California 2023 (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
Central California (Bay Area, Stockton, Modesto, Calaveras Big Trees S. P.)
Wednesday, August 16 through Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Stu traveled to Lathrop, California as part of his job (actually was working at the Stockton and Merced Airports) a few days before I flew out to join him there. I departed Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and flew to Sacramento, California (via Denver International Airport, Colorado) on the 16th. During my visit, I went to the Modesto area to see my former apartment (Ceres) and workplace (Livingston) from the outside…went with Stu to Mountain View's Computer History Museum,…and went with Stu and his coworker to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. The remains of Hurricane Hilary arrived in California toward the end of my visit, but had minimal effect on the Stockton area, despite causing a lot of chaos in the Los Angeles and Las Vegas areas. I returned to Oklahoma City via Denver (reverse of outbound route).
I tracked the trip with a Bad Elf GPS Pro+ GPSr (GPS receiver), using my iPhone 12 (Gaia GPS app) as a backup (and the FlightRadar24 website).
NOTE: the downloadable GPX tracks are the full GPX files, while those shown on the provided "view map" links are simplified (with minimal effect on geographic accuracy) for much faster viewing.
Original GPX tracks are unedited, except where necessary to fill in missing data. Edited tracks are noted in their descriptions.
Businesses are named below for reference only. No endorsement should be inferred. If you wish to see my opinion of the places mentioned, see TripAdvisor (for those few that I have actually rated).
Overview (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
- Overview map—This is a composite map of all the GPS tracks on a blank US/Canada map.
- All GPS tracks / view map—The whole trip, including walking, driving, etc.
Wednesday, August 16
- GPX / view map—Driving to the airport (Will Rogers World Airport) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
- GPX / view map—Flying from Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado.
- GPX / view map—Walking through Denver International Airport. Part of the track (east end) is rather “noisy”.
- GPX / view map—Flying from Denver, Colorado to Sacramento International Airport in Sacramento, California.
- GPX / view map—Walking, then riding (bus) from the airport terminal to the rental car companies' lots at the Sacramento International Airport.
- GPX / view map—Driving (by myself) from Sacramento International Airport to the hotel in Lathrop, California.
Thursday, August 17
- GPX / view map—Driving (by myself) to my former home (apartment) in Ceres, to near my former employer (Foster Farms) in Livingston, to lunch (Foster Farms restaurant) in Livingston, to Las Palmas Avenue (including part of the old Las Palmas Avenue) in Patterson, and back to Lathrop.
- GPX / view map—Driving to dinner in Lathrop.
Friday, August 18
- GPX / view map—Driving (by myself) to lunch, and exploring Lathrop.
- GPX / view map—Walking the short distance to the food truck area (to get dinner), and back to the hotel.
Saturday, August 19
- GPX / view map—Driving to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, to dinner (Round Table Pizza) in Mountain View, to Lick Observatory in the Coast Range, and on to the hotel. Although Lick Observatory was closed by the time we arrived (around sunset), we did walk around the grounds and viewed some of the outdoor signs and exhibits.
Sunday, August 20
- GPX / view map—Driving to Calaveras Big Trees State Park.
- GPX / view map—Hiking the North Grove Trail, with an intermediate spur to the Grove Overlook Trail. North Grove Trail is the more westerly of the two trails. (Topo–northwest trail)
- GPX / view map—Driving to the South Grove area at Calaveras Big Trees State Park.
- GPX / view map—Hiking part of the South Grove Trail at Calaveras Big Trees State Park. (Topo–southeast trail)
- GPX / view map—Driving back to Lathrop, including a stop for dinner in Murphys.
Monday, August 21
- GPX / view map—Driving (by myself) to/from lunch in Manteca.
- GPX / view map—Driving to dinner in Manteca.
Tuesday, August 22
- GPX / view map—Driving (by myself) from lunch (Round Table Pizza in Lathrop) to Sacramento International Airport (rental car return). Note: I forgot to turn on the GPSr tracking until I got to the restaurant, which (fortunately) was close to the hotel.
- GPX / view map—Riding (bus) to the terminal at Sacramento International Airport.
- GPX / view map—Sitting on the plane at Sacramento International Airport.
- GPX / view map—(Partial) Flying from Sacramento International Airport in Sacramento, California to Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado. The first part of the track is missing, because I apparently didn't successfully turn the tracking feature on.
- (To be added) Additional track information to complete this leg
- GPX / view map—(Mostly unusable track) Walking across Denver International Airport from the arrival gate to the departure gate.
- GPX / view map—Flying from Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado to Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
- GPX / view map—Walking through the terminal, then riding the parking lot shuttle to my parked car, at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
- GPX / view map—Driving from the airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
