22-day rv road trip: Seattle – San Francisco and back

1 Stopp:  Mount Rainier (2.5 h, 190 km /120 mi)

Our first stop this summer was Mt. Rainier National Park; this time we booked the Mounthaven campground just a few minutes in front of the entrance of the Mt. Rainier National Park.

We stopped by at the Reflection Lake and this time we had luck! The Lake was quiet, and Mount Rainier showed in its full splendor. Afterwards we drove up to the Visitor Center and hiked.  On the way back we stopped at the falls.

2. Stopp: Florence (6,5 h, 490 km/ 306 mi)

After a never-ending ride we reached our next target  – the  South Jetty RV & Camping Resort at Oregon Dunes. We visited the Heceta Head Lighthouse the next day, and the Keepers Quarters. Afterwards we booked a ride with the sand dune buggy at https://www.sanddunesfrontier.com/. It was only a 45-minute ride, so we still had plenty of time. Afterwards we went to the  beach at Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park  We had rented some sand boards for the kids to practice sand-boarding. They had so much fun that we did it the next day again!

2. Stopp: Redwoods National Park (5,5 h, 280 km / 174 mi)

On the following day our next stop was the  Crescent City KOA  which, we reached at late afternoon; after setting up the trailer we went to the Redwoods Hiouchi Information Center to get the Junior Ranger package which our kids like to do at every National Park. The next day, we spent in the forest and the kids finished their ranger tasks and received their patch es.
We only saw a small part of the Redwoods; the park covers a huge area.

3. Stopp: Mendocino (5,5h, 325km / 202 mi) & 4. Stopp: Sacramento (5h, 338km / 210 mi)

Our next stop was Caspar Beach RV Park,  Mendocino. In Germany is a song from Michael  Holms called Mendocino, so everybody in Germany thinks it about a great City in the USA, but it wasn’t great; it is a small town and it was very foggy and cold as well, so we traveled further to Lake Minden the next day. On our way we went to the Samoa Cookhouse for lunch, after we visited the nice little town Eureka.

The next day we made excursion to Sacramento, the capital of California. As always in every capital we took the tour in the Capitol and afterwards we visited Old Sacramento, then we went back to the campground at lake Minden and had fun with the sup and not a lot of fun with the mosquitoes. 

The next day way reached the Yosemite Ridge Resort it’s locate d about an hour away from the Yosemite National Park Entrance.

The following 2 days we visited Yosemite National Park and hiked the Mist Trail and John Muril Trail, I never saw  crows like that in a National Park, and it was very sad, that through all the wildfires, the sight was very restricted, and fogy.
We also visited Columbia Historic State Park and had an awesome day. Our tour led us further, to the KOA Petaluma.

6. Stopp: San Francisco (4 h,  300 km  / 188mi )

The KOA Petaluma Campground is an hour outside of San Francisco, the day we arrived we just grilled, and the kids went to the swimming pool. By the way, I highly recommend this campground, it offers a lot for the whole family!

The next day we went to San Francisco and wanted to stop at the Golden Gate Bridge, but the sight was foggy , so we hoped for the next day. After we found the parking lot, we hurried to the pier to reach our Ferry to Alcatraz; the audio tour was great!

Back we went to Pier 39 – Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch and observed the seals there; Afterwards our way led us to China Town. On the following day we had no luck – the bridge was in the fog again! Therefore, we drove the Lombard Street, and the Cable Car. The Palace of Fine Art and Twin Peaks were our other targets we visited.

7. Stopp: Lassen Volcanic National Park – Bumpas Hell (4h, 375 km/230 M )

After a 5-hour ride, we reached the village at Childs meadow campground. The next day we hiked to Bumpass Hell  at Lassen Volcanic National Park and bathed in a really clear lake on our way back to the campground.

8. Stopp: Crater Laker Resort  (4,5, 385 km / 240 M)

On the Crater Laker Resort the kids grabbed a paddle boat, and where vanished for the next hour.

The next morning, we went to Crater Lake National Park and stopped at the visitor Center for the information and the Ranger Program. We hiked  the Pinnacles Valley Trail  (0.7 mile) and Cleetwood Cove trail to the lake, and took a bath as well, throughout the lake has only about 55°F during August. Sadly, the view was very smoky this year and the lake wasn’t as blue as usual.

good weather gallery

 Stopp: Bend / Sunriver 2.5h, 165km / 102 m

On our way to the next Campground (Thousand Trails in Sunriver) we stopped at the Newberry National Volcanic Monument / Bend. 

In the evening we strolled to Bend and had dinner Mc Menomin’s Brewery . The next day we went to the Old Mill District and afterwards we drove to Riverbend Parc where the kid s floated on the river. It went very smoky within an hour, so we hurried back to the campground and fled  to Redmond Expo RV Campground; there was no smoke. 

On the way home we paused at Smith Rock State Park and hiked for 2 hours to the monkey  (stone formation) and then we drove further to our last halt at the Columbia River Gorge on the Peach Beach Campground & RV Park (2.5 h 200km/124m). 

The End: Columbia River Gorge- Duvall/Seattle  4.5h 360 km / 222mi

The whole trip was 3319 miles, we stayed about 90 hours in the car and spent more than 300 gallons of gas.