MoFate's Drop in the Bucket List: Middle California and drive back to Atlanta

In addition to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, we did a little travelling around middle California as well. You might be thinking "what the #@$ is worth visiting in middle California?" Well, you'd be mostly correct :) But, we took the opportunity to visit Moro Bay and San Luis Obispo.

This post will also cover Mohit's drive back from Sequoia NP to Atlanta. Over the course of seven nights, Mohit worked his way east, stopping in Las Vegas, Canyonlands, Denver, Kansas City, and Nashville.

Things to know if you visit

Canyonlands National Park is divided into two section, The Needles and Island in the Sky. Make sure you know where you're camping and hiking before driving over because these two areas are not connected within the park. They are divided by a canyon (go figure).
Campgrounds in Canyonlands and the other four Utah national parks fill up quickly in the peak seasons. So make sure to get there early (well before noon) to get a spot. But don't worry if you are arriving late. Island in the Sky has a BLM campsite (Horsethief) right next to the entrance which offers really nice campsites for the same price as Canyonlands and usually has availability. There's also a state park nearby but that requires you to pay another fee to enter, so try the national forest campsite first.
Camping is really fun in Canyonlands because it allows you to get to the sunrise spots before the whole world shows up (Delicate Arch). Just remember that dessert storms occur frequently causing high winds and lots of rain. So make sure your tent has a rain guard :)
If you are driving to Canyonlands, try getting a 4x4 Jeep type vehicle. There's an amazing loop dirt road that goes through the canyon that's made for driving on. Its pretty rugged though, so the rental company might not be happy with you taking their car on it, but it looked really fun. Bucket list item for sure.
Death Valley is hot in the summer, so camping is not recommended. While they keep one campsite open always, its quite empty in the summer. It was very difficult to sleep at night in the tent because the lowest the temperature dropped to was around 95 F.

Fun facts

Moro Bay California was featured in Finding Dori!
Tennessee bbq is definitely a thing. Worth driving to Nashville for.
Still nothing of interestt in the drive from Denver to Kansas City.
Denver is becoming too hipster for me. I never want to pay $6 for a small tea, no matter how loose the leafs are.