Dear Reader,
At long last I have completed the second to last blog post in this series! Overdue, I know, as we have already finished our trip and made it home – from North Dakota to the West Coast and back east across much of the U.S. to our new home in Michigan. With the camping and the unpacking from that and settling in to a new house, I’ve had about zero point zero minutes to write, so here I am sacrificing a little sleep in order to indulge myself. Let us travel back in time via my travel journal and the magic that is photography:
Sunday, 08/09/26
We parked our camper for the third and last time in Olema Campground on site 148. It is a return to the first loop we camped (on site 141), but our new site is even bigger and it backs up to trees. I think we’ve been moving too often, though, because the slide stopped working AGAIN when Jay tried to set it back up. Luckily, he figured out a way to manually open it.
Overall, Olema Campground has been our favorite so far. The sites are decently sized, the showers have good water pressure and hot water, there are laundry machines available, and the campground itself is big enough to bike around a bit. The only downsides are that there isn’t a reasonably-priced grocery store nearby (that we’ve found) and the WiFi and cell service are minimal, but if you’re looking for a small town, nature-oriented vacation, it is the perfect area. There are plenty of beaches, hiking paths, and cute neighboring towns to explore nearby, as well as San Francisco an hour south if you’d like a big city day trip.
Someday, if I returned to explore more of the area and didn’t feel like camping, I’d book a room at Olema House (pictured left), a cozy hotel just down the road. I can picture myself curling up in a chair there with a mystery novel after a long day of hiking and swimming and a warm meal at Due West, the tavern next door.
Jay drove back east to Coloma for a night to do some gold panning alone, but before leaving he brought me to a plant nursery (below) and told me to pick something out! I was in my element there, and I even got a free lemon! (I found it on the ground and the woman working there said I could take it).
Monday, 08/10/26
Jay returned around 2 PM, and though it was chilly we headed to Limantour Beach. Last time we went I loved it there so much that we had to go back, and I am so glad we did because this time we saw a WHALE! And not just once, it surfaced and jumped multiple times! Avery and I had been swimming because we knew we’d regret not going in even though the water and air were freezing. She was still in the water when we first saw it, a short, circling fin tailed by a swarm of birds.
Absolutely, 100%, the best part of this trip for me has been the time in nature. The views have taken my breath away, and I’ve seen new animals in the wild, up “close”. I feel like I’m not made to live indoors, and if you think about it, humans aren’t! We’re made to feel the sun, the sand, the dirt, and to see living things every time we turn our head. Children especially need the freedom to run, to yell, to be a little messy, and those are things best experienced outdoors. These past few years I haven’t gotten enough of that, and though I enjoy homemaking, I’ve been craving a bit more sunshine.
Tuesday, 08/11/26
Today’s adventure was another trip to San Francisco and a ferry to Alcatraz Island! We booked tickets ahead of time and were instructed to arrive 45 minutes early. I wasn’t expecting a ton of people, but there was a long line boarding the ferry and even more touring the island. The ferry ride itself was short. The whole experience, including waiting to board, took a little over 3 hours for us, although you tour the island at your own pace and leave at your convenience on the next available ferry. The island was cool, and stroller-friendly except in the prison itself, but in my opinion not worth the price of 3 tickets, although the ferry ride was included. There is a bit of historical signage and the prison was interesting, but my favorite part was the gorgeous gardens planted all over the island by the wives and families of military officers stationed there, and even tended to by prisoners! Since the island is basically a rock in the middle of the bay, it was covered in bird poop, which detracted some from the overall experience.
We rode the ferry back and dined at the Wipeout Bar & Grill on Pier 39, which was delicious. I would say their California Burrito is the best food I have tried on this trip yet!
Wednesday, 08/12/26
Today our stay in Olema ended, and we traveled up the coast towards Mendocino. The roads were lined with vineyard after winery after vineyard, then shaded by redwoods. After traversing the edges of foggy coves, we pulled up to Caspar Beach RV Park, right across the road from Caspar Beach. The chilly evening was spent watching The Goonies in the camper.
Thursday, 08/13/26
After a grocery run at Harvest Market, we did a little exploring at Russian Gulch State Park. My photos will have to do the talking because I can’t even begin to describe how gorgeous it was. We would have loved to swim there, but it was too cold.
Friday, 08/14/26
Today we drove up to Fort Bragg to visit Glass Beach. It was one of the spots I’d been looking forward to the most, but it was kind of a letdown! If it was warmer out the beaches would’ve been perfect for swimming, with lots of outcroppings creating little private coves, but the rounded glass on the beach was so small you had to squat down to pick it out. It wasn’t hard to find, especially nearer to the water, but there were people there already picking through it, and it just wasn’t as sweet as I was expecting. It’s possible I may have loved it more if it had been a hot day.
We did make friends there, though; tons of squirrels lived in the sandy beach walls, and a few came up almost near enough to touch!
Saturday, 08/15/26
It was still too chilly to swim, so we spent the day doing necessary shopping at Safeway and O’Reilly’s, and some unnecessary shopping at The Ark Thrift Shop and a nearby flea market.
Later, Jay and I took the kids on a bike ride up the nearby hill to a pretty neighborhood before watching Little House on the Prairie in the camper.
Tomorrow our stay at Caspar Beach RV Park ends. Before this trip, I had never stayed at an RV park and so far I wouldn’t recommend it for camping with children because it’s essentially a gravel parking lot. Our site here was super tight, although we enjoyed having the hookups. The WiFi worked well, but the showers cost 50¢ a minute and there was no coin laundry. I will say, we walked back to the tenting section and it was so magical that I’d stay there in a heartbeat – the sites were tucked back into the forest like a fairy neighborhood, and the campground is right across the road from the beach, so I would recommend it if you are looking for a rustic tenting experience.
If I ever returned to Mendocino/Fort Bragg, I’d go earlier in the summer when there’s a better chance for swimming weather. There are plenty of spots for hiking and diving, and the views are spectacular, as they seem to be everywhere in California!
Animals I saw today:
- Cranky-sounding blue birds
- A bunch of small, tan deer grazing in someone’s yard
Plants I identified:
- Jasmine (which I had in my wedding bouquet)
- Alstroemeria (also in my bouquet)
- Fuchsia
- Blackberries
Coming soon is the final post in this series which details our final stops in the redwoods and Oregon!
– Madelyn