Category: Travel reports

The wilderness around Los Angeles

1. December 2023
by Thomas Kaiser

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(>Pictures at the bottom!)

…from Joshua Tree National Park to the dream road “1” and back to Los Angeles.
For our second attempt at Joshua Tree N.P., we chose a side entrance, far from a well-maintained road. Although the Joshua trees are somewhat sparse on the south side, the vast landscape is very calming and the large stone fields and mountains are perfect for hiking. We found a great place to spend the night at one of the two campsites, where the rule is “first come – first served”, in the middle of strangely shaped boulders. For the other campsites, you have to book your pitch online in advance, or you have to leave the national park to connect to the internet. This leaving is a double-digit number of kilometres in the upper area; absolute nonsense! Read More

To the southern border of California….

18. November 2023
by Thomas Kaiser

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….with many detours
On our second departure from San Francisco, we wanted to follow the dream road “1” as far as Santa Barbara and only then turn inland again; after all, you don’t get here every day. The first few kilometres past the metropolis of San Francisco were already impressive, with the road winding its way through the cliffs along the Pacific Ocean. We had to stop again and again to look over the cliffs into the depths. Read More

Going to Yosemite

4. November 2023
by Thomas Kaiser

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…and back to San Francisco

We were glad to leave San Francisco behind us and headed straight for the Rocky Mountains. We didn’t particularly like the city life, nor the boring motorway journey through the Central Valley, until we finally climbed to the first heights. Our goal was to visit Yosemite National Park, which various organisations offer as a day trip from San Francisco. But we really weren’t in a hurry and enjoyed our independence. We had also arranged a meeting on the eastern side of Yosemite N.P. with travelling friends from the Panamericana Tour, who had brought a spare part from Germany for us and the handover had to take place somewhere. Read More

Going south…

25. October 2023
by Thomas Kaiser

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….to San Francisco

After our dream of a trip to Canada was finally off the table, we immediately planned our way south. The weather as well as the temperatures in Washington (State) were rather unstable and fresh. But we still took the necessary time for some highlights; after all, it is not every day that you are in this northwestern state. Read More

Westward to the shore of the Pacific Ocean

6. October 2023
by Thomas Kaiser

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(>Pictures at the bottom!)

We still had some hope that we would be able to get worldwide collision insurance in the next few days. So we chose our route westward along the US-Canadian border. The route via Revelstock (Canada) seemed to be not feasible for the time being. We again roamed through huge forest areas, where probably not too many overseas tourists get lost, and the border to the northern country was in sight more often than not. Read More

In a zigzag course towards the north…

19. September 2023
by Thomas Kaiser

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(>Pictures at the bottom!)

….from Colorado to Wyoming and on to Montana to the Canadian border.
After Boulder/Colorado we knew we absolutely had to go back up to the Rocky Mountain. The landscape offers so much that you can spend much more time in it. Especially as our next destinations were almost on this desired line of our driving route. Cheyenne/Wyoming was our next stop, which I (Tom) really wanted to drive to; in the end, I was lured by the Union Pacific Railroad museum. Read More

Back to Colorado

4. September 2023
by Thomas Kaiser

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We were really looking forward to California and its stunning nature. At the top of our wish list was Yosemite National Park. Unfortunately, this wish came to nothing for the time being! The Tioga Pass was still closed (snow) and no opening date had been set. A ranger from the National Forest said briefly and dryly that the National Park was not interested in opening the pass and wanted to keep it closed as long as possible. The alternative would have been to drive over the Sonora Pass further north. In the meantime, we surfed around intensively on the internet and were surprised by the rush of visitors for Yosemite N.P.. The waiting times at the respective access roads were hours long and we couldn’t book a place to stay in the park before September, simply everything was fully booked; holiday time! In addition, the weather forecasts indicated very high temperatures, so we definitely postponed Yosemite N.P. until autumn; it is supposed to be even more beautiful at that time of year. Read More

Towards California

6. August 2023
by Thomas Kaiser

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…as we all know, the way is the goal of the journey

Our jeep was fully packed again, the last repairs done and we were already heading north out of Flagstaff. As we left relatively late, we looked for a place to stay for the following night south of Sunset Crater – a national monument – on a playground for big boys. In these vast areas, all off-roaders, ATV and OHV riders are legally allowed to let off steam in the volcanic sand. Crazy these Yanks! The following day we also enjoyed the ride around various volcanic cones and soon reached the Navajo and Hobi Indian Reservation. Read More

U S A

27. July 2023
by Thomas Kaiser

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(>Pictures at the bottom!)

…finally in the land of unlimited possibilities!

After the seven months of group travel through South and Central America, we had our usual freedom from Tombstone and could do whatever we wanted. No roadbook dictated the pace or direction of the journey. For Chantal it was a relief, for me (Tom) rather a farewell to great encounters and evenings. Well, that’s how it is; everything has an end, only the sausage has two. Read More