29 July 2019 - West Coast USA Road Trip

A Road Trip South - USA Pacific Coast - 2019

I've done part of the West Coast drive of the USA, typically between San Francisco and San Diego, however, I have longed to go as far as Washington and back. My guess is that there is some really good stuff to experience in Oregon too. Since this post has too much to talk about I'll let my YouTube playlist do the work...Enjoy the following in 4 parts:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJhr4HGFiUYF1IDSQA2nZKzpTYqvoKsST

27 July 2019 - Above & Beyond Group Therapy Weekender - Gorge, WA, USA

When my girlfriend said "I wish we could do a road trip and see the Group Therapy Weekender" I knew I had to make it happen. I did not realize the fun we would have. For the most part, it was a nice camping weekend along the Columbia River. The days were hot and the nights cool. More importantly, the music was amazing!

24 July 2019 - Lake Tahoe, California USA - Summer Road Trip

Greetings from Sugar Pine Point State Park on the California side of Lake Tahoe. Dee and I are on our way to the Gorge Amphitheater in Washington to see the Above and Beyond Group Therapy Weekender camping/music event. From Southern California, this is about 19 hours of driving. In order to break up the trip into more manageable chunks, we are stopping at a few places along the way.

So what is Lake Tahoe like? Incredible!

18 July 2019 - San Diego International Comicon, USA

For about the last 10 years I have been trying to get tickets to one of the most famous conventions in the world. I've been to BlizzCon. I've been to QuakeCon too. I've even enjoyed Anime Los Angeles. But this event has always sold out and made getting tickets super difficult. Now I only managed to get a Thursday and Sunday ticket before they all sold out again this year, but this will make attending future events a little easier.

I spent most of my time on the main show floor. My goal for the day was to just enjoy the experience, taking in the sights and sounds. I didn't really worry about buying exclusive toys or comics. My main fun would come from looking for my favorite characters such as Marvel's Deadpool and exploring the many artists that were showing and selling their work.

Not only is there plenty to do on the show floor, but there is also the entire downtown of San Diego to Explore. The Gas Lamp District was really crowded and full of great people-watching opportunities.

One of my favorite finds was an art gallery featuring the upcoming Borderlands 3 game. It featured some nice paintings, sculptures, and a fun little Twitter scavenger hunt. It's going to be a fun release.

It was a long few days of exploration. For the most part, I enjoyed my time and am happy to finally experience the event. Will I return? Not sure yet. I used the Amtrak system to travel back and forth between my home and the convention. On the last day, I got a nice sunset.

7 July 2019 - Cleveland National Forest, California, USA

Waking up early, we packed up our camp and headed to Temecula for some breakfast. Before heading down to Lake Elsinore we enjoyed one more view of the mountains.

I didn't really have much of a plan for the day. I figured we would pay a visit to Palomar mountain and the 200ft observatory there and then figure out the next step from that point. The initial view from the mountain did not disappoint.

The observatory was an interesting scientific stop. I respect the work the scientists are doing here.

We had a small picnic, enjoying some fresh oranges from the Pala Ranch, and then headed down the south part of the mountain. At this point, I decided to loop around and head for Idylwild. Along the way, we found one of the crossings of the Pacific Crest Trail. Someday...

I had forgotten that a forest fire (and resultant mudslides) had closed the approach from the Ortega highway. But this ended up helping us out as the town was not crowded with tourists. The road was partially open too, using a Caltrans escort truck system for safety.

Mayor Max still makes me grin!

6 July 2019 - Cleveland National Forest, California, USA

This year I kind of skipped out on the 4th of July. I'd already gotten my firework fix back in may at EDC. Something I have been wanting to do more frequently is to go Car Camping. It is a halfway point between backpacking and full-on RV camping. I still prefer to camp in a tent or hammock but I love the convenience of having a car to carry heavier gear and a place to lock away valuables. As luck would have it the girlfriend's schedule allowed for a full weekend off for the first time in a month or two. Being a holiday weekend we were not sure how lucky we would be at finding someplace what wasn't already full. All the State Beach campgrounds I wanted were booked. So we made a plan to drive the Ortega Highway and test our luck with some of the First Come First Serve campgrounds. We found a few empty spots at the Bluejay Campground!

Selecting a spot was easy. I paid the $20 fee and then we set up camp. It was still really nice out so we decided to explore a local trail (San Juan).

After a few miles of hiking out and back, we returned to camp to enjoy the sunset. As the light waned the temperatures got cooler. I started a fire, being extra cautious with the dry California brush. At all times I had a 2-gallon fire bucket of water and another 3 gallons of drinking water nearby.

As the day ended we were presented with a lovely sunset (and eventually some nice stars).