Travelogue: California Aug/Sept 2023

I recently went to California for a month.. This time it was mostly the northern part of California. I started in San Francisco then headed to Santa Rosa, Eureka, Redding, Sonora and finally back to San Francisco before heading back home.
I was visiting national and state parks such as Yosemite, Lassen Volcanic and Redwood National Park, as I am a huge fan of parks, animals and nature in general.
I spent a month there and it was amazing!

I used my railcard to get a discount on train travel which saved me money getting to the airport. I highly recommend you get a railcard if you travel on trains even just a few times a year.

My flight was with United who I love to use. I didn’t have any issues with my flights which is great as I always dread there being cancellations or long delays, but it went fine.

I had rented a car due to disability and I use the car not just for transport, but also for accessibility sightseeing too.

I sadly can’t walk very far or stand long due to disabled and chronic illness, so I mainly sightsee from the comfort of a rental car, although I can walk a little so I can do short walks to overlooks and things like that.
When I visit national and state parks, I do a lot of driving and parking up at the overlooks to enjoy the view, as well as heading to places I can put a blanket down and sit to enjoy the view. This is what I do most and I love it.

I do miss hiking very much indeed, but I just cannot physically do it anymore. I can still see sights from the road or overlooks though and just being in a park is relaxing as you can hear and see the sounds of nature.

I can’t use a manual wheelchair due to chronic illness, and I can’t use an electric wheelchair to get around as you need one that can go off road which I don’t have, so sadly I mainly sightsee from the car, but this is great too!
I would love to get an electric wheelchair that could go on gravel and grass, but that would cost money I just don’t have and could never get due to living on such a small income, so I just have to go without which is very disappointing.

I spent most of my time in Yosemite as it is one of my favourite national parks. There is so much to see and even just parked up, you can admire the beauty.
I also visited Lassen and Redwood national park as well as state parks in the area too.

I even saw a Lynx or something similar, just a few feet from me! No one else saw him as it was a overlook on a road, and I just watched him and he watched me and then went to sleep. He blended in perfectly with his surroundings too! I was lucky to spot him!

I went to see the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park as I love American baseball. We don’t have it here and it is the only sport I like. I have seen many MLB games all over the country, and I try to visit if I am in an area with a MLB team when they are playing. Oracle Park is a lovely park in such a great location. Parking isn’t cheap though! Better to use public transport to visit if you can.

I took my Scrubba washbag so I could do handwashing of my clothes on vacation too. I don’t have much money so I don’t do launderettes, and hand washing is hard work, so the Scrubba washbag lets me handwash with minimal work as it has a type of washboard in built that helps with the work.
You can read my review about the Scrubba washbag here.

One thing I did discover for future trips is that due to disability, I need to start only going to the state parks that have driveable roads through the park or places to see sights without having to hike.
Sadly many state parks are just an entrance then a car park and you have to park up then hike to whichever trails you want. This is useless for those of us who are disabled and can’t hike.
Whereas the parks that have a road through it, usually have scenic overlooks and more to see from your car.
So I am going to have to start filtering out the parks that require hiking to see anything. This will unfortunately reduce the amount of parks I usually go to, as I normally visit most in the areas I visit, but now I will need to find those that have roads through them.

I saw so many wonderful animals as well as being in nature. There is nothing better for me than being in a park with the sounds of nature. Even crickets and cicada’s make me happy. We don’t those sounds here in England unfortunately.

Most of my trip was spent in the parks and viewing sights from the car. I drove down highway 1 many times to view the sea and listen to the waves. So relaxing!

If you are disabled too and enjoy the sights, then driving and viewing them from your car is enjoyable!
Use things like Google Earth and Streetview to see if you would be able to sightsee from your car. This lets me find lots of places to go and things to see.
I rarely walk much as I physically can’t, so the car is like my wheelchair, and when you are in huge places such as Yosemite, you can see the beautiful mountains and scenery right from your car. You can park up and look around or get out and sit next to your car and look. You don’t have to hike in parks.

I loved my trip and love just driving around national parks, which I could do all day every single day! It is absolute bliss!
Have you visited a national park? Which is your favourite?

I used aloSIM throughout my trip for internet access as it is so much cheaper than roaming fees! Plus I have some exclusive discount codes for aloSIM!
You can get 15% off with code CHRONICTRAVEL or $3 off with code MYTRAVEL. No minimum spend and valid for any country.
Check out my blog post with more information on aloSIM here.