Just rented a Nikkor 80-400mm lense to see what's out there beyond the standard lenses that came with my D5300. I am now stooped over from carrying this guy.

Yellow Finch at our Feeder

You're trying to get your wife to do something?? How insane is that! How long have you been married? If she's happy with her selfies . . . .

Where North of LA --- Wherever the muse leads us! We've travelled the western states a number of times, but have never had a chance to roam Calif. So we're open explorers. Couple years ago we wandered Oregon and Washington State. Last summer we took a car ferry from Bellingham WA to Whittier Alaska and came back to the states down the Alcan Hwy. What marvelous trips all!

WOW!! The suggestions keep on coming. I'll have to extend the trip to six weeks. So many delightful sounding spots. Thank you all again for the suggestions and the links to many web sites.
Hank M

Thanks to all for the great suggestions!!
Hank M

My wife and I are exploring California by auto for about 3 weeks this coming June. Moderate hiking and many SD cards in hand. Any suggestions such as "Don't miss the _____" ! Any sites not typically visited by mobs of people? We'll be travelling anywhere and everywhere north of LA. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
Hank

I usually use 8 and 16G cards. When travelling I also have my laptop and a 1T Toshiba external drive with me. The drive is the size of a pack of cigarettes. Each night when back in the motel room, I transfer the day's photos to both the laptop and external drive. Takes just a few minutes, but limits any problems.

I had the same problem after I bought a new Asus laptop running Windows 10. Found a driver to download on the Realtek.Com website which solved the problem immediately.

Retired in May 2015. My wife and I took a month and drove from the Chicago area to Bellingham WA where we caught the Alaskan Ferry to Whittier AK. Drove from there to Anchorage, Denali, Fairbanks, and then home along the Alcan Hwy. UNFORGETTABLE trip!!!

Take time and wander off the "main" roads where you can.
The Alcan is paved, BUT there are a number of stretches where the road is being reconstructed. That means spots where the road is just gravel - BIG chewed up gravel. These stretches can run from a couple hundred feet to one which was about ten miles in length. 20 MPH with guide cars taking you through. We made it and loved it.

Pit stops in the Yukon portion of the road were frequent and clean. But in the British Columbia segment of the highway - the pit stop areas were virtually nonexistent. And buy gas when you can or carry spare cans.

Also, I suggest, if going through Banff and Jasper Parks, stay in Jasper rather than Banff.

Good luck and enjoy yourselves.