Day 11 - Phase 3 begins

We are off the Pacific coast and beginning phase 3 of our trip. The plan is to start at Yosemite National Park and continue south then east seeing every National Park we can. Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Sequoia, and the list goes on. I'm so excited about this phase! I can't wait!

OK, so I've been excited about every inch of this trip! What an epic adventure we are having.

Today we traveled through wine country.

Stopped at Benzinger Winery and took a tour. Very interesting! They are a certified bio dynamic vineyard. Not exactly sure what that means. But they have taken 50 of their 85 acres out of grape production and planted plants which will support insects that help protect the vines.

The vines

Barrels aging in the cave.

Today was the first day of picking grapes for the red wine.

They had already harvested all of the white wine grapes. The bees were out since the brix ( A measurement of the sugar content) was high and ready for harvest.

This eucalyptus tree was huge and smelled amazing!

A gypsy among the vines.

How pretty this part of California is!!

We made one more winery stop at Buena Vista, then walked around a Napa shopping districts, had lunch and moved on. We're spending the night in Angels Camp, California.

Tomorrow we explore Yosemite National Park!

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Day 23 last day in South Padre

So sad to say goodbye to the beach. But I'll be back some day. It's less than 15 hours from home...that's totally doable. Here's a link to where we stayed. link This was a perfect place for a late September vacation. Very few of the condos appeared to be occupied. We had the hot tub all to ourselves last night! Today we rented chaise lounge chairs and an umbrella and just enjoyed the beach all day long. We had an amazing dinner at Pier 19 where we were able to see dolphins out the window. Now were getting things ready so we can get up at 4 am and start driving home.

Day 24 - Home - Trip Summary

MILES: 7,780 STATES : 15 Missouri Kansas Colorado Wyoming Montana Idaho Washington Oregon California Nevada Utah Arizona New Mexico Texas Oklahoma TRIP PHASES: 4 To the west coast Pacific Coast Highway National Parks Beach Vacation FLAT TIRES: 1 ECO SYSTEMS: 20 Prairies Foot Hills Mountains Geysers Sulphur Springs Lakes Continental Divide Rain Forests Ocean Beach - Pacific Ocean Redwood Forests Vineyards Almond groves Yosemite El Capitan OK, not an eco system, but unlike anything else! Sequoia Forest Desert Death Valley (see El Capitan note) Canyons...some of them even grand Gulf of Mexico Beach - Gulf of Mexico NATIONAL PARKS/FORESTS: 15 Yellowstone National Park Olympic National Park Hoh Rain Forest Redwood National Forest Yosemite National Park Stanislaus National Forest Sierra National Forest Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias Inyo National Forest Death Valley National Park Zion National

Day 18 Grand Canyon and the end of Phase 3

Today we went to Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest National Parks. We are officially done with Phase 3 of our trip - the National Park Phase. And frankly...we're both relieved. The National Parks, while beautiful and awe inspiring...were also kind of a bummer. They were crowded, had limited parking and generally felt like a tourist attraction. Mindy went to several of these when her boys were young...35+ and 20+ years ago. Hearing how the parks have changed over the years was kind of a downer. That being said, I'm so glad I went and was able to this countryside, it is truly unique and majestic. Now that we're done with Phase 3, we both feeling a little energized! We're ready to get up early tomorrow and begin Phase 4...which we've decided to keep secret. If I told you what we're doing, you'd think we're nuts. Better to keep quiet than to confirm that thought! First view of a canyon on the prairie First overlook into Gra

The Adventures of Gypsy-Jackie

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