Traveling husband and wife Rhys and Shanna Truscott document their extensive travels on Instagram (@wild_and_free_travel) and their website Wild & Free Travel. They recently wrapped up a trip around California, where they traveled from Big Sur to Yosemite National Park to Mammoth Lakes and a lot of places in between—in a Mighway RV.
“California was built for RVs!” Shanna says. “Every day is a new adventure in California with new scenery and activities making it the perfect RV destination.”
We caught up with the couple to hear the highlights from their trip.
1. What inspired this California trip?
We have traveled to Southern California in a VW van and fell in love with the state and how diverse the scenery is. That inspired us to come back and see what Northern California had to offer since we hadn’t explored there yet! This time, we camped in style in a Mighway RV.
2. You stopped at a lot of iconic California destinations along the way. What were some of your favorites?
Over two weeks, every day we had several highlights! To name a few, driving down the Big Sur coastline at sunset, exploring Hearst Castle, checking out the sea life at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, watching the sunset at Glacier Point in Yosemite, the golden trees and helicopter flight in Mammoth Lakes, and learning how to fly fish in Lake Tahoe.
3. What is the one photo or social post that best captures your trip?
This photo was taken while driving down Highway 1. It was a perfect day, the sun was shining, and the ocean with mountains behind looked beautiful where we had pulled over the RV. I stared out into the ocean hoping to see a whale, while Rhys snapped this photo of me! (P.S. I swear I saw a whale.)
4. Did you have any favorite sunset views?
More than I can count! Some of our favorite sunset spots were Bixby Bridge in Big Sur, Glacier Point in Yosemite, and Convict Lake in Mammoth Lakes.
5. Where was the most scenic stretch of road?
Ninety-seven percent of roads we went down were scenic. We tried to take a lot of the byways since they were still open before winter. Highway 1 was super scenic. There were so many spots that we could pull the RV over in, which made life easier. The famous “Tunnel View” was also a stretch of road I don’t think we will ever forget seeing. The view as soon as you come out of the tunnel is just breathtaking. It is the iconic image you get in your head when you think of America.
6. What was your most memorable meal?
We loved our meal at [Lake Tahoe’s] Jimmy’s Restaurant. Our server was amazing and knew his menu and wines well. Shanna went with the Steak Salad with arugula, potatoes, shallots, corn, parmesan, croutons, and some herb vinaigrette; I had the Colorado Lamb Rack with potatoes-mushroom-pancetta hash, and grilled asparagus. Both meals were phenomenal. To top it off you have views of Lake Tahoe!
7. Prettiest campground?
Our favorite campground was Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park because the towering red oaks surrounding our camp made it so serene. Also, it was very convenient to get to a lot of popular sites. We had camp fires every night and gazed at the stars through the cracks in the redwoods.
8. What’s the best part about traveling in an RV?
The freedom you have to go anywhere and [the fact that you] can camp in beautiful places comfortably. We got to see a wide range of places in a short amount of time thanks to the RV. We found California very RV-friendly and loved being able to pull over in beautiful spots to cook breakfast or stop and take a photo of the scenery!
