Saturday April 12 continued. Got back to my vehicle at 11:00. It was 91 degrees. On the way to my next destination I stopped for gas at a place called Terrible's, which gave a substantial discount for cash, so I paid cash for gas for the first time in probably 30 years. Crossed into California just after noon, and arrived at Joshua Tree National Park at 1:45. This park's most popular months are March and April due to warm temperatures, clear skies (well, it was somewhat cloudy today), blooming wildflowers, and spring break. My first stop was the Split Rock area, which has a 2½-mile loop trail. The first photo is the rock after which the area is named.


On the left is a Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia):


Next I went to the Skull Rock area, so named for this rock:


Hiked for about an hour and a half.


It was another 10-mile hiking day. You might wonder what kind of footwear I use. Ten-year-old, worn-out sneakers. They might be full of holes and the soles might be falling apart, but they are comfortable, and I will continue to wear them until they are so torn that they can't keep my feet in them.


By the way, there is no cell service in the park, so it's a good thing that I'd printed out maps and directions. Checked into a Motel 6 at 5:10. This was one of only 5 places on the trip where I paid more than $100 per night. Gas was very expensive here too: $4.70 per gallon (I paid $2.80 to $3.30 everywhere else). Turns out that it wasn't just here but in all of California, due to a number of taxes and fees. Wrote for a while until my brain started shutting down. Went to sleep around 9:00ish.


Sunday April 13. Woke up sometime in the wee hours, couldn't get back to sleep, and got out of bed at 3:30. Left at 6:30 for Joshua Tree, and got to the Keys View spot just after 7:00. It was very windy.


On the way to my next destination I found out why they call this place Joshua Tree National Park: there are millions of these things. Here's a video I took while driving.


Arrived at the Hidden Valley Nature Trail at 7:30 and hiked the mile-long loop trail.


Here's another driving video I took on the way to my next destination. Pointed my iPhone out the side of the vehicle this time.


Got to the Barker Dam Trail at 8:05 and hiked for over an hour.



Arrived at the Arch Rock Nature Trail at 9:30. It's 1.4 miles out-and-back. Here is Arch Rock:


There are other rock formations near it that I found interesting.


Got to the Cholla Cactus Garden at 10:30. It was closed because visitors have trampled the area but there are plenty of cholla cacti to see from the road.


On a tip from a park ranger I went another mile and a half to see some ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens).


Left at 10:45 and drove to Temecula. Paid cash for gas again for the discount. It was a picture perfect day: 73 degrees and sunny with blue skies. Checked into the La Quinta Inn at 1:20. I chose this place because it is less than a mile from 3 breweries in nearby Murrieta, one of which is very highly rated. I had a few hours to bring in my stuff, shower, work on this write-up, and eat. Left at 4:00 for Electric Brewing, the highly rated brewery I mentioned. There is a Facebook enthusiasts page, but it's not run by the brewery. It's the second of 3 breweries I would visit on this trip that are open only Friday to Sunday. It opened in May 2014. In addition to serving locally, this brewery also ships to Europe and China. My friend Tony and his girlfriend Elisabeth met me. Tony and I have been friends since the 1980s. As of this writing he is still living in Maryland and Elisabeth is living in Los Angeles. We tried several beers:


Elisabeth went home, and Tony and I stayed to visit more breweries. I bought 4-packs of Lamentable Tension and Decisive Moment, then we went to Solaris Beer & Blending, a tenth of a mile away in the same industrial complex. It opened in March 2021. We tried:


There were punk bands playing outside.


Tony bought me a bottle of The Gloaming, which at $30 was the most expensive half-liter bottle of beer I had ever seen. Then we went to 8Bit Brewing just half a mile away and sampled:


We got back to the La Quinta Inn around 8:00 or so.


Monday April 14. Woke up sometime in the wee hours and finally got out of bed at 4:30. Spent several hours chronicling the previous day's events.

In most states, a lot of breweries are closed on Mondays. Fortunately, California is not one of them. While some California breweries are closed on Mondays, most are open 7 days a week, so we were able to visit several today.

We left a little after 10:00, arrived at Societe Brewing's Kearny Mesa location just before it opened at 11:00, and tried the one beer that had a good rating.


Next stop: Modern Times Beer, which has three locations (one is for private events only). We got to their North Park Flavordome just after it opened at noon and tried:

Lamp shades hanging from the ceiling.


The bar is decorated with old VCR tape boxes and the walls are papered with pages from old atlases.


On a tip from our server at Societe we went to Bottlecraft's North Park location. It is a beer store with 12 beers on tap. We got there at 12:30 and tasted:


North Park Beer Company is across the street so of course we had to go. It has 3 locations in San Diego. They happened to be canning when we got there (photo below right). We tried:


At 1:40 we arrived at AleSmith Brewing . Everything we tried was good.


At 2:30 we went to nearby Ballast Point, which has 5 locations. We were at the one in Miramar, where the production facility had been until it was shut down a year earlier. The company has been sold at least twice. As of this writing it is owned by Kings and Convicts and most of the beer is contract brewed. Only one beer had a good rating so that's what we got.


Also nearby is Pure Project's Miramar location (there are 6). We got there at 3:15 and sampled:


We checked into the Motel 6 in Escondido at 4:40. An hour later we went to nearby Black Plague Brewing, the only brewery of the day so far that I'd never been to before (although I had visited their Oceanside location in 2018). We were at their Purgatory Lounge (they have a third location in North Park). It's got a goth vibe. We sampled:


Since it was still early we decided to go to The Lost Abbey's Vista location 20 minutes away. According to its website it was open every day, but when we got there we discovered that it is closed on Mondays. However, there are two other breweries right next to it. They don't have great Untappd ratings, but we were already there, so we visited them. The first was a combination of 3 breweries: Mason Ale Works, Eppig Brewing, and Second Chance Brewing. The former owns the latter two. This location has beers from all three breweries on tap, plus a golf simulator. We had:


Next door is Dogleg Brewing, which also has a golf simulator. (I learned that AleSmith has one too.) We sampled:


Our server informed us that there are many breweries within a few miles of there. None of them have good ratings but we decided to visit two that were less than a mile away. The first was Weir Beer. We tried:


We arrived at our 11th and final brewery of the day, BattleMage Brewing, at 8:00. People were playing Dungeons and Dragons (as they do there every Monday and Tuesday night). We sampled:


We returned to the motel around 9:00.


Tuesday April 15. Woke up at 3:00ish and wrote for several hours. When we left a little after 9:30 it was 58 degrees, cloudy, and a bit drizzly. We arrived at Green Cheek Beer Company shortly before it opened at 11:00. It has 4 locations. I'd been to their Orange location in 2023. Today we visited the one in Costa Mesa and tried:


On a suggestion from our server we walked to Windsor Homebrew Supply, which has two locations. It is a combination homebrew shop, bottle shop, and beer bar. I bought a can of Solaris Behold the Temple of Light.


At 11:50 we arrived at everywhere (yes, it begins with a lowercase letter). It opened in 2022.


We went up to Anaheim to Monkish Brewing's Beer Garden (their main location is in Torrance; I'd been to both locations before). They had many beers on tap, 10 of which had Untappd ratings of 4.3 or better. The smallest serving they offered was a half pour so we couldn't try all of them. We ordered the 4 with the highest ratings.


I bought a 4-pack of Vinyl Vice, then we went to Bottle Logic, which I'd been to twice before. We got there at 1:25 and sampled:


A few minutes away is The Bruery, which has another location in Idaho. We were at the one in Placentia, which I'd been to before. When we got there a little after 2:15 it was fairly sunny and warm. They had several monster stouts that I just had to try.


I bought a bottle of Flying High to go, then we went up to Los Angeles and visited Highland Park Brewery, which is just outside Dodger Stadium. We arrived at 4:40 and sampled:


Down the street is Homage Brewing (which has another location in Pomona). We tried:


We then went to Elisabeth's place for the evening. I crashed on a couch around 9:00ish.


Wednesday April 16. Up in the wee hours again. Left at 6:20. It was 55 degrees and cloudy. Gas was $5.60 per gallon in Los Angeles. Traffic coming into the city was heavy, but once I got about 25 miles north I was surrounded by mountains and traffic was light.


Arrived at Fieldwork Brewing just before it opened at noon. It has about 10 locations. I was at the one in Berkeley, which I had visited in 2018. It's north of the other breweries I'd be visiting this day, but most of them didn't open until later, so I would have to backtrack. Both beers I tried were good.


A few minutes away is Great Notion Brewing, which has 8 locations in California, Oregon, and Washington. I'd been to their Seattle location in 2024. Today I was at the one in Berkeley. Got there about 25 minutes before it opened at 1:00. Sampled:


Arrived at the Jack London Inn, which is in a run-down part of Oakland, at 1:40. No rooms were ready so I got on their wifi and did some writing while I waited for about 20 minutes. After checking in I went, on a tip from my server at Great Notion, to Tenma Beer Project, arriving shortly before it opened at 3:00. It's been in business since 2023. I had:


Got to Ghost Town Brewing at 3:25. It has two locations in Oakland: one in West Oakland (where I was) and one in the Laurel District.


Arrived at Almanac Beer Company in Alameda a little after 4:00 (I had been to their San Francisco location in 2018, which closed the following year). Every beer's rating was under 4, and after being disappointed with some beers whose ratings are even higher, I decided not to waste time, money, and liver power on so-so beer. But I did take some photos.


About a quarter mile away is Humble Sea Brewing, which as of this writing has 5 locations with another in the works. The first beer in this list had a 4.2 rating and the second had a 4.3, and I was not crazy about them. Yet more examples of beers not living up to their ratings.


Got back to the motel a little after 5:00 and walked to Sante Adairius Rustic Ales, which has 3 locations. This one is called The Arbor, which opened in 2023. (I had been to their Capitola location in 2018.) Every beer I tried was good. They should have been because I paid $33 with tip.


Walked to Cellarmaker Brewing, which opened in 2013 and has 3 locations. It is known for its pizza. I paid the most I had ever paid for a beer sample: $14 (not including tax and tip) for 5 ounces of the first of these two beers.


Got to nearby Original Pattern Brewing at 7:00 and sampled:


Returned to the hotel at 7:50.


Thursday April 17. It was cloudy, drizzly, and 55 degrees when I left at 9:35. This would be another crazy day due to breweries opening at different times, thus requiring me to drive past some on my way to others, then double back to the ones that opened later.

Arrived at Old Caz Beer more than 15 minutes before it opened at 11:00, which gave me time to relax and eat. Then I went in and ordered:


Traveled on a nice country road to Russian River Brewing's Santa Rosa location (it also has a location in Windsor). Arrived at 11:45 and got a flight of 5, which was only $9 ($11 with tip). Samples were only 2 ounces each but that was all I needed.


Bought two cans of Double Dry Hopped Pliny the Elder and a small bottle of Mortification. Then left my vehicle at the Park Inn in Petaluma, where I would be staying that night, and walked to Lagunitas Brewing. Tried to take some photos of the silos behind the taproom, and a security guard came over to tell me that the area was off limits. So I went to the taproom, which is a fun place with both indoor and outdoor seating, plus other stuff. Got a flight of limited release beers.


A little after 2:00 I went across the street to HenHouse Brewing, which has 3 locations. I was at their Palace of Barrels.


Checked into the Park Inn and Ubered to Parliament Brewing. Arrived at 3:50 and got a small pour of:


Ubered to Adobe Creek Brewing, which has been in business since March 2017. Got there at 4:45. It has two locations; I was at the one in Petaluma. Every beer in my flight was good.


Ubered back to the Park Inn at 5:30, wrote for a while, and crashed at 9:30ish.


Friday April 18. Another wee-hour awakening. It was 53 degrees and cloudy when I left just before 7:00. Drove to Calistoga, down through the Napa Valley past many wineries...


...and over to the Jelly Belly store and visitor center in Fairfield. I had visited it about 30 years earlier. There are 3 manufacturing plants (the others are in Chicago and Thailand), but most of their jelly beans are made in this one.


All the artwork is made with jelly beans.



There is a self-guided factory tour. There was no production going on this day, so most of the equipment was covered.


However, the mixing drums were not covered.


There were many informative videos and more artwork.


Afterward they gave customers a ride in the Jelly Belly Express "train" across the parking lot to their museum. It has lots of old equipment, tools, and photos, plus artwork and decorations.


By now it was nice and sunny, and would remain so for the rest of the day, with temperatures eventually rising into the 70s. Went to Fieldwork Brewing's Sacramento location, which opened in 2016. Arrived at 11:10 and sampled:


Got to Shred Beer Company at noon and tried two beers that were good but did not live up to their high ratings.


Arrived at nearby Moksa Brewing at 12:25 and tried:


Then I stopped at Moksa Barrel House, which is Moksa's restaurant/taproom. No beer is produced here. My 5 ounces of their 7th anniversary ale was $13 (not including tax and tip), which is the second most I had ever paid for a beer sample.


Got to Slice Beer Company at 1:45 and tried two beers that were good but not as good as their high ratings.


Checked into the Super 8 by Wyndham Auburn at 2:45, then went to Knee Deep Brewing at 3:25 and tried:


A few hundred yards away is Moonraker Brewing's Auburn location, which opened in 2016 (they have another location in Cameron Park). Got there a little after 4:00 and sampled:


Since it was still early I decided to visit a couple of additional breweries in the area, even though they didn't have high ratings. Arrived at Rebellion Brewing at 4:55 and tried:

The white strip on the bar (bottom left photo) is a frost top that helps keep beers cold.


Got to my final taproom of the day, Two Ass Brewing, at 5:30. It had a marginal rating and didn't even deserve that. I tried their highest rated beer, and it sucked:


Returned to the motel, did a little writing, slept from 7:00ish to 10:30ish, got up at 11:30, and wrote for 3 hours.


Saturday April 19. Was eventually able to get back to sleep for a few hours. Woke up at 6:30. When I left at 9:50 it was gorgeous and sunny and 62 degrees. Arrived at FiftyFifty Brewing when it opened at 11:00. Only one beer had a good enough rating for me, so that's what I got.


Continue to Segment 4 (Nevada, Utah, Colorado)