California is a huge state neighboring Arizona with lots of attractions making it one of our top destinations especially for our driving trips. We really enjoy the variety of the landscape with mountains and seashore sometimes seemingly next to each other. This diversity leads to California being host to a multitude of National Parks, from famous ones like Yosemite and Sequoia NP to little known ones like Lassen Volcanic NP. It also has some famous cities that we try to explore at least once like San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.
Map of Travels
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Trips
- San Juan de Capistrano, a famous mission
Last stop before the long trip home is at the historic and famous San Juan de Capistrano mission - Dana Point headland and harbor
In the morning we explore the Dana Point headland area with a short detour to enjoy the harbor - Tri City Park in Brea
Before sunset we explore a city park looking for birds while our relative is shopping with her friends - Whale Watching from Dana Point
We spend the morning of our full day in Dana Point taking a successful whale watching cruise - Short jaunt into Joshua Tree National Park
Late in the afternoon we visit the southern part of Joshua Tree NP with stops at Cottonwood Spring and Bajada Nature Trail - Beautiful Painted Canyon
The last stop of the day is the Painted Canyon where we spend the remaining sunlight exploring the beautiful but popular canyon - Into Palm Springs
In the morning of our return we explore Palm Springs with a focus on Sonny Bono while also hiking to a good viewpoint of the city - Pacific Crest Trail hike
On the full day in Palm Springs we have decided to do a beautiful hike on the Pacific Crest Trail finding caches and burrowing owls - Exploring the California Wilderness with a stop in Quartzsite
We spend the New Year’s Eve in Palm Springs while exploring the California wilderness on the way - Hart Ghost Town
Hart was a short lived gold mining town that existed between 1908 and 1915. Few ruins remain from those times.