California Dreamin'

The final leg of our US roadtrip led us back to California, Luke’s home state. (And yes, this was a month ago, it has taken a while to get decent wifi and motivation to publish this post!)

First stop, Death Valley National Park. The hottest, lowest and driest National Park. While Luke had been once as a child, his memories were sparse and it was like rediscovering it all over again. The vast desert landscapes quickly captured Luke’s heart, and Death Valley overtook Canyonlands as his favourite US National Park (Jelley’s remains Zion).

Death Valley is a special place to visit, especially in the winter, when it is possible to hike and explore without overheating (and risking death) in the desert. We arrived 10 minutes before the visitor centre closed at sunset, and had a very quick briefing from the ranger (and warning about coyotes, rattlesnakes and scorpions), before rushing to find a spot to set up camp before dark at Texas Spring campground.

We set out early to start hiking the Golden Canyon/Lower Gulch circuit, and although the ‘coldest’ season in Death Valley, it was still a warm 29 celcius/85 fahrenheit and took a lot more energy to complete the 3 hour hike. The views were stunning, looking across the colourful mountains, expansive desert salt flats over to towering peaks with snow in the distance.

Heading down to Badwater Basin, it was crazy to see the ‘sea level’ marker on the cliff 86 metres above us, as we walked amongst the crystalised salt flats and enjoyed this unique landscape. Our legs a little tired from the early start, we drove through Artist’s Drive before heading north through Stovepipe Wells to our next campsite at Mesquite Spring, Luke’s favourite of the trip.

It was a treat camping in both campgrounds in Death Valley, with clean bathrooms, plenty of space, drinkable water and a bargain at $14 a night. The sunset from Mesquite Springs over the mountains was something special, and we had a bit of a show to wake us up in the morning with the rare B2 spirit bomber jet flying over us (only 21 ever made at a staggering cost of around $900 million per aircraft!)

Leaving Death Valley, we had a look at the Ubehebe crater, enjoyed walking through the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, and marvelled at the views heading over the steep Towne Pass out of the National Park. We were quite glad not to run into any car troubles in this sketchy area, especially in the creepy town of Trona - famous for having an ‘all gravel’ football field because the soil is too toxic for grass to grow. It was almost a relief when we entered the traffic jams of Los Angeles.

We were greeted with a stunning sunset at Malibu Beach, our first time seeing the ocean in weeks, before visiting Luke’s summer camp friend Jessi. Luke was stoked to catch up with her after so long (and Jelley stoked to meet her and try out her aged whiskey collection), and also extremely stoked to have our first hot shower and bed in a week.

The next important destination of the trip was in Ojai - somewhere we hadn’t really heard of before. Our good friend’s mom had very generously offered for us to stay at their house while they were away for the weekend, and it honestly felt like we were in Tuscany, Italy as we arrived, surrounded by rolling green hills and orchards. Our winter wardrobe didn’t quite cut it, with the temperature climbing to 31 celcius/88 fahrenheit. It was amazing to have a home again for a couple of days, cook in a kitchen, and have reliable wifi for some important life events.

Ojai was the perfect spot to celebrate a wedding. With NZ’s closed borders and no clear intentions from the government to open them when we left the country, we had to make the tough call to join the long list of VIPs who couldn’t attend our good friends Sophie & Alex’s wedding. The time difference worked out perfectly, as we attended the ceremony virtually at sunset with family & friends from around the globe, and we loved being able to still be part of this very special day. It was a surprise to get a shoutout during the vows, and hopefully one day the happy couple will forgive us for not attending the biggest day of their lives.

Another very important occasion was Jelley’s nephew’s 3rd birthday, which we also attended virtually and appreciated the effort that went into the ‘green rubbish truck’ cake. It was like we were back in NZ for 24 hours as we enjoyed catching up with family & friends.

We’re really grateful for our time in Ojai, and enjoyed exploring the town before moving further up the California coast.

We were really excited for the next stage of the trip, to return to the Bay Area via the scenic Highway 1, and had some great stops along the way. One of the strangest was the Danish town of Solvang - a replica town created by immigrants from Denmark, complete with multiple Danish bakeries and windmills.

With beautiful weather following us, we drove through San Luis Obispo (or “SLO”) towards our campsite in Morro Bay. Jelley was stoked to have booked a beachfront spot, and was extremely disappointed arriving in super thick fog that made us question if there was in fact a beach at all. To escape the cloud, we tried to head north for the afternoon to find a good old American bar to catch the Super Bowl. We found the perfect spot in Cayucos, complete with passionate locals and a pug. It was a serendipitous moment as Luke recalled he had been to this small coastal spot on a holiday as a kid and it felt familiar.

Waking up early, the fog still fully enclosed us and we got on the road early to find a cafe and some sun to dry out our tent fly which was soaked from the precipitation of the night before. The town of Cambria hit the spot for our caffeine fix, and a very enthusiastic lady at the local chamber of commerce directed us to the town’s pride and joy, Fiscilini Ranch park. It was nice to stretch our legs again and check out the Mc-mansions of the area as the sun finally came out.

After our encounter with elephant seals at the start of the roadtrip up in Stinson, it was fitting that we stop by another giant breeding ground, this one having near a thousand male, female and baby pups claiming their territory by roaring and fighting, and also just chilling in the sun.

The Highway 1 is a feat of impressive engineering, carved into the cliffside by prison slave labour in the 1930s. At times it reminded us of the rugged west coast of the South Island of NZ, at others, the iconic Kaikoura east coast with rockfall nets and constant work to repair the road from erosion and storm damage.

It was February 14, Valentine’s Day, and we arrived at Big Sur state park amongst the towering redwoods. This was a truly stunning camp area, well established with great facilities and a lot of the historic buildings maintained from their original construction by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930’s. We treated ourselves to dinner at the lodge on the balcony amongst the trees, and fell in love with this beautiful spot. Seeing the rays of sunlight shine through the grand redwoods is a wonderful site, we enjoyed hiking in this park and it’s somewhere we would love to return to in the future. NorCal camping at its finest!

Carmel-by-the-sea and Monterey greeted us with a chilling strong wind as we kept an eye out for Clint Eastwood (unsuccessful), and walked around the coastline, which reminded us of the Bondi Beach walks in Australia. These towns (cities?) had the classic California coast vibe, and seemed like a great place to visit for a weekend from the Bay (with a bit of extra pocket money to splurge on the nice shops and restaurants!).

It was a bittersweet feeling as we set up our tent for the final time of the roadtrip on the outskirts of Santa Cruz, at the fittingly named New Brighton beach (quite different from the beach at home, but same ocean!). We enjoyed another stunning sunset on the beach before making the most of the suprisingly strong free wifi at the camp and catching up on our guilty pleasure, ‘The Bachelor’.

Jelley loved the Santa Cruz vibe, and couldn’t believe we hadn’t popped down here on a previous visit to the Bay area. The downtown pier was filled with noisy sea lions and seafood restaurants - a little quiet on a weekday in winter - and the coast looked stunning in all directions. Natural Bridges state park was another great surprise, enjoying the monarch butterfly trail and seeing one last arch to close out the trip, this time in the ocean.

Our roadtrip started and finished with our friend Zack in San Jose, who kindly shared some essential camping equipment with us, and we were stoked to have the ‘hipster local’ tour of his beloved hometown San Jose along with his coworker (and friend) Grace. We loved having the inside scoop on the best places in the city, with a highlight being a speakeasy underground bar.

It was time to return our trusty rental car (without a scratch!), which served us very well over 3,751 miles on the odometer, 6,000km!. The blossoms have started to come out in Moraga, and we were so grateful to be able to visit Luke’s grandparents again after a quick Covid RAT test, with the Omicron surge calming down by the time we returned and their home out of yet another difficult lockdown. They were a huge part of our ‘why’ we came to the US, and it was really special to share photos and stories of our roadtrip, which triggered their own memories of visiting these incredible places and hiking through them in their younger years.

We had one final National Park to visit before leaving the US, Yosemite National Park with Luke’s mom, sister and friend. Claire had made reservations a long time ago for President’s Day weekend, in the aim to get a view of the annual Firefall event. Only visible for around 10 days a year when the sun sets in a precise position, and when there is not a cloud on the horizon, the light shines in an exact way on the Horsetail Falls to make it appear the flowing water is on fire, looking like lava!

We were so lucky to have the perfect conditions on 1 of our 3 nights in the valley, and to share this moment with 3000 other enthusiastic photographers and tourists. Possibly more entertaining than experiencing the Firefall itself, was becoming friends with the ranger ‘Kate from the gate’ who effortlessly controlled traffic and crowds, answering ‘where is the best spot to see the Firefall?’ and ‘what is everyone looking at?’ hundreds of times with humour.

A definite upgrade from our tiny backpacking tent, we stayed in a heated tent cabin in Curry Village in the valley. It was so strange having a Peet’s coffee shop right in the campsite, catering to the Bay Area & Silicon Valley visitors who couldn’t possibly go a weekend without a ‘Cuppa Joe’ at their fingertips. Jelley’s quest to find a suitable ‘flat white’ alternative continued, but the cappuccino still could not compare to Vic’s Cafe in Christchurch. Staying at Curry Village brought back fond memories for Luke of a nature camp he went on as a child, and recalled seeing 2 black bears in Curry Village. This time, only saw a friendlier bear around…

After weeks of hiking, and a full day exploring the valley floor, Jelley finally overdid it and had a strain in her ankle, so took a day off and chilled by the fireplace while Luke & Claire ventured out to Mirror Lake on our second day. It was awesome to have the chance to spend this quality time together before our time in the US came to an end.

We absolutely loved our time exploring the US by road, both visiting familiar places & faces, along with new mind-blowing canyons, deserts and a whole lot of rocks as we hiked over 100 miles/170km over 3 weeks (full route seen below). It was awesome to end the adventure in California - such a diverse state filled with surprises. Our favourite part of the US (other than family & friends!) remains the national parks and every landscape in between, and we do have to laugh a little when fellow Kiwis tell us they have done enough travel to the USA, after visiting the ultimate trifecta of LA, Vegas & New York City. There is so much more to explore and it is well worth jumping in the car, putting your walking shoes on, and getting away from the crowds and traffic of the cities.

We have had such luck up until this point avoiding the worst of the winter weather, but a forecast storm threatened the next step of our trip , as we planned to stopover in Denver for a night before our bargain airfares down to Colombia. With the biggest snowstorm of the season settling in as we arrived, we were relieved to make it into the city for a very quick snowy visit with our good friend Anna before returning to the airport for a redeye to Bogota via Atlanta. We have more very important people to reconnect with back in the US next month, so our time stateside isn’t quite over yet, but those 80 days flew by extremely quickly!

We’re sharing this post from quite the opposite climate - the humid and sunny Caribbean coast of Colombia, and can’t wait to fill you in on our latest adventures in this exceptional country.

Until then,

- A Kiwi and A Cali