Big Sur in July!

I guess you could say the California coast north of San Francisco is our stomping grounds. I see on your itinerary that you will go from Monterey to Jed Smith Redwoods, which I'll add is one of the most beautiful spots on the planet. That's a long haul for one day. I would recommend stopping on the way for the night. There are great places on the way. Here's a few. Bodega Dunes Campground. You can have some killer cioppino soup at the restaurant that was filmed in the movie The Birds. Still Water Cove Campground. No stores and kind of small but real quiet and a very nice beach. Gualala Point Park, or Anchor Bay Campground right up the road. One on the river right up from the beach, the other smack dap on the(private)beach. MacKerricher State Park near Fort Bragg. The bridge you cross to go into town was used in Murder She Wrote I was told. From Fort Bragg you have to go inland a bit for a while but there are many very cool campgrounds in the redwoods. You'll pass through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park too but you'll be getting close to Jed Smith there. Stop and check out the elk herd though. One last tip. I haven't been there in about five years but you should stop and eat at the Samoa Cookhouse just north of Eureka but make sure you're REAL hungry. Forgot to mention, these places are if you choose to get off of 101 and go up 1. If you stay on 101 once you hit the redwoods I spoke of there are lots of neat places. Richardson Grove State Park, Benbow Lake State Recreation Area, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, and drive the Avenue Of The Giants. It's the old hiway... Happy trails....Bill       

I've learned in our short podding life that plans for state parks in CA must be made well in advance! It's my backyard and I never knew how popular the campgrounds were. We spend most of our free summer time in Tahoe. We did enjoy the Central Coast over winter break. You should definitely bring layers for the coast in summer, though. Foggy and cool (why we escape SF every summer) but you'll enjoy the scenery as long as you're warm:) Oh, and having driven from KY back to S F last summer, I think you will need those 5 days. Nevada seems endless and it's windy quite often, so it might slow you down or at least kill your gas mileage. And the weather in the plains can be challenging if you hit thunderstorms and hail. Have a good weather radar app available.

Hey West Coasters!

We keep a smaller Crock Pot in the pod all the time, but we mostly stuck with microwavable meals or sandwiches on the big trip, when we weren't sampling the local cuisine.  Our favorite food story this time around was we stopped into a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaraunt in the center of Texas, which my wife found had good reviews on one of her food apps.  Three of us ordered everything Mex on the menu.  My youngest daughter ordered spaghetti and meatballs, which she gets just about everwhere we go.  Why they had it on their menu I don't know, but she swears it was the best she had the whole trip!

In September and October we traveled from Wyoming to Niagra Falls, Vermont, Maine and then down the east coast as far as South Carolina before heading back up through North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee Illinois, to St. Louis, MO and back to Wyoming (8,500 miles). We were gone 7 weeks. We always carry tools, camp chairs, stand-alone table, R-dome. We also have a 12-V Igloo cooler and an adapter (it was a great addition for carrying beverages in the car). Took way too many clothes (weren't sure about season changes along the way). We feel too much extra "stuff" is a real burden unless you plan remote camping. Consider staying a couple of nights at a Cracker Barrel parking lot, just for the novelty of it. They will welcome you with open arms. Have a great trip. We envy you!