JOANNA CAREW

A short series of reflections from the road: a five-week adventure across the American West.

Road tripping with my son, Alfie, we’re tracing a route through the wilderness – national parks, magnificent skies, and the occasional dodgy motel. The plan is to finish up just over the border in Vancouver, but for now it’s all open roads, trail maps, and questionable playlists.

It’s a biggy taking so much time away from work, so I start my day super early – get a few hours’ graft in while Alfie sleeps – then the rest of the day is ours to explore, to spend time with my boy, connect with nature, the present, and just … well, be.

Pit Stop in San Francisco

Reuniting with Alfie in San Francisco, we headed to a chillaxed Italian restaurant and ate our body weights in pizza (gluten free for me!) then I crashed early doors as my body was still on British Summer Time. Next day we set off to explore the city on foot, stumbling across the magnificent Palace of Fine Arts, watching hummingbirds in Lafayette park, and me gawping at the driverless cars passing us on the streets 🤪 

It was heavenly to catch up with Alfie, marching, and later whiling away hours watching the tourists on the water front.

Then, after our short city break we picked up a hire car and set off on our adventure. We drove through downtown, then over the Golden Gate Bridge – windy, iconic, slightly surreal – and just like that we were headed north, to the vineyards of Napa.

Napa Valley 🍷

We turned up at the Baldacci Vineyard – we’d chosen it purely on the strength of its glowing Google reviews. It was appointment-only, but we thought we’d try our luck. The owners couldn’t have been kinder, and before we knew it we were sampling their divine selection of wines. Alfie threw himself headfirst into the big bold reds, and I fell quietly in love with a sparkling white from Los Carneros that tasted like a fresh summer breeze.

Then we headed for lunch at a quirky indoor market in Napa town, nothing fancy, just good, honest, locally produced ingredients: peppery salad leaves, cured meats, and fresh goats cheese that was so delicious it briefly made me consider moving here!

Groveland and Hetch Hetchy

Day 3 brought us to Groveland and the most brilliantly American saloon you could imagine – dark, atmospheric, stuffed moose-heads on the walls, a mirrored bar, and dollar bills stuck to the ceiling with quarters and thumbtacks.

Later we headed to Hetch Hetchy – Yosemite’s quieter, less-showy sibling. Empty trails, waterfalls, wildflowers and the smell of pine in the heat.

Just before sunset we stopped and Alfie stood in the middle of a meadow quiet and still. I stepped back to give him his space, it was as though the landscaped had pressed pause for him, he didn’t say a word, but something in the air shifted, it was as though Yosemite had reached in and touched his soul.

There’s awe-inspiring magic in these mountains and the next day Yosemite gripped my soul too in the shadow of the great monolith El Capitan … but that’s a story for another post.