Month: August 2016

All good things come to an inevitable ending … 8300 km of driving, 7 major cities, 9 states, numerous national parks and state parks, two oceans and two international borders! Having met old and new friends and made some discoveries … Many interesting conversations with perfect strangers. Experienced intriguing nature, wildlife and wide open spaces as well as vibrant world cities. Above all the trip provided a lot of inspiration to move forward 🙂

La Jolla and San Diego were a relaxing ending to this 5 week adventure. Another nice place with a  great  lifestyle, to be revisited or who knows … 😉

Signing out from LAX !!

Sitting on top of the Santa Monica mountains in Malibu, life in the vintage airstream is tranquil and very off-the-grid. What a thrill to be able to see the Milky Way again, ironically only 60 km away from one of the brightest and spread-out cities 🙂 Life in and around the airstream is quite a contrast with LA life of opulence, craziness and actor wannabees … 😉

A mix of raw nature and abundant animal life, under and above the ocean surface, the Big Sur and Monterey regions are a must see on the Central California coast. Many poets and writers have come here to find meaning and inspiration … The area, as many parts of California, is also under threat from drought and wildfires. We saw a spectacular demonstration of the California airborne firefighting skills.

Continue reading Venetian room, The Fairmont Hotel, December 1961

Incredible variety of landscapes, flora and fauna around San Francisco … in two days: bone dry mountains with views on the Bay and the Valley, ancient redwoods, the Marine Layer coming and going, the mighty Pacific waves, sea cliffs, elephant seals, harbor seals, stellar sea lions, sea otters and a skunk casually walking by …

The world’s greatest ocean leaves its mark in many ways. Fantastic wildlife we will see later, but also as life giver to the arid Californian landscape especially during the summer months. The coastal Redwoods (some up to 130 meters tall) for example wouldn’t be here without the cold moist oceanic fog around their high up branches, often falling down as water drops to the forest floor … The same marine layer causes the cool summer days in San Francisco and the rest of central and northern California, while a few km further inland temperatures reach 30 celsius…

Sharing its territory with Canada (Waterton Lakes) this park is of a different order… In your face black and red mountains, numerous glaciers and beautiful lakes, wildflowers everywhere and wildlife almost at “touching” distance.  We will return!

Awesome wide open spaces, a new unexpected view, vegetation and climate around every corner! Very few people but teeming with wildlife. Two quick observations: this place is MASSIVE + the smell of skunk roadkill lingers in your car for minutes 😉

Unexpected treat at the end of this lap: the Columbia River Gorge, Washington state on one side and Oregon on the other.

Out of this world experience in Yellowstone … driving and walking a long day on the top of the world’s biggest super volcano! Not erupting anytime soon we hope. Steam vents, geysers and colorful boiling hot pools everywhere. Too many pictures to put up on this blog. As well as a massive amount of tourists. Inevitable as this is the first and foremost national park … Speaking of national parks, it is the 100 year anniversary of the US National Park Service. Therefore fitting we purchased a one year access to all parks (80 USD). The way to go if you want to visit multiple parks.

Despite a long wait in the burning sun Old Faithful didn’t disappoint 🙂

A wonderful 10 km hike around Two Ocean Lake away from the big crowds, without any bears though. We were prepared with a large dose of pepper spray anyway! The only “threat” came from a family of very loud squirrels… 😉

On the way back we ran into this 50-strong herd … just in front of the car …

IMG_2403