I love national parks. So during a trip to central California, I had to visit the newest one, Pinnacles National Park, east of the Salinas Valley. 

Pinnacles gets it name from its unusual rock formations and spires. President Theodore Roosevelt declared it a national monument in 1908; Congress passed a bill upgrading it to a national park in late 2012, and President Barack Obama signed the legislation into law in January 2013. The park encompasses 26,000 acres in a mountainous area about 14 miles east of Soledad and 85 miles southeast of San Jose.

Why lug around a big digital camera when you already have a great one in your pocket?  That’s right; you can get great travel pictures right now using your smartphone’s built-in camera and a few great photography apps.  Not only that, but you’ll also be able to personalize your photos and share them with your family and friends too.  Let’s get started.

No matter which brand of smartphone you own, chances are it’s got a pretty decent digital camera built in. And that camera probably has some nice standard features, such as a focus and exposure lock, basic editing controls, a panorama feature and probably a movie feature as well. It might, like the new Apple iPhones, even include an HDR feature allowing you to capture images in difficult, high-contrast lighting. In fact, the current models are offering most of the features you used to find on compact digital cameras. A quick tour of your user’s manual should help explain what your particular camera is capable of, right out of the box. 

Sliding down sand dunes on a board; donning gloves to create glass art in a 600-degree furnace; climbing a ladder into the dome of a working lighthouse. What novel experiences you can have if you linger in the little towns along the Oregon coast! Like too many RV travelers, when I cruised down the coast on U.S. Highway 101, I seldom went far off the road except to fill up with gas. I was always going somewhere.  This time I was a wanderer, an explorer, a gypsy, soaking up the real life of the small towns.

From Portland, we drove on a secondary road that meanders southwest through rolling wine country, a distraction left for later. A breeze laced with salt and evergreen announced our arrival at Lincoln City. Registration and hookup at Premier RV Park went smoothly and, before the sun sank slowly over the Pacific, we were ordering dinner at the Fathoms, the Inn at Spanish Head’s fine view restaurant across the street from Premier. 

“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.” — Edward Abbey

Once in awhile you come across a place that just feels made for RV travel. Stretching from the rolling Cariboo Mountains to the Pacific Coast, British Columbia’s Highway 20 offers seemingly endless vistas with unspoiled wilderness everywhere you look.

The scenic, winding journey of 283 miles from Williams Lake to Bella Coola is full of diverse landscapes, ranging from grassy plateaus and rolling meadows to picturesque canyons and high mountain peaks. You feel like you are in British Columbia’s “wild west,” with each small community providing its own unique story along the way. With ranches and specialty lodges, grizzly bear viewing and tranquil visits off the beaten path, each trip along Highway 20 provides a fresh experience.

Longer than the state of California, Mexico’s Baja California is a sun-drenched paradise with 2,000 miles of coastline offering spectacular places to camp. Yes, the opportunities for camping on the beach have diminished in Baja since our first trip there in 1985, but they still exist and, best of all, some remain free!  

With the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) to the east, the Baja peninsula is one of the greatest ocean playgrounds you can imagine. Add in deserts, mountains and plains that are alive with spiny botanical oddities and are crisscrossed by roads, and you have a very special place.

Whidbey and Camano islands, roughly 35 miles north of Seattle, are billed as “The Shortest Distance to Far Away.” You can relax at sandy beaches and campgrounds, play golf, go fishing, drive along farmland and meadows and explore fascinating small towns.

Whidbey is Washington state’s largest island with nearly everything but mountains rolled onto a 35-mile by 12-mile piece of real estate.  To Whidbey’s east, considerably smaller Camano Island doesn’t have any mountains either. But you will be blessed with unparalleled mountain views if you lift your eyes on a clear day to the northeast to see the Cascade mountain range and majestic, snow-covered 10,795-foot Mt. Baker.

Fly-fishing and beer go together like apple pie and ice cream or peanut butter and jelly. Western Montana, known as Glacier Country, offers outstanding fly-fishing streams as well as a surprising number of microbreweries to visit after a successful day of fishing. If fly-fishing and microbrews make you salivate, read on.

Instead of stocking rivers with hatchery fish, Montana preserves its wild trout population by improving and protecting the habitat and imposing catch and release restrictions in certain sections. That means wild and aggressive trout are looking for your fly. Western Montana has no fewer than 20 rivers to choose for fishing. The Bitterroot River near Hamilton, the Clark Fork River near Missoula and the Middle Fork of the Flathead River near Glacier National Park are all known for their good fishing, clear fast-moving water, great scenery and wildlife. All three rivers support cutthroat, rainbow, brown and bull trout. What’s not to like about this picture?

Gilroy Garlic Festival
July 25–27 — Sharing extraordinary garlic-enhanced recipes with visitors from across the globe, Gourmet Alley and its pyro chefs have become the heart of America’s premier summertime food event. Gourmet Alley, with over 60 food and beverage vendors, offers an array of delicacies that include stuffed mushrooms, pepper steak sandwiches, BBQ oysters, pasta con pesto, Cajun calamari, scampi, garlic sautéed mussels, garlic steak tacos, artichokes, Italian sausage sandwiches and garlic fries. You can even try garlic ice cream for free. And with three stages and several groups of strolling musicians, you are never far away from the great sounds of jazz, rock ‘n roll, country, blues, reggae, swing and much more.

The Great Garlic Cook-Off attracts hundreds of amateur chefs from across North America for a chance to win $5,000. Only eight are chosen to compete. For garlic tips and new recipes, the Great Garlic Cook-Off Stage is the place you want to be. A children’s area is located under the tree-shaded Mulberry West section of the park that is full of spectacular rides, fun activities and more for the whole family to enjoy. Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.  For more information, visit gilroygarlicfestival.com

Let’s go to Luckenbach, Texas
With Waylon, Willie and the boys
Out in Luckenbach, Texas
Ain’t nobody feeling’ no pain
   
Those are a couple of lines from the 1977 hit country song, “Luckenbach, Texas,” subtitled “Back to the Basics of Love.”  The song made Luckenbach famous, and a popular destination for travelers and locals.  Although no one lives in Luckenbach any longer (even though a sign on one of its buildings declares, “Population 3”), this onetime trading post remains a magnet for those in search of country music, dancing, knocking back a couple of cold long necks (as in beer), and just having a good time.