The Tullis Family: Road Trip 2025

We decided to take the first 2 weeks of our summer vacation for our family trip. After 2,675 miles, a "few" mosquito bites, 4 national parks, seeing parts of the country we've never seen, lots of hilly, winding roads, and lots of straight, flat roads, we'd love to share our adventures with you.

June 8th: And we're off! Our 1st stop was Great Basin National Park. The name Great Basin refers to an area where the waters do no reach the sea. Instead, streams and rivers drain into marshes, mud flats, and shallow lakes, and then evaporate in the dry desert air. Once we got our camp set up, we headed out for a hike around the Bristlecone pine grove, some of the oldest trees in the world.

June 9th: Before hitting the road to our next destination, we hiked the Baker Creek trail, and even saw some wild turkeys.

Then it was time to drive Hwy 50, named "The Loneliest Road in America."

On night #2, we camped at Spencer Hot Springs. We had a lot of neighbors--burros.

June 10th: We dipped our toes into the hot springs (it was hot) before getting back on the Loneliest Road in America. Next stop--Lake Tahoe.

We stopped for lunch at a park in Fallon, Nevada.

We stayed at Zephyr Cove on the east side of Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe is North America's largest alpine lake and is known for its clear waters. It's also the second deepest lake in the US with its deepest point being 1,645 feet. As soon as camp was set up, we headed to the water.

These gigantic pine cones were all over.

The sunsets were amazing!

June 11th: After breakfast, we headed back to the water.

After lunch, we did a hike to Cascade Falls.

Emerald Bay

June 12th: We had to get one more view of the lake before heading to our next destination--Lassen National Park.

In Lassen National Park, every rock came from volcanoes. The park contains all four types of volcanoes: shield, composite, cinder cone, and plug dome. One of the largest plug dome volcanoes in the world is Lassen Peak, which erupted between 1914 and 1921. The largest explosion happened on May 22, 1915. Benjamin F. Loomis photographed the eruptions, which helped to form the National Park on August 9, 1916. More eruptions will occur, but nobody know when or where.

We stayed at Manzanita Lake Campground.

We stayed at Lassen NP for just one night, so we didn't waste time getting out to explore. Due to snowy roads, we could see the whole park, but we made the best of what we could get to. Our first stop was the Devastated Area, which contains evidence of the 1915 eruption. It's crazy to think how far those rocks flew from the eruption.

Then we stopped at Chaos Crags and Chaos Jumbles. Chaos Crags are jagged plug dome volcanoes. Chaos Jumbles is the result of 3 rock avalanches that happened around 1660. Geologists believes the rock avalanches were caused by years of freeze and thaw that created cracks in the rocks. Eventually, with the steep slopes, the rocks broke free and tumbled down at a rate of almost 100 miles per hour.

When you're doing an online PE class during the summer, you do what you have to do to complete the assignments.

That evening, we hiked around Manzanita Lake--gorgeous.

This seismograph station was built by the Loomis family (local homesteaders) in 1926.

Lounging around camp is the best!

June 13th: We made it to the coast! It took us almost 6 hours to drive 170 miles, but we made it. Redwoods, here we come!

Redwoods National and State Parks is home to the tallest trees on earth. They thrive in this perfect habitat due to their special regenerative abilities and a natural resistance to insects and fire. There used to be nearly 2 million acres of "old growth" coast redwood forests, but due to logging that began in 1850, only about 5 percent remain. Efforts are being made to restore these forests to their pre-logged conditions. Redwoods National Park (officially established on October 2, 1968) is made up of 3 state parks: Jedediah Smith, Prairie Creek, and Del Norte Coast. Together, they manage 130,000 acres of forested lands, including 45% of the remaining old-growth redwoods in the world.

We stayed at the Mill Creek Campground for 3 nights.

We were surrounded by massive redwoods around the campground.

June 14th: We had a big hiking day today! We started at Lady Bird Johnson Grove. This is an area of old-growth redwoods. As a result of all of her environmental and conservation work, this grove was dedicated to former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, in 1969 by President Nixon.

Then we made our way to Fern Canyon. We had to get a permit to hike Fern Canyon and it was so worth getting up at 6:30 a.m. to get the permit. Fun fact: There is a scene in Jurassic Park: The Lost World that was filled there.

You don't normally see elk wandering next to the ocean.

Then we hiked to Trillium Falls.

Stop #4 took us to Big Tree.

Next stop: Stout Grove

Our last hike was "Grove of the Titans."

banana slug

After 6 amazing hikes, it felt great to head back to camp and play some washers.

June 15th: Today we ventured about an hour north (into Oregon) and did some tide pooling. The tide was at its lowest so we could see all of the amazing creatures you don't get to normally see when the tide comes in. The Oregon coast is breathtaking!

On the way back to camp, we stopped at a brewery in Crescent City, CA for a nice Father's Day lunch. Then it was off to the grocery store to stock up on some food.

June 16th: Today we drove north to Diamond Lake Campground in Oregon. We stayed there for 2 nights. This was where we got our first mosquito bites of the trip. So. Many. Mosquitoes.

We usually ended the evenings with a family game of Five Crowns.

June 17th: It was a beautiful day to explore Crater Lake National Park. Even though most of the road around the lake was still closed (due to snow and rock slides), we still got some great views of the lake.

With the road being closed, they allowed people to walk on it to get to certain viewpoints.

June 18th: After breakfast and a quick take-down of camp, we were off to Bend.

On the way to our campsite in Bend, we stopped at the Newberry National Volcanic Monument and hiked the Obsidian Lava Flow. Amazing.

Then it was off to the Bend RV Resort for the next 2 nights.

June 19th: We had a fun-filled day of hiking and paddle boarding today. We started the day with a hike to Tumalo Falls (and nearby trails).

Then it was off to the Deschutes River for some paddle boarding. So much fun!

We finished the day with a family game of pickleball and, of course, Five Crowns.

June 20th: Before heading to Boise, we had a permit to hike the Lava River Cave, which is a 1-mile long lava tube. A lava tube is a natural tunnel formed by volcanic activity. Molten lava flowed under cooled, hardened lava, and once it drained, a lava tube was formed. It was about 40 degrees in the cave so we dressed warm.

The drive from Bend to Boise seemed to go on forever! It was our least favorite day of driving, for sure. But we made it to the Boise KOA. After setting up camp, we drove to visit some relatives of Andy's.