Since we’ve been traveling in the RV for the last 4 years, we have spent one month at each of these locations
- Yosemite National Park
- Lake Tahoe
- Palm Springs
These three locations are not necessarily representative of California but it does show how varied in geography California is!
Yosemite National Park should be on everyone’s bucket list! It’s a place that is rich in hiking and site-seeing. It is also famous for rock climbing, but that isn’t an activity that we do 
While there for a month, we hiked quite a bit all across the park, around lakes, up and down mountains, around waterfalls and MORE! I found that there were MANY places to stop the car to see the beautiful views while driving around. Since we were there for a long time, we tried to stop at the less crowded locations whenever possible. We also challenged ourselves to try to drive on every road available within the park.
Here are some interesting facts (https://www.doi.gov/blog/9-things-you-didnt-know-about-yosemite-national-park)
- Yosemite might be our nation’s 3rd national park, but it sparked the idea of national parks.
- Yosemite’s granite rock formations glow like fire at sunset.
- The park’s diverse landscape supports more than 400 species.
- Yosemite is home to one of the tallest waterfalls in the world. At 2,425 feet, Yosemite Falls is one of tallest on the planet
- Yosemite sees almost 3/4 of its visitors in six months.
- Yosemite is the only national park to bid to host the Winter Olympics.
- Yosemite is a climber’s playground.
- Yosemite is one of the few places in the U.S. where you can see a rainbow at night.
- During certain times of the year, some of Yosemite’s creeks are rushing slushies.
Lake Tahoe is VERY AMAZING! It is so beautiful to drive there and turn the corner and see this enormous lake! While here we decided to buy the kayaks we have today. We spent a large portion of our time on the lake which is SO CLEAR! If we weren’t kayaking, we were driving around the lake (for hours) and visiting the little communities on the lake.
Here are some interesting facts (https://rvlove.com/2014/08/21/15-fun-facts-about-lake-tahoe/)
- Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the U.S. with a depth of 1,645 ft (501 m).
- At its longest and widest, Lake Tahoe measures 22 miles (35 km) by 12 miles (19km).
- The shoreline circumference of the lake is 72 miles (116km).
- The average surface elevation is 6,225 ft (1,897 m) above sea level.
- Lake Tahoe is 2/3 in California and 1/3 in the state of Nevada.
- There are 63 tributaries draining into Lake Tahoe with only one outlet at the Truckee River in Tahoe City.
- The sun shines at Lake Tahoe for 75% of the year or 274 days.
- At lake level, annual snowfall averages 125 inches. At alpine skiing elevations, the snowfall averages 600 inches per year.
- At the surface, Lake Tahoe’s water temperature varies from 41 to 68 degrees F. Below a depth of 600 to 700 ft, the water remains a constant 39 degrees.
- If you were to pour Lake Tahoe out onto an area the size of California, the water would still be 14 inches (36 cm) deep.
- The amount of water in Lake Tahoe (39 trillion gallons) is enough to supply each person in the U.S. with 50 gallons of water per day for 5 years.
- The amount of water that evaporates from the lake each day (330 million gallons) could supply a city the size of Los Angeles for 5 years.
- The water is 99.994% pure, making it one of the purest large lakes in the world. For comparison, commercially distilled water is 99.998% pure.
- Lake Tahoe is over 2 million years old. Tahoe is considered an ancient lake and is counted among the 20 oldest lakes in the world.
- The year-round resident population is 53,000. The total population can reach 300,000 on peak days. About three million people visit Lake Tahoe each year. This is comparable to the number of visitors to Grand Canyon National Park (3.2 million) and Yellowstone National Park (2.7 million).
Palm Springs is one of those amazing places to visit during winter! We were there during February and the temperatures were in the mid-high 70s most of the time. At the bottom of the San Jacinto Mountains, it’s all desert… but at the top of the San Jacinto Mountains, it’s lush and can have snow in places all year round. We spent a good part of our time backcountry driving, hiking and visiting Joshua Tree National Park. This is one of the most unique National Parks I have gone to. It’s full of boulder mountains where the sand has eroded away. We also discovered that one can visit date farms, go to the General Patton museum AND you can walk on the San Andreas fault here!!! This is one of those places you don’t realize that it has so much to offer until you get here.
Here are some interesting facts (https://www.californiahome.me/palm-springs/)
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Palm Springs boasts over 300 days of sunshine.
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Sonny Bono served four years as mayor of Palm Springs.
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Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., George Hamilton, Bob Hope, Albert Einstein Bing Crosby, Kirk Douglas, Cary Grant, and Jack Benny have all stayed or purchased hideaway homes in Palm Springs.
Over the next couple of years, we have so much more to see in California on our list! I know it’s impossible to see it all but we’ll try
