked up a Jucy Champ Mini RV and spent a few days in and around Venice, before hitting the road and driving Highway 1 north to San Fransisco.

On our way up north, we camped at Point Mogu State Park beach near Malibu, and Sunset State Beach at Monterey Bay.

After spending two nights in San Fransisco, we continued to Napa Valley where we camped at Skyline Wilderness Park for two nights. The Park offered beautiful trails and their very own disc golf court.

We then went back on the road towards the legendary Yosemite Valley. We camped at Hodgon Meadow just after passing the northwestern entrance to the park. The ambiance was great and the site still offered a lot more privacy than the campgrounds down in the valley.

We packed up early and drove the Tioga Pass through Yosemite towards Death Valley, passing small places like Independence, Toms place, and Lone Pine. We descended about 9 000 ft and went from 0 to 35 degrees in just a few hours. We camped for one night in Furnace Creek.

We then drove to Zion National Park which is an impressive flourishing canyon in the middle of the desert. There were no available campsites near the park so we drove back to Quail Creek just outside Hurricane to find a spot for the night.

Our next main stop was the Grand Canyon but we stayed in Page along the way so that we could get a glimpse of the mindblowing Antelope Canyons. Grand Canyon was packed with tourists so we stayed in Tusayan just south of the South Rim entrance.

Our campsite at the Boulder Beach campground with a beautiful view of Lake Mead.

We’re now heading back to the west coast and San Diego. On the way there, we planned a stop in Joshua Tree National Park. We didn’t really know what to expect as we hadn’t read too much about it beforehand, but we were instantly amazed by the moon-like scenery and the special evening light that I believe is partly affected by the total absence of electricity in the park. We stayed at the Jumbo Rocks campground which I can highly recommend.

San Diego was our final stop on this road trip, where we chose to park our van at San Elijo State Beach Campground, 30 minutes north of the city.