Epic Final Leg: Yosemite, Eastern Sierra & Death Valley – 2025 Travels With Mom (RV Road Trip)

Epic Final Leg: Yosemite, Eastern Sierra & Death Valley – 2025 Travels With Mom (RV Road Trip)

This is the third and final installment of my 2025 Travels with Mom series in Las Vegas and California. Make sure you also watch those other two videos. We started at Las Vegas through the Mojave, Southern California, and the Pacific Coast Highway. Today, after Santa Cruz and San Francisco, we’ll visit Yusede National Park, drive the Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway, and cross the Mojave once again at Death Valley National Park. Back to Vegas. Enjoy the ride. I’m riding riding riding riding in my RV. My RV. Wherever I want to be because I’m free in my RV. We’re going to begin where we left off at a town called Mass Landing. Have a nice day. All right, on the road again. Moss Landing here seems like a nice spot. We will return probably as soon as early 2026. Our first stop is going to be in Santa Cruz, which is a lovely town, and then San Francisco. Mom would be upset if we didn’t at the very least cross the Golden Gate Bridge. We’ve had a late start, so today we won’t be able to do all that much more. Like the one we saw in Santa Barbara a couple of days ago, Santa Cruz also has a pier called the Municipal Warf. Although this one I’m not going to try and drive with Pellet Cruiser. Instead, we’re going to try and park along a cliff drive. If memory serves, there were great views of the bay and the wararf, the boardwalk. [Music] There it is. We can definitely see the wararf back there. Even though it is a little foggy this morning, you know that pesky marine layer. It hasn’t burned off yet. Would you look at all these houses here? Very nice area. you know, to walk along the cliff side. Parking may not be as easy as I thought. I should try and find a place where we can back in because, you know, we have a pretty big overhang. [Music] I think this parking lot might work. Let’s see if there’s any open spaces. [Music] It’s going to be tight, but I have a great turning radius and an old but decent rear view camera. Like a glove, baby. Like a glove. The fog’s rolling in and mom decided to stay in the RV even though this stop was more for her than for me. Very nice area to go for a walk. Although today I’ll be brief. I don’t want to leave her in the RV by herself for too long. But we’ll be back. I mean, we’re definitely coming back to this area probably in November, maybe December. And uh check that out with the fog rolling in. It’s uh so uh we’re finally getting some Pacific coast like typical weather, huh? I’m going to walk a little more, but not too much. We can barely see the boardwalk, which is very historic and the oldest surviving amusement park in California. Yeah, the Santa Cruz Pier almost engulfed in all this fog. I’m going to start heading back to the RV. We have a lot of people here clearly living in their camper vans. I don’t know if they overnight here. I don’t know if you’re allowed, but a lot of camper van people. And that’s the lighthouse, which nowadays houses the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum. And here’s our parking lot. You see many camper vans of all types here. And there’s Bell Cruiser. That’s what I call parking skills. Lots of people here who you can tell are probably living out of their vehicles. Again, I wonder if overnight camping is allowed here or if not, if it is enforced. Who knows? [Music] There it is. the wararf and the boardwalk behind it. [Music] Here’s the entrance to the wararf. But right now, I’m just going to stop by the boardwalk and continue towards the city by the bay. [Music] Very cool. Very cool to see the boardwalk. These types of waterfront amusement parks I think of as more of an east coast thing. Like the Jersey Shore has plenty of them, for example. This one, however, has been here since 1907, and it’s totally a thing. Let me pull over for a few minutes. This is it. The famous amusement park, the famous boardwalk. Santa Cruz, California. All right, onward we go. [Music] It should be a pretty scenic drive from here to San Francisco. I mean, not as scenic as Big Sur, but I think we’re going to have a few moments. [Music] Yeah, the coast is dotted with all these secluded beaches. [Music] Would that be the Pigeon Point Lighthouse? I’m pretty sure it is. Pretty [Music] scenic drive so far. Not bad. Not bad at all. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] now approaching the outskirts of San Francisco. [Music] And here’s our welcome to San Francisco traffic jam. [Music] Ooh, nice landscaping. There we can already see the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge. They’re huge. I mean, we’re still pretty far away and we can already see them. Now crossing Golden Gate Park. We’ll be at the bridge soon. [Music] This is actually really good weather for August. I’m surprised we don’t have more fog. I mean, there is a reason why they call it fogust. [Music] Let’s stop at the North Vista Point and see if we can find parking with Pel Cruiser. H. Not the best, but it’ll work. [Applause] There it is. That iconic view of the Golden Gate Bridge from this unique Vantage Point. Well, here we are. As you saw, we parked back there. I don’t know. I mean, I’m not blocking anything. And here’s that iconic view of the Golden Gate Bridge. And here’s uh here’s mom taking pictures. And uh there’s downtown San Francisco back there. It’s a little foggy today. A little nebulous, but you know, I’ll zoom in. It is very windy here and kind of chilly. There it is. The city by the Bay. Probably one of the most beautiful cities in the United States. in part because of its unique geographical location. [Music] A busy busy place. Everybody here trying to take a picture. Iconic picture the Golden Gate downtown. That over there, Alcatraz Island. We must revisit again one of these days. [Music] How about some street food? Street food, baby. I don’t know how I’m going to eat this, but it looks delicious. I think I’m going to take it to the RV. Well, that’s it. Everybody trying to get that perfect shot with the Golden Gate Bridge and uh you know the downtown skyline back there and um yeah, I had one of those hot dogs. I mean, it was good. Not great. And then we finished eating in the RV with, you know, mom, we reheated some picado and whatnot, but it was good. It was it was a it was a good hot dog. And and these folks, they kind of rotate, you know. She’s here now and then she’ll be like over there in a few minutes. It’s weird. All right, off we go. I’m going to try to hit one more vista point and then we’re going to Meka, California, which is Spanish for lard. [Music] Well, that was very serendipitous and fortuitous that we were able to park there to take the Alexander Avenue Alexander Avenue this bus stop. And now there’s plenty of room. So, we’re going to try to go up that hill, get the other better view of San Francisco with a Golden Gate in the foreground, and and then we’re going to Salelito. We’ll see about Salo because we’re running late. [Music] The really good view is here to the right, but it says no RVs. Even though we hardly qualify as an RV, I’m not going to risk it. [Music] I’m going to park here for a few minutes. I mean, there is plenty of room for our 25 ft class C. This is not the best view because you can’t really see the whole downtown. [Music] This one looks promising, but there’s no parking. Now, our ETA has increased by a lot. I mean, like double. And Google actually wants me to go through the middle of the city. Going into the San Francisco Hills with an RV is not my idea of fun, but it’ll have to be done. Also, there is a toll on the Golden Gate Bridge going into the city, and I don’t have a transponder, but I guess they’ll just take a picture of my license plate and build me later. It is certainly going to be an adventure. I mean, San Francisco is not for the faint of heart, even with a passenger vehicle. So, hold on to your hats because we’re going in with Bell Cruiser. The dye is cast. [Music] This here is Lombard Street. And if memory serves, it is one of the steepest streets in the city, a little further down. So, I’m going to seek an alternate route. [Music] We had to make an executive decision to skip Salelo. I’m sure mom was disappointed. She was looking forward to it, but we’re seriously running like 4 hours behind schedule. As it is, we’re probably going to arrive at our destination in the dark. By the way, this one is pretty steep, too. A lot more than it looks on camera, but it is not longird steep for sure. It is totally doable. [Music] We’re slowly approaching the heart of the city. And let me tell you, the city has character. It’s got some unique architecture. [Music] All of a sudden, it looks like we are in Chinatown. And not just any Chinatown. This is one of the oldest in North America and one of the largest Chinese enclaves outside of Asia. [Music] [Music] as we turn here on Columbus Avenue. This has to be hands down one of the most iconic views of the city with the Transameric Pyramid at the center of it all. That green triangular flat iron style building, Columbus Tower, very famous and historic too, dating back to 1907. We definitely ought to spend more time here. It’s some authentic Chinese, but right now we have different plans and we are bound to encounter horrible traffic getting out of the city. So, I hope you don’t mind the quick time lapse of our San Francisco exit here towards the legendary Bay Bridge. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Now entering the famous Bay Bridge on the lower deck and this is almost the western terminus of I80. It actually begins 2 miles back at the junction with the 101 and it goes all the way to New Jersey where it terminates at I95 just west of the Hudson River. It is the second longest interstate after I 90. Maybe one day we’ll take it all the way through. [Music] Pretty good view to our side here. We can see the ferry building and the clock tower. Very cool. The bridge’s official name is the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, but I think everybody just shortens it to Bay Bridge. It opened in 1936, 6 months before the more famous Golden Gate Bridge. That’s Oakland. We’ve never actually been to Oakland. Should we visit? What do you guys think? [Music] Now getting out of the Bay Area, this was the longest slowm moving traffic jam I have ever experienced. And I’ve been to New York, Seattle, Atlanta, Houston, and I’m from Miami for crying out loud. But this one was endless miles of bumper-to-bumper traffic, and it took several hours. It is otherwise a beautiful barren golden landscape. Very California. At least we have the sun behind us. An eternity later, we are arriving at a town called Mantika, California, where longtime viewer and friend Alan is waiting for us. When I realized we were going to be driving through Mantika a couple of days ago, I reached out. So, we’re going to stop for a quick visit. So, we are here with our friend Alan Chitwood. Is that how you pronounce it? Yeah, that’s it. In the city of Lard. It’s actually Mantika, California. But as you know, Manta, it means Lord in Spanish. So, hey, come in the sun so people can see you, man. It’s great to meet you finally in person. Thank you, Alan, for the beer, the wine, and the cane you gave my mom. Till we meet again, hopefully soon. [Music] Next stop, Yusede Pines RV Resort and Family Lodging. One of those places with an unnecessarily long name, but it has pretty good reviews. That’s where we’re going to spend the night, which I’m pretty sure we’re gonna arrive at night tonight. And that was unnecessarily too many nights, but there are more coming because I was originally going to spend only one night, but I think I’m going to extend it to two since we’re arriving so late. Oakdale here seems like a nice town and very soon we’re going to get our first glimpse at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Home to the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States. We’re going to see it here in a couple of days. There we’re getting close. [Music] Ooh, roller coaster. [Music] And the sun has set. Many times, actually, most of the time, the best colors happen right after sunset. [Music] We’re running out of daylight really quickly here. [Music] This video is sponsored by etra.com helping neighbors journey. Yes, the neighbors. That’s us actually. And I want to thank them for being a sponsor for over 6 months now and for helping us first upgrade Pellet Cruiser here and also Revive Miniini for its last voyage. For Pelic Cruiser, we got a toilet and we upgraded the suspension with sumo springs and a sway bar which it really needed it. And for Miniini, we got a hitch, another toilet, even a battery, which I’ll put a link to that in the video description and the QR code on the screen somewhere. And I know you can probably buy most of this stuff somewhere else, but E Trailer happens to be the world’s largest online retailer of custom fit towing accessories. So, they probably have some items that would be so hard to find anywhere else. Plus, they have RV parts and accessories, camping gear, even marine products. But what really sets them apart is that when they get a product, they don’t just put it on the shelf and hope that you buy it. They actually open it up, test it out. They make a review and installation videos. They write their own guides and then train their personnel on those products. So when you call customer service, you can actually get somebody who knows what they’re talking about and can give you good advice. Customer service is so important and they do have the best. Based in the USA in Missouri, 7 days a week. I visited their facility last spring and let me tell you, I was impressed. You can tell it is a group of people who love what they’re doing and are passionate about it. So, click that link in the description or scan the QR code on the screen in order to get the battery I got for Miniini or really anything else you may need on their website. And I want to thank them once again for sponsoring this video. Well, good morning. Decided to spend one extra night here. You know, it’s been it’s been go go go without rest and uh kind of tired. So, so today we’re going to explore, you know, quick exploration, probably one or two hours of the giant sequoas. Then we have a live stream and tomorrow, then tomorrow we’re going to use although I think to go to the giant sequoas, we have to go through first. But more research should have gone into this. The thing about being on Pacific time, the Friday live stream happens at 3:00 p.m. So, it kind of cuts your day in half, but at this point in the trip, I’m ready for a zero day anyway, or almost zero. As you know, I can’t help myself. This, by the way, is Groveland, the closest town to our RV park. It’s pretty nice. It’s got groceries, hotels, restaurants, and most importantly, a gas station. [Music] Vista Point. Let’s stop. [Music] Well, here we are. Check out this view. I mean, the camera will not do it justice, but it’s still a good view. And here’s mom enjoying the view. Well, here we are. Stopped at our first vista point of this uh journey today. And we’ve got people tell me to say it. People told me not to say it, but I’m going to say it anyway. We got commanding views here with mom. Hi. Oh, this, by the way, part of the Stannis Law National Forest. This is called the rim of the world. Very cool. Let’s continue because I’m I have a feeling better views are coming up ahead. It looks like a dry creek down there. Here we are entering the park. Let’s take a photo with the sign. [Music] [Applause] My inter agency annual pass, also known as America the Beautiful, is expired. So, I’m going to get a new one. Hi. Hi. I’d like to purchase the inter agency annual pass $80. There you go. Would you like a map today? Yes, please. And um one quick question I want to hold up. What would you say is the best spots to see giant sequoasa or supposed road. Yeah. Uh it has the right soil temperature, all that. Can I have you print and sign your name on the back? Would you want a map today? Like there are some long tiger paths, but they’re really short and tiny because it’s not quite suited for them. Now we are officially in Yusede. We’re going to make our way to the valley and if we have time after that, we’ll go see the giant sequoas. But let’s face it, we’re not going to have time. If we want to eat and then do the live stream, the views keep getting better and better. Check it out. Half dome. We got to stop for a few minutes. Okay. How are we going to do this? We’ll figure it out. [Music] Here’s our first view of the valley and two of its most prominent features. On the left, El Capitan and next to it, the unmistakable halfdome. This is again that quintessential first view of half-doome at Yuseite Valley. We have the faces of Halfdome. Apparently, it looks different from every direction. And here’s mom looking at Halfdome. Well, as I said, our first view, our first glimpse of what is going to be these valley back there. And I know the views get much better, you know. Hopefully, we get to see it today. [Music] [Music] Everywhere you look, it is an amazing mountainous landscape. Let’s stop again. I mean, it’s not half dome, but still a pretty spectacular view. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] What a place. What a place. Belly Cruiser is here and mom in it. Now entering Yuseite Valley and we’re going to go to one specific viewpoint where mom won’t have to walk much and it is the quintessential view. Yeah, we’re going to tunnel view. [Music] [Music] This is it. Let’s find parking. [Music] That’s it. That’s the view from the postcard and the picture at the entrance of the park. Only one thing is missing. Do you know what it might be? Here we are. Here’s mom. Here’s uh the the RV. And we got very lucky to be able to find parking here right in front of the tunnel view. And there’s even more parking on this side. But, uh, yeah, it’s getting to be that time of the day when parking becomes scars here in in in Yusede. And this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to get back to the to the campground because I do have the live stream at at 3:00 p.m. Pacific time today. But tomorrow, we’re going to return to the valley and see as much as we can see. And maybe even going to try to go to the the Mariposa Grove to see some some giant um sequoas. Anyway, let’s head back. Yeah, this never gets old. What a magnificent place this is. Particularly this view towards the entrance of the valley. The one thing I mentioned that was missing is well the waterfalls. Bridal Veil here is nothing but a trickle and I’ve heard Yusede Falls is completely dry. That’s what happens in late summer. I suppose bad timing. [Music] There it is. El Capitan. I wonder if anybody is climbing it today. [Music] And that’s it for Yuseite for today. We’ll be back tomorrow for more spectacular views. Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] And here we are back at Yuseite Pines. As it is the case many times with us, we’re not really going to take advantage of all the amenities. It is just a gateway point from which to explore the surrounding area. It is actually very nice, kind of rustic, but clean and efficient. [Music] I only got a water and electric site since originally I was only going to stay one night, but they do have some full hookups as well. [Music] [Music] Oh, we’re back. We’re back at the campsite. That was a It felt longer than it was that drive. Anyway, we’re going to make whatever we have, which is bacon and eggs. We don’t really have any other protein except that old uh did you see it? Chicken salad. But first, I need some coffee. And in about an hour, we have the live stream. [Music] Well, yeah, it is time for another RV cooking show. Especi, especially in extremely hot conditions like what we’ve been experiencing, and it’s only going to get worse. We have to try and consume all this bacon before the end of the trip. All right, let’s get out the cutting board and let’s look for that ham whose freshness could be doubtful. It smells okay. This stuff is so processed anyway. [Music] cracking some eggs. And I’m sorry, they’re a little bit off frame. And I’m going to open the roof vent for ventilation. [Music] I’m going to put some of that barbecue rub on the eggs. The bacon should be almost done. I think this plate is melting with all the hot bacon on it. Oh well, what’s a little more plastic in your food? I’ve got some frozen veggies for our scrambled eggs. [Music] I’m going to cook that ham a little bit just in case, you know, any bacteria and whatnot. As I mentioned, that fridge hasn’t really been keeping up. These absorption style fridges are not made for the extreme hot weather. [Music] Welcome at That afternoon I did the live stream of California. That’s pretty much all I did. Yeah. And here we have Alan Chitwood who uh we actually visited yesterday evening ever so briefly. Hey Alan, how you doing man? And Alan gave me this, you know, mom only lets me drink one beer per episode, right? So he gave me this 900 9.2% 19.2 2 fluid ounce torpedo IPA. Atomic Torpedo IPA from Sierra Nevada. How appropriate that we drink a Sierra Nevada in the Sierra Nevada. So, cheers everybody. Well, good morning. And Houston, we have a problem. I was really looking forward to showing you how we’ve been doing here with the bunk bed. You know, it goes up and down. except that it doesn’t go up anymore. Let me show you what happened. So, this morning, you know, I woke up and I was going to, you know, put the the bunk bed back up and this happened. You see there’s the motor laying there. And this part right here, this rod, I don’t know exactly what it’s called. It broke. It broke down. It’s supposed to look like this. Well, on that side, the motor is on the bottom, but same same concept. I don’t know if I can fix this. I think for now, I’m just going to try to prop it up manually and uh and hold it with that um telescopic ladder that I have somehow. And eventually, when we get to Vegas, remove it all together. That’s it. This is uh unless someone knows how to fix this, which you guys are not going to see this right now, but in the future, I don’t see a way to fix this. And uh anyway, I’ll I’ll let you know what we figure out. Well, as the late Gem Lovel would have said, Houston, we’ve had a problem. Yeah, as as I told you, our bunk bed has busted out and uh all that is holding it in place on this side is the table. Really table for the day net. So, we’ll see how this turns out. I’ll take it slow. And uh for now, what we’re going to do, we’re modifying the plan. We were going to spend the night at the Long Pine, which is right there in front of uh you know, Mount Whitney. It was going to be a a one night there at the town. But we’re going to make a beline for stove pipe wells in in Oh man, it’s been a rough morning in Death Valley. It’s going to be hot, but we’ll take it slow. And uh instead of the RV park, I moved to the hotel. So, we’re we have a room at the hotel. And this is for now going to be our touring coach. And we’ll have to crawl back here to get to the bathroom or whatnot. Yeah. Let me do something. Yeah, this cushion is going to have to go up here for now. And and we’ll see. We’ll see how this turns out. Roll with the punches. Never a dull day in RV life, huh? Like they say, next stop, leaveing, and we’re going to have lunch there. Enjoy the ride. Still should be a a pretty ride through through Yusede National Park. We’re just not going to be able to to see the valley, the rest of the valley. It is what it is. [Music] First stop, the dump station, of course, because when nature calls, then that black sensor says 2/3, so might as well. We’re not going to have full hookups until Vegas, which is not going to happen one day early, but still, options, like they say. And yeah, I know, who was I kidding? We’re going to go into the valley. You know, we are. I want to corroborate the fact that yuseity falls is indeed not flowing because let me tell you when it is it’s truly a sight to behold. I was reading Wikipedia and apparently it is a common occurrence for it to be drying late summer. Who knew? I still can’t believe it. In order to see Yusede falls, we do have to go deeper into the valley. [Music] I think Yuseite Falls should have been somewhere over that rock face. I think I see the watermarks, but I’m not sure. [Music] There. That’s it. And this is what it’s supposed to look like. Do check out my video from back in 2019. I think you’re going to like it. And without a doubt, being a YouTuber really accelerates the aging process. Back to the present. Let’s take a closer look at that nonwaterfall. [Music] That is totally crazy. It’s completely dry. When I did Yusede Falls back in 2019, I decided to go the extra mile and went all the way up to Yusede Point. And what a view from up there. And since I already loaded that video, might as well show you what it looks like. Oh my gosh. Now we’re talking. Whoa. [Music] Magnificent views all around us. Look at half dome back there. Anyway, before I continue salivating over all this beautiful granite, at least I hope it is granite. Now, the plan is to continue driving east, crossing the Sierra Nevada at Tyogga Pass, 9,945 ft or 3,31 meters above sea level. We’ll definitely be able to test how well Pel Cruiser performs at high elevation. Actually, hold that thought. Let me stop here for a second to take a picture for mom. As I was saying, after Tyogga Pass, we’re going to take the Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway, US 395, from where we’ll be able to see the highest peak in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney, at 14,5 ft. That’s 4,421 m. And then we’re going to the lowest point in North America at Death Valley. So, the rest of this day will be an adventure of extremes. Oh, and extreme heat will also be involved. But I forgot to put gas back in Groveland, and we won’t see another gas station for like 80 miles, and I don’t want to risk it. We’re just going to have to loop back for a little bit. I hope you enjoy the views. [Music] It looks like we’re going to have to exit the park through this other entrance in order to get to the gas station. And then we have to go back into the park. I mean, what a detour. At least it is a very scenic drive. [Music] This is El Portal, another gateway town with hotels, restaurants, and most important, you guessed correctly, gas station. [Music] Now that we’re all gassed up, this is what the rest of the day is going to look like. [Music] Now we have to go back into the park. At least there’s no line. Oh no. You know, a clearance sign would have been nice. Here we go. Tyogga Road. To the left. To the left. To the left. [Music] Oh, what a view. What a view. We definitely need to spend a week here at least. And with that, we say goodbye to Half-Do. Well, kind of. To this side of Half-Do. We might actually see it one more time. Now we’re going to turn east. And it turns out there was another gas station here. We could have saved at least half an hour, but we wouldn’t have seen Elportal or the views from that road. Now we’re going to start gaining some serious elevation as we’re about to cross the Sierra Nevada at one of a handful of places also called mountain passes where you actually can. To put it in perspective, the valley was around 4,000 ft. The junction with Tyogga Road a little over 6,000 and Tyogga Pass where we’re going almost 10,000. The terrain is a lot rockier at these higher elevations. [Music] Now we’re starting to see some expansive views of the Sierra. This road does close during winter and it doesn’t reopen until sometimes as late as June. [Music] It almost looks like snow. And they do get snow here. Lots of it. But in this case, it is just exposed granite. And now it’s starting to rain. I can see why the bus is stopping here. You can see the very tip of Half Dome. I told you we weren’t done with Half Dome. Not yet. And here it is from the other side. And I thought I had passed the bus for good, but here it is in front of us again. It was going a little too slow for my taste. Anyway, here we have a great vista point coming up. And I don’t care if it is raining. This one we have to stop. It is called Mstead Point Overlook. Well, yeah. This is pretty much the main reason to stop here. This view of Half Dome from the other side. And if you squint hard enough, you can see all the people hiking it. It’s not really visible with the naked eye, but with my zoom lens, you can clearly see them on the chains going up and at the summit. But yeah, this is that other point. Is it Mstead Point where you get to see Half Dome from the other side someday? Someday I might be able to climb it, but not today. Yeah, we are nearing the the highest point here and um Yeah. It’s an incredible site. And in in typical uh national park fashion, here we have a race relief map of the valley of what we’re seeing. And there it is, half dome. And then Yuseite Valley goes that way. It’s quite a sight to see. Yeah, too bad the broken bed has kind of put a damper on things here. But anyway, we’re nearing the end of the trip. I’m glad it happened now and not at the beginning. [Music] We continue. These are some amazing mountains. [Music] Sierra Nevada in front of us. Yeah, that’s got to be Tanaya Lake over there. The hike that I want to do here next year, well, the trail head is there. All these cars parked here, this has to be the trail head. the Sunrise Lakes trail head that goes to Clouds Rest. That’s the hike that I want to do. It is of course crowded. This being one of the most popular national parks being internationally known and also pretty close to the Bay Area, so pretty accessible within a day’s drive for a lot of people. [Music] We’re approaching Toualami Meadows. Yeah, don’t say Tulumi even though it’s written that way. And there is a campground here. Here’s the Cathedral Lakes trail head and the visitor center. There’s a lodge, a restaurant, and the campground, of course, which is primitive. No cell phone signal and pretty far away from the valley, but still pretty good. And we’re getting pretty heavy rain now as we approach the summit [Music] at 9,400 ft. And even in late August, you can see a little bit of snow up there on that mountain. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Here we are. We’ve reached the summit, Tyogga Pass, the eastern entrance to Yusede National Park, and it’s time for a little experiment. Here we are, Tyogga Pass. Let’s do a quick experiment. Let’s see how this looks once we get we get down to the bottom. This is Tyogga Lake and there’s a campground here. That would be neat staying at this high elevation. [Music] Oh, I got to say it’s Pelic Cruiser conquered Tyogga Pass. And there’s another campground here. I believe these are all first come, first served, managed by the Forest Service. And there might be dispersed camping up here, too, but I’m not sure. [Music] I was tempted to stop here for the view, but we’re going to continue instead. It is a pretty steep and long downhill. [Music] [Music] Let’s take a quick break because even though I’ve been downshifting and trying not to ride my brakes too much, a brake light just turned on on the dashboard. So, let’s let them cool down. Well, here we are. stopped for a few moments here on the Tyogga road because I got a warning in Pelle Cruiser. By the way, we still have snow up there a little bit. What a beautiful mountain landscape. And this is what happened. I got a warning a service brake system. So, I’m assuming my brakes are probably a little hot even though I’ve been downshifting. I’ve been coming down in second gear. So, but it’s been a long day of up and down. So, that’s probably what it is. Going to take a 5minute break. By the way, it’s cooled down significantly. It’s raining. So, I’m going to go back inside. [Music] That’s Mono Lake, which is a super interesting place to visit, but it’s not in the cards for today. Had the bed not broken, maybe. But now, we just don’t have the time. Anyway, we’re going to stop here at the W Nelly Deli, which comes highly recommended. Maybe I can park out here. Ooh, someone just left. This is going to be perfect. Check out this water bottle. And we’re only like halfway down. We’re still like, I don’t know, 7,000 ft above sea. 6 6,900. Imagine when we get to Death Valley, which is below sea level. We’re going to keep this experiment going. [Music] This is pretty cool. It is a bustling place and they have all kinds of food, even beer. I think I’m going to have the buffalo meatloaf. Well, here we have an epic IPA from Mammoth Brewing, which is very close to us. And we got a lake view back there. And we have a mom view here. She’s having a Pacificico IPA, which is supposed to be the the lightest one. Look at that. And look at this meatloaf. Well, that was good. And with better weather, sitting out here with a view of Mono Lake would have been priceless. And we have a neighbor now. I don’t really need to put gas. So, we’re going to continue. And apparently, you can fill up water here as well. [Music] Right now, we’re going to turn right and head south on US 395 and try to outrun this rain. This, by the way, is another one of those probably top 10 scenic drives, especially in spring or early summer when there is still a lot of snow on the mountains. The rainy weather gives the mountains this ghostly effect. I kind of like it. There’s a lot to see around here, but not on this show mom the best of California trip. Had we been able to spend the night at Lom Pine, that would have been a different story. We would have had more time to explore some of the lakes around this area. But as it is, we’re cutting it close. Let’s stop at this rest area, which coincidentally I did spend one night here back in 2019 right before Yuseite. I just couldn’t find anywhere else to stay. And the reason we stopped here, well, I’ll blame the meatloaf. Well, we’re going to say nature cold. [Music] There’s a glimmer of hope. I see some blue sky in the distance. [Music] The experiment continues now at 4,500 ft. You can see it’s uh starting to get even a little more crushed. That’s how much less air there is up there. [Music] This lovely small town is Bishop. It’s Mau, small town, big backyard because of all the outdoor activities available in the area. And that’s a very famous bakery right here on the right. One of the most beautiful hikes I’ve ever done was in the mountains just west of here at the Bishop Pass Trail overlooking South Lake. It was an alpine wonderland. [Music] Now driving through Big Pine, not to be confused with Lone Pine. Two totally different pines. This one is called Independence. It is the Ino County seat. Coming up here on the right, Manzanar. This was one of several internment camps where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II. Nowadays, you can visit and learn about the history of what happened here. [Music] Now arriving in Lom Pine and this is where we were going to spend the night originally at this RV park here on the left, but I was forced to change plans when the bed broke. Lom Pine is also the gateway to the Alaba Hills and Mount Whitney. And there’s the Museum of Western Film History since so many movies have been filmed in this area. You’ll see why soon enough. Would [Music] you take a look at this place? This is called Alabama Hills. And up until recently, you could just disperse camp here pretty much anywhere. But not anymore. All good things come to an end. But still, there are a bunch of hiking trails and you can still camp, just not anywhere. Anyway, let’s park here. [Music] This is it. These are the Alabama Hills. What an incredible place. [Music] Well, here we are. One last break. We’re 90 minutes from our destination. And uh we’re just going to take some pictures here. I decided to stop here at the, you know, one last stop at uh the Alabama Hills, home to so many movies and m and the view of Mount Whitney back there, which unfortunately it’s the lighting is not great. There it is, Mount Whitney. the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States. And apparently it’s not like a crazy difficult hike. So maybe one of these days. This is odd. Apparently this is property of the city of Los Angeles. Who knew? And I remember a couple of years ago this was kind of like free-for-all. You could pretty much camp anywhere. But right now they have like designated sites. So anyway, here’s Pel Cruiser and mom taking pictures and uh yeah, we’re just going to take a couple of pictures with these incredible rock formations and and go to Death Valley, which has some incredible rock formations on its own right. Lumpine here seems like a really cool town. We will definitely return there. [Music] All of a sudden, we are in the desert. I mean, it may have been a little more gradual than I realized, but yeah. So, we’ve come full circle. We began this trip a little over a week ago in the desert. And to the desert we have returned. We are leaving the Sierra Nevada behind. Going from the highest point to the lowest point in the lower 48, which are just a couple of hours apart by car. [Music] [Music] Look at that sand blowing. [Music] [Music] [Music] If memory serves, it is going to be an epic drive from here to Stove Pipe Wells, which is where we’re spending the night at the red we’re going. We’re going to run out of daylight before we get there. [Music] [Music] Coming up here on the left is the Father Crawley Vista Point, which is a great view of Paname Valley, but to get the full effect, there’s a little bit of a hike, so we’re not going to do it. The canyon below is used for low-level flight military training. That would be really cool to see. Here’s our first view of Paname Valley, which may be even more scenic than Death Valley. [Music] What an incredible place this is. This is Parliament Springs. Our last time to refuel before we hit stove pipe wells. on the other side of those mountains in front of us which is the Panamean range. Look at that road through the valley. [Music] This is going to be the most challenging uphill climb of the whole trip for our trusty steel here, Pel Cruiser. It’s going to be like over 10% grade for a few miles and it is still extremely hot out there. And this is when it happened. The temperature gauge started creeping up for the first time since I’ve owned Pelle Cruiser. So, as you do, I roll down the window, turn the heater on, and slow down. Luckily, we’re almost at the summit. Look at that. 9% grade. And this is not even the steepest part. Elevation almost 4500. Sunset will be in 7 minutes. And we still have 20 minutes to go. Luckily, at this point, the worst is over. It’ll be downhill from here. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Oh, what a night. I’m trying to move the essentials into the room and it’s like a like a like a dust storm. Like a sandstorm out here. So windy. And look at look at the sand. It’s like hitting us in the face. I don’t know if you can see it. Yeah. I need to get Pel Cruiser ready for for the night. Oh, by the way, this is what it looks like at sea level. That’s how much less air there is inside the bottle compared to 29,000 ft. All right, let me grab everything and uh I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Well, good morning. And no, we didn’t sleep in here. We slept at a room. But uh our fridge is at 70° Fahrenheit. So, we probably lost the little food we had left in there. It probably spoiled. I’m going to show you the room real quick and then we’re going to have breakfast and then we’re going to Vegas. Well, the room was basic but adequate. Yeah, mom’s trying to tidy up here real quick before I film this. But yeah, we had two beds. I mean, it’s uh one thing, one design flaw, that temperature LED on the on the air conditioner. It’s impossible to turn it off and it would light up the whole room at night. I mean, it was a good night overall, right? Good morning. And good morning. We’re going to have breakfast now. I had a good shower, which I’m already sweating. And then we’re going to probably just going to do like bad water basin and uh and and I forget the name of the mountain. And then off to Vegas. I have not a shower because I am like a cat. She like a cat. No shower. She’s going to shower in Vegas. Yeah, this later. I mean, we we do have a bathtub, so I figured that would be a little too high for her. So, oh, I forgot something. My sponge. All right, let’s have breakfast and hit the road. Yeah, this is the Stove Pipe Wells Village Hotel. Well, yeah, we got the breakfast buffet and mommy’s eating. All right, let’s hit the road. We are actually 10 minutes ahead of schedule. Unheard of. I’m actually glad we stayed at the hotel and not the RV park because our air conditioner wouldn’t have kept up. [Music] After stopping by the store to get some water, off we go. I was hoping they had a really cool t-shirt like the one I bought 6 years ago, but nope. This is actually the last day of our road trip adventure and our first stop is going to be the Msquit Sandunes. [Music] Msquid Sandunes. What an amazing place. It’s very windy out here, by the way. Okay, we’re going to venture to the edge of the sand dunes here. And mom is Mommy’s back there. She’s going to take a picture. By the way, the sign said hit uh risk extreme. So, there’s extreme heat risk. So, we’re we’re going to do this relatively quick. And uh here we go. Is that fine sand? Yeah, I definitely want to come back here in winter and really enjoy this with I mean less heat in the weather. But look at this. Look at all these dead trees. I guess some dead trees that couldn’t stand up to the heat. All right, time to go. [Music] This is the thing with Death Valley. Almost everything requires you do at least a short hike, something mom can’t do. So, I’m thinking of doing the two things we can do here that don’t require walking much. The main one is Bad Water Basing. I mean, you can’t really come here and not do Bad Water Basing. That’s like the reason you come to Death Valley for the lowest point in North America that is not underwater, right? And the other place you don’t really have to walk much is Danty’s view from where you can see almost the whole valley. And then there’s the visitor center with a famous thermometer at Furnus Creek. Let’s go to Bad Water Basin first because I mean it is not the most strikingly scenic spot, but the fact that you are 282 ft below sea level. Well, I have a thing for geographical peculiarities like that. This is Furnest Creek. Here we have the visitor center, a campground, and what is probably one of the most expensive gas stations in the whole contiguous United States. And here’s the oasis that is called the inn at Death Valley. Pretty fancy. There are so many things to see and do along this road. There’s a one-way loop called Artist Drive with different colored rocks. It’s actually quite a sight to see. And there’s the devil’s golf course and the trail to a natural bridge. And the list goes on. It is a vast national park with lots of things to do [Music] there. That’s a road to the natural bridge trail head. The flat area on the right, that’s Bad Water Basin. We’ll be arriving at the parking lot soon enough. [Music] Notice that white marking on the mountain. I’ll let you know what that is as soon as we park. Well, yeah, that is sea level. And if we didn’t have the Sierra Nevada between us and the Pacific, there’s a good chance we would be underwater. Let’s take a moment to take all that in. There it is. That’s the sign that corroborates where we are. As the story goes, Bad Water Basin got its name when a mule belonging to an early surveyor refused to drink the water from that pond right there because it is very salty water. Let me tell you, I wish we could walk all the way to the edge of the salt flat today because it is super interesting. Here we go. Here we have some interpretive science. Most importantly, this map with all the the lowest points on the planet and we’re here at the at the bad water basin and that is uh 282 feet 85.5 m below sea level. Of course, the Dead Sea is the the big one in the world. 414 m or 1360 ft uh below sea level. And I showed you that sign up there that uh that tells you where sea level is, which is mindboggling that we could be so uh low below uh sea level. Uh our time here is going to be extremely brief because it’s extremely hot. It’s probably 110 degrees at this point. And uh yeah, we got to get out of here before the the RV overheats. And you know, we got to make it to Vegas. We may or may not go to the top of that mountain. I haven’t decided yet. Maybe. Here we go. RVing with mom. [Music] Let’s hit the road back to Vegas. I don’t think we’re going to do Dantis Peak. Oh, wait. That’s a movie. I meant to say Dantis View. Yeah. But first, let’s stop at that expensive gas station and see the famous thermometer. [Music] Elevation sea level. Yeah. Here we go. [Music] Here on the left, the ranch at Death Valley, which is another hotel. And on the right, Sunset Campground, which is completely empty because it is closed in summer. I mean, who in their right mind would like to dry camp at 110° F. That is like 43 Celsius. Here we are at the gas station. 574 for regular. That’s like a dollar more than the state average. Let’s stop by the visitor center next door. Whoops. Someone didn’t see the oneway sign. Ah, don’t worry. Happens to me all the time. [Music] One last stop here in Death Valley. A mom decided to stay inside in the air conditioner. How can you blame her? But, you know, I wanted to take a picture here with a with a thermometer, which today is a balmy 110 degrees Fahrenheit, 43 is Celsius. But but as you know, this place holds the record, I believe, for the highest temperature ever. But there it is today at Death Valley. That is a temp. Okay, this thermometer is not an official temperature reading. The display reads 1 to 5° high due to radiant heat from nearby structures. The more you know, so it’s really not that hot then. Oh, I really love this desolate beauty, let me tell you. And this concludes our 2025 Travels with Mom series, the California Loop. We still have to drive to Vegas, which is a beautiful drive. So, stick around for another, I don’t know, 5 minutes or so. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. The unique natural beauty of the American West is unparalleled anywhere else. I just love it out here. And we’ll be back soon. For context, we are filming here on August 24th, 2025. That’s why it is so hot. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] after this canyon here. We should be arriving in Las Vegas. [Music] There it is. We can already see the strip all the way out there in the distance. [Music] Here’s [Music] an old familiar place, Sam’s Town. And this time, I made a reservation at both the RV park and the hotel because tomorrow the RV is going back into storage. [Music] And we’re back on the strip. Mom wanted to come back one more time, so we decided to start at the New York New York where she stayed with my late dad many years ago and then walk around a little bit. She always tells the story of how back in the day they walked the whole strip, even the part that is not the strip. From Freemon Street all the way to the Mandandalay Bay. That’s a lot of walking. [Music] We [Music] are [Music] and this is where she ran out of gas. So, we took a taxi back to Sam’stown. [Music] All good things come to an end and this adventure is pretty much over. We’re flying back to Miami. What a view. What a view of the strip as we take off from Las Vegas airport. [Music] on an airplane. Okay. Soon, very soon. And that’s downtown down there. [Music] Now, flying over the Grand Canyon. [Music] Have you ever seen a rainbow from up above? A double rainbow, no less. First time for me. Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] As always, thank you so much for watching and see you on the road on the runway this time. [Music] I’m writing [Music]

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Join us for the third and final installment of my 2025 Travels With Mom adventure through Las Vegas, California’s Pacific Coast, Yosemite National Park, the Eastern Sierra, and Death Valley. After exploring Santa Cruz, San Francisco, and crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, we continue east toward some of the most spectacular scenery in the American West.

We revisit Yosemite Valley, take in iconic views of El Capitan, Half Dome, and Tunnel View, and cross nearly 10,000 ft of elevation at Tioga Pass. From there, we drive the legendary US-395 Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway, spotting Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the lower 48.

But the adventure doesn’t stop there… RV troubles force us to improvise, adapt, and keep the trip moving as we enter the extreme heat of Death Valley National Park, the lowest point in North America, before finally making our way back to Las Vegas.

This episode is full of iconic views, RV mishaps, national parks, coastal fog, mountain passes, and the kind of moments that make road-tripping unforgettable. Enjoy the ride!

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Part 2: Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Barbara, Bixby Bridge & More

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