Don’t judge. I’m too busy living to write about it!
Highlights (the places I’d visit again) -
7/30 - 8/2/2021 - Ancient Redwoods RV Park, Redcrest, California - ON the Avenue of the Giants, one of my FAVORITE spots the whole trip.
8/5 - 8/12/2021 - Honey Bear Campground and RV Resort, Gold Beach, Oregon
8/16 - 8/20/2021 - Cannon Beach RV Resort, Cannon Beach, Oregon
8/20 - 8/22/2021 - Lewis and Clark Golf & RV Park, Astoria, Oregon
8/24 - 8/31/2021 - Gig Harbor RV resort, Gig Harbor, Washington
9/8 - 9/10/2021 - Wallace RV Park, Wallace, Idaho
9/15 - 9/22/2021 - Peter D’s RV park, Sheridan, Wyoming
9/22 - 9/24/2021 - Fort Casper Campground, Casper, Wyoming
10/4 - 10/8/2021 - Camp A Way, Lincoln, Nebraska
10/8 - 10/15/2021 - Victorian Acres Campground, Nebraska City, Nebraska
10/15 - 10/19/2021 - Winterset City Park Campground, Winterset, Iowa
10/21 - 10/25/2021 - The Campus RV park, Independence, Missouri
10/26 - 10/30/2021 - Ponca City RV Park, Ponca City, Oklahoma
10/4 - 10/11/2021 - Oak Creek RV Park, Weatherford, Texas
I didn’t pick these location for the parks, necessarily, but for the locations and the things we were able to do during our stays. I’m sure, if you asked my husband, he’ve have a totally different take on the best places we visited. But I was enchanted by the small towns we found with great local history and beautiful town squares (and their shops and restaurants). We have a rule that we have to stay in a state for at least one night before we can add the state sticker to our US map. So we visited those middle states that we wouldn’t have otherwise visited, and found some very cool stuff.
Let’s start with the Redwoods - so otherworldly. The Avenue of the Giants is the largest stand of Redwoods in the world. Some of these trees are over 2000 years old! You can feel really small and insignificant when standing next to one of these giants. Walking on the trails is magical. All noises are muted, and you feel like you might spot a fairy around the next bend. I’ve never seen such large clover! One night, we sat around a campfire with our neighbors until late, and watched the Perseid meteor shower!
Gold Beach, Oregon was the first beach we encountered on the Oregon coast. It was very different from California. It was clean, with very few shells, mostly pretty rocks, drift wood and black sand that could polish your feet smooth in no time. It was definitely not a swimming beach, but it was beautiful and VERY WINDY!
The drive up and down the coast between Gold Beach and Cannon Beach revealed monolithic rocks, like Haystack Rock, just off the coast and water spouts. In Lincoln City, I hit the tide just right so I could explore the tide pools! I found colorful anemones and starfish!
Astoria, Oregon may be best known for the setting of “The Goonies”, but I was a little old for that one. Instead, I loved exploring the beach, the downtown and great Victorian architecture! We stayed a few miles away from Fort Clatsop, Lewis and Clark’s winter digs before heading back across the country on their Expedition of Discovery. I caught on to the whole Lewis and Clark/ Oregon Trail thing a little later in Casper, WY, so we didn’t even visit Fort Clatsop! But we did drive to the Cape of Disappointment, which was closed. We couldn’t even see the lighthouse, so we were disappointed, too. They had an antique hop-on, hop-off trolley that gave us a nice overview of the area.
We crossed over to Washington, and happened to find a park in pretty Gig Harbor (not a lot of choice in this area!) which is just across the sound from Seattle. So we took the ferry from Bremerton on a sunny day, and played tourists at Pike Place Market, just enough taste of this busy city, on a day when the Mariners were playing at home - eek! Flying fish, the wall of gum, rubbed the brass piggy’s nose, more clam chowder, croissants, and fresh pressed apple cider!
We kinda fell in love with Wyoming. If it weren’t so far in the middle of nowhere, we might consider settling there. It has a very independent, cowboy feel, a lot like Texas, with wide open spaces, but much colder! We stayed in Sheridan, Casper and Cheyenne - all had cool historic old west downtowns. Sheridan was a little more yuppie. It has a great art scene - especially western art. Casper has the National Trails Museum. Situated on the North Platte River, this is where the Oregon Trail, Mormon Trail, California Trail and Pony Express all crossed over. This is where I finally started clueing in about the pioneers heading West. We basically did the Oregon Trail in reverse, from Fort Clatsop to Independence, Missouri.
We didn’t expect much from the Plain States, and really, there’s a lot of open plains. But each one had something special to offer. Lincoln, Nebraska is a cool capital city and college town. They love their Cornhuskers! Nebraska City is the birthplace of Arbor Day and is known for its apple orchards. Winterset, Iowa is the birthplace of John Wayne and has 6 of the remaining covered bridges of Madison County. Independence, Missouri is the hometown of President Harry Truman, and has the second largest genealogy research library in the country. I enjoyed digging around both sides of our family trees. We drove into Kansas City for World Famous BBQ. And I had to indulge in some Pioneer Woman fan fun in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. We went to the Mercantile and out to the lodge to see where the Food Network show is made. It was fall, and I was loving the whole vibe. We picked apples, made apple pie and apple butter and took walks in the brisk air and autumn leaves.
Happy Trails! We’re looking forward to 2022. Maybe we’ll finally get to see the East coast like we originally planned for 2020, but we’re staying flexible, just in case.
