Earlier in 2023, my wife, Dona Reed, and I completed three-month epic road trip, exploring the wild coast of the Pacific Northwest and northern California, the Central Coast of California, the Mojave Desert, the Sonoran Desert and the red rocks of southeastern Utah.  We road the deep end of the atmospheric river all the way down US 101.  We had never experienced anything like the rain we endured (and we live in the Pacific Northwest).  Sadly most of the parks along the coast and the Redwoods in CA, were badly damaged and/or closed.  

We finally got out of the weather in Napa, Sonoma and Central Coast of California, and enjoyed the beaches and wine country as well as friends and family.  From there we explored the Mojave Desert and found a number of unexpected gems such as Red Rock Canyon State Park and the Mojave Preserve.  Then on to Arizona, starting with Quartzite, which provided a base to explore the Kofa mountains, then the desert around Tucson before moving north to the Prescott, AZ area, Petrified Forest National Park and the Little Painted Desert.  Our last stop was Zion National Park where the winter weather found us again before returning home to the mild Pacific Northwest.