Even though parks and other road-trip destinations are beginning to open back up, my family and I are choosing to extend our self-quarantine for as long as we can, to help minimize the risk of spreading the virus. But that doesn’t mean I can’t host a virtual summer road trip instead! Since so many of my past road trips have been solitary, this summer I’m going to post a series of some of my favorite solo road trip moments—times when it felt like I was the only traveler for hundreds of miles—and tag the posts with #SummerofSolitude.

Since Memorial Day weekend is the traditional start of the summer road trip season, I’m going to start with an unlikely place to find a bit of solitude: Yosemite National Park. I visited in the shoulder season, when the high country roads were still packed in with snow, but even in the winter, it’s hard to find a quiet moment in Yosemite Valley. Still, I hit the jackpot that day. I spent the previous night in nearby Mariposa, and headed for the park at first light. So when I reached El Capitan and laid eyes on it for the first time, I had a big head start on the other tourists. I had plenty of time to sit and draw and listen to the birds waking up. It felt like such a luxury to get a whole sketch done before I saw another human. By midday the park was pretty crowded, but I’ll never forget the feeling of having Yosemite all to myself.