After accomplishing our goal of traveling through all 48 contiguous states, we returned to California, coming full circle with our journey.  We spent 4 months in Temecula, CA (from December 2014 to April 2015), contemplating life and where to live, what to do for work/income, and basically where to go from there.

One of our lovely sites at the Pechanga RV Resort (loved the mountain backdrop!)

We stayed at the Pechanga RV Resort, one of our absolute favorite RV parks from all our travels throughout the country! We really enjoyed our time in Temecula and were actually considering settling down there.  I mean, vineyards, wineries and wine tastings, what’s not to love? Plus, there’s a casino (with a buffet…score!).  And Temecula even has an adorable Old Town section with a Wild West vibe straight out of an old cowboy movie (okay, maybe not that authentic, but charming nonetheless). There are cute shops along with a surprising number of bars and restaurants.

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  A view of the Temecula Valley from Callaway Vineyward & Winery

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  Callaway Vineyard & WInery

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  Wine tasting at one of Temecula's dozens of wineries

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  Ready to tap these wine barrels! Haha! 🙂

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  The view from Cougar VIneyard & Winery

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  Welcome to Old Town Temecula!

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There were also countless parks on practically every neighborhood corner with plenty of grass for Saucy to fetch her ball, her all-time favorite activity.  Saucy was in heaven, and Meaty loved walking at the parks! Temecula felt very suburban with great housing developments featuring large, newer homes and a lower cost of living than most of Southern California. It had the small town feel I had been looking for.

Map of Temecula, CA (centrally located between Los Angeles, Carlsbad & San Diego)

Plus, with a central location (85 miles south of Los Angeles, less than 60 miles north of San Diego, and 35 miles east of Carlsbad, Oceanside and, well, the ocean), Temecula seemed like an ideal spot. We thought it might be the place where we could settle down.  But while being there for several months, Justin realized it was too “small town” for him. He needs to be in a big city or at least closer to one. And after being stationary for so long, we were itching for another adventure!

Feeling pressure from still not knowing where we should live, we needed to hit the road again. Denver had been nagging us from the recesses of our minds ever since our failed attempt at visiting the Mile High City. You might remember the fiasco that happened when we first stopped over in Denver months ago, which caused us to take off in the middle of the night and completely miss seeing the capital of Colorado.

Back on the road with our trailer in tow!

So we decided to return to Denver and then revisit the West Coast as a last hurrah while hitting up as many National Parks along the way as possible. Last time we were on the road, we were trying to find a place to live.  This time around, we’ll be focusing on nature.  We’re thrilled to be exploring again! Here’s the route we’ll be taking for our next road trip (see below for a list of the cities corresponding to the numbers on the map):

Our Next Road Trip to Denver, several National Parks & the West Coast

1. Temecula, CA (12/9/14-4/10/15)
2. Phoenix, AZ (4/10/15-4/13/15)
3. Las Vegas, NV (4/13/15-4/16/15)
4. Virgin, UT (4/16/15-4/19/15)
   • Zion National Park
5. Page, AZ (4/19/15-4/21/15)
   • Lake Powell
     • Rainbow Bridge
   • Lower Antelope Canyon
   • Horseshoe Bend
6. Hurricane, UT (4/22/15-4/23/15)
   • Zion National Park
7. Bryce Canyon, UT (4/24/15-4/26/15)
   • Bryce Canyon National Park
8. Torrey, UT (4/27/15-4/29/15)
   • Capitol Reef National Park
9. Carbondale, CO (4/30/15-5/2/15)
   • Basalt, CO
   • Aspen, CO
     • Maroon Bells Lake
10. Denver, CO (5/3/15-5/7/15)
    • Boulder, CO
    • Colorado Springs, CO
      • Garden of the Gods
11. Golden, CO (5/8/15-5/10/15)
12. Colorado City, CO (5/11/15-5/12/15)
    • Bishop Castle
    • Cañon City, CO
      • Royal Gorge Bridge & Park
13. Cortez, CO (5/13/15-5/16/15)
    • Mesa Verde National Park
    • Four Corners Monument
    • Hovenweep National Monument
14. Moab, UT (5/17/15-5/18/15)
    • Arches National Park
    • Canyonlands National Park
15. Flagstaff, AZ (5/19/15-5/21/15)
16. Temecula, CA (5/22/15-5/30/15)
17. Bakersfield, CA (5/31/15)
18. Groveland, CA (6/1/15-6/5/15)
    • Yosemite National Park
19. Plymouth, CA (6/6/15-6/8/15)
    • Lake Tahoe
20. Redding, CA (6/9/15-6/10/15)
21. Eugene, OR (6/11/15-6/12/15)
22. Salem, OR (6/13/15-6/14/15)
23. Portland, OR (6/15/15-6/16/15)
24. Olympia, WA (6/17/15)
25. Sequim, WA (6/18/15)
26. Port Angeles, WA (6/19/15-6/23/15)
    • Olympic National Park
    • Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
27. Pacific City, OR (6/24/15-6/25/15)
    • Cape Kiwanda
    • Tillamook, OR
28. Yachats, OR (6/26/15-6/29/15)
    • Cape Perpetua
      • Thor’s Well
    • Newport, OR
    • Florence, OR
29. Coos Bay, OR (6/30/15-7/2/15)
30. Arcata, CA (7/3/15-7/4/15)
31. Greenfield, CA (7/5/15)
32. Temecula, CA (7/6/15-7/22/15)
33. ????? (7/22/15-Now)
    • Where did we move to? I’ll announce our new location in my next post!