With work slowing down and the weather warming, we are antsy to get out on the road again. Where to go is always the question. Often, we expend lots of energy in the search of the perfect destination. (Which is often a moot point since we get distracted and wander off in an alternate direction.) Truly the ending point is unimportant we only need to pick a direction to head. The beauty of traveling in a well contained camper is we need little and can stay most anywhere. Off season and during the week, the options are limitless.
Our first detour is not far from home. We hit highway 17 mid-week, mid-day and the traffic is backed up at a crawl for miles. We exited highway 17 at Holy City, winding through the back roads of the Santa Cruz mountains. Roads and a small community we didn’t know existed. Beautiful drive through the redwoods. We connected up with Old Santa Cruz Highway around the back side of Lexington Dam back onto Highway 17 just past the traffic.
Over Altamont Pass with the wind turbines. Much of the hillsides are still green, interestingly more so on one side of the highway.
Continued through the town center of Livermore.
I love maps! I have a set of DeLORME detailed state maps, California sectional maps, camping maps and, of course, GPS. We mark the routes taken on the big DeLORME maps noting where we have stayed, and any specific amenities; fishing, showers, Wi-Fi, ecc.
Picking a nearby spot on the maps we decided to check out Camanche Lake. Wow, stunning.
I am always amazed at the beauty of our state. The joys of discovery new places is a big part of the excitement of our travels.
Travel Adventures - Gary and Nancy 