Laundry Day

     No pictures today - it rained all day. When I got up it seemed like the perfect "down" day. Time to catch up on chores and have a wonderful nap with a book. First we went to the hardware store to get repair items. Maintaining the RV is an ongoing project for both of us - screws fall out, stuff bounces to the back of cupboards and the refrigerator, the heat ducts separate, the trim falls off, etc. etc. Lots of bouncy roads, endless dust, dirt tracked in no matter how careful we are.
     When the downpours finally let up Rick climbed under the RV and I went to the laundry room to do 10 days of laundry. It makes me appreciate my lovely home laundry room and the ease of doing laundry. On the road there is always the need to save quarters and haul bags of dirty laundry across the campground (we are never close to the laundry). Today there were 4 washers and 4 dryers. As I was unloading my stuff someone ran in and threw stuff in all three of the working washers. I left my stuff and went back 30 minutes later. One more washer was "out of order" so I threw my stuff in the remaining two and figured that I would just go back later for the third load. 30 minutes later I found one load done and the other just a little wet. ARGHH!
     I dried the first load and put the 2nd through again. Put the third in and went back for more quarters. When the first load was dry I put the 3rd load in (only one working dryer now). I looked at load #2 which was on its second attempt of a wash. It was "done." HMM - wet and soapy and the washer was done washing. Back for more quarters and a little chat with the campground staff. They gave me free tokens and apologized. I put the wash into the only working washer and tried it for the third time. Wahlah - it worked and then needed drying. At 5:45 after starting at 1 I was done with the laundry. No nap, but we are now clean. I think I am done trying to do laundry until we get home again.

Zion Hikes

     The main part of Zion accessible by road is a long canyon which is serviced by a shuttle bus. We first had to shed our warm clothing because, although weather.com said it was only going to be 70 in the park, the park said it was going to be 86. Guess which prediction was correct?
     We took the shuttle to the end of the road and then walked along the river another mile as the canyon got tighter and tighter in a space called "the Narrows." Zion is known for an 18 mile hike in the very chilly water of the Virgin River which goes through this canyon. We did NOT take the 18 mile jaunt, although many folks were heading off into the narrow canyon.

     Our second hike came after lunch when we walked into one of the Emerald Pools. It was another really nice area with water drizzling down the rocks into a mossy pool. Nice and cool away from the hot sun. We passed on the hike to the top of one of the mesas described as "strenuous."

     Although there was much left to see, we headed back to meet our niece Kristine and her family at her home in Hurricane. Kristine gave us good directions, but we were not prepared to look for a house among the orchards, cows, and hay fields. Kristine and Donny live right at the edge of town - close enough to enjoy town schools, restaurants and services, but with a view of the rocky hills and surrounded by fields. We had a great dinner with Kaylee, Gerrod and Anthony and then showed them some recent pictures of the family in Minnesota. It was great to see them!

Bryce Canyon

     There are so many "wow's" from this day it is hard to know where to start. You must all promise to come to this part of Utah - it is the best so far.

Bryce Canyon is about 95 miles from our campground through the Dixie National Forest and on two nationally desiginated "Scenic Wonder" drives. The landscape continuously changes and is amazing.

    The picture is from a path down from the rim of Bryce Canyon into a slot canyon. There are so many wonderful hiking paths in the park. I just so wanted you all to be there to be able to take off into these amazing rock formations. Better than Arches or Canyonlands, better than Yosemite or Sequoia - just awesome!

     We spent the afternoon in the park and then drove back on a different route over a 9500' pass. The mountains were covered with dark ponderosa pines and aspens which had turned to gold. Our pictures can't do it justice. We hit it this area just as the leaves had turned their deepest hue, late in the afternoon when the sun and shadows were very dramatic. I wish you were all here - it can never be fully captured, only experienced.

    On our way to Bryce we drove through the mile long tunnel with no internal lights in Zion National Park - Yikes! but more about Zion tomorrow.

Back to Utah Parks

     We left Las Vegas to travel through the corner of Arizona into Utah on I-15. Again we saw desert, but it was interesting and sometimes beautiful. On earlier days we saw lots of Joshua Trees (sort of an ancient cross between a tree and a cactus). There were more of these plus many other types of cactus and pines. Midway on our drive we came to the Virgin River canyon - very dramatic high rock walls with a tiny river at the bottom.

     We more or less followed the canyon into Utah and to our campsite which is right on the river. Once again a lovely site with a great pool, grass and trees. It was over 90 today so we spent the late afternoon at the pool resting from our trip to the town of Virgin.
     Unfortunately there is no cell phone coverage here either - it so frustrates me. I tried to call our niece Kristine who lives just out of town, but had no luck using the cell phone. The campground has phone jacks at each site and says that you can check out a phone which I did - after putting a $51 charge on my credit card if I neglect to return the ancient $5 phone. Since the cord did not reach I had to stand outside next to the camper to make the call. However, I did reach Kristine and we will go to see her on Friday. Yeah!

Vegas

     So we had a little taste of easy living with a great pool and really warm weather. We got our RV and truck washed with a service that comes to your campsite. The old rig hasn't looked so good for a long time. We found RV wash places in Alaska at the campgrounds, but had not found one this trip. It is great to see out the windows again.

     Our afternoon was spent lazing around the pool. It was so relaxing and we both have been reading some great books including the Nevada Barr about Yosemite which visits many sites that we saw. It is fun to be "in the know."

     Our evening was spent on the Vegas Strip. First having a quick supper and then going to see The Blue Man Group. I think I will be able to hear again sometime soon and have almost all of the toilet paper out of my hair. Really it was great fun. Afterwards we walked around a little and saw the gondolas at the Venetian and some of the great water show. There is much that we did not have time to see and really think that we will be returning to stay for a few days without the RV.

Hoover Dam

     It was only a short drive (175 miles) to our new home in Oasis Las Vegas - a RV Resort! It is conveniently located on the edge of town, but really just off the end of the Strip - takes about 10 minutes to get to the south edge of the strip.
     Our drive was non-eventful except for the comment that California needs to put some tax money into Rest Stops. So many of them are closed that we saw any number of cars and trucks stopped along the freeway taking a pee break. Then when we got into Nevada the "Welcome to Nevada" stop was closed as well. However there are plenty of casinos with really big parking lots at all the exits so we just pulled off for a few minutes and used our own bathroom.
     Since we got to Vegas early we went off to visit Hoover Dam. WOW! Besides being amazing the new highway bridge that is being built so that folks don't need to drive on the top of the dam is amazing too. We were told that since each car needs to be checked before crossing the dam that there is sometimes a 3 hour backup on holiday weekends to get through the security check. The security folks at the dam tour confiscated Rick's 1 1/2" pocket knife so that we wouldn't stab a guard and take over the dam - Really! Our tour took us into the tunnels beneath the dam. Very cool - literally - since the air is cooled by the Colorado river water which is about 58.
     Then out for a really nice Italian dinner - the third meal out in 3 weeks. What a luxury. Then we looked for a grocery store but gave it up. I don't think that folks here eat at home. We will try again tomorrow.

Out of the Mountains

     Our itinerary says that today we were going to go to Lake Isabella.  However, after reviewing the trucker's bible on mountain passes, we decided not to go. All roads to this area which also has some of the huge sequoias appear to be really hazardous. One said that the rocks stick out so far on the side of the road that almost all RVs and trucks end up with some damage. No thank you.

     So we headed off to Barstow, California. First we had to wriggle our way out of our tight campsite. Rick was a magician and with only a couple of adjustments to get lined up with the RV and hitched, he carefully pulled out between the rocks and trees and we were free. However, we were told that our spare tire was wiggly and so we needed to get it snugged up before taking off.
    Our drive took us across the Mojave desert and past Edwards Air Force base. We saw a mine as we drove along and I suggested that it must be Borax. Only folks of a certain age would remember 20 Mule Team Borax from the TV show Death Valley Days. Well shortly we came across the "20 Mule Team Road" and then a sign which told us that indeed the mine was Borax.
     We had two big firsts today - It hit over 100 degrees and we started driving East. We are officially on our way home! Our campground is a KOA with some shade trees and a nice pool so we had a cool swim in the early evening. Really nice. Tomorrow Las Vegas.

Kings Canyon

     Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are adjacent to each other with a mixture of National Forest areas in between. All the areas have Sequoias, but Kings Canyon also has a huge, deep canyon with high granite walls on both sides. Most of the parks, like Yosemite, are wilderness areas accessible only by backpacking.

     As we set off to Kings Canyon from Sequoia we could tell that the smoke had increased. The Sierra Mountains already are pretty full of smog from the coastal cities, but the ongoing fire in a portion of the park really added to the lack of visibility. We drove through the worst of it with our air conditioner on recycle so that most of the smoke was kept out.
     There are several smaller Sequoia Groves in Kings Canyon and we toured them and then went off to see the canyon. There were more and more winding roads, no guard rails and steep ups and downs. I am done with the thrill of wondering every minute if I am going to plunge to my death over a steep embankment. Give me some flat!
     We had another cool evening with a great campfire. It gets dark early in the mountains. We have also noticed how quiet it is. I think that the huge spaces sort of absorb any noise and all we hear is the wind in the trees. It is just beautiful.

Tight squeeze at LodgePole campground

     So we got assigned a new campsite that we could keep for two more days and had to move our RV to a spot that is shorter AND there were three big trees and a bunch of huge rocks to navigate around. The trees wanted to grab the sides of the RV and the rocks kept us from moving forward and back. However, the great Parker got it in within 20 minutes of careful juggling.

     LodgePole is in the middle of the park and it was only a short drive to the Giant Grove of sequoias including the tree named General Sherman. It is impossible to describe the size of these guys. They are built thick and tall. They start by growing quite high in the first years and then after getting to be tall they get thicker and thicker for thousands of years. One of them had a tunnel in it that we drove through. It is hard to believe until you are right up next to them that they can be that big.
    At the end of the afternoon we climbed Moro Rock. It is 313' up stairs and ramps to the top. I should say that I climbed about 2/3 of it and gave up gasping for smoky air, and Rick kept on to the top. Both of us had an amazing view of the valley.
     When we returned to our campground we found it full of weekend campers in tents. Big families enjoying the park. I was happy that the parks are so well used, but really liked it without 10 hours of music from the radio at the campsite next to ours. We have also noticed many Germans traveling. Rick talked to one lady who said they were on a six week vacation through the American West. I would like to see the websites they use to plan the RV rentals and all the campground reservations. It is fun to share this great scenery with them.

Smoky Sequoia National Park

     Many adventures today. We drove on California freeways during the week and found there to be pretty polite drivers and lots of truck traffic, but overall OK. By the time we got through Fresno and back off the freeway Rick was tired. Then the road started climbing and climbing. From under 1000’ up 7000’. Part of it was so steep and continuous we needed to pull over and let the transmission fluid cool. Many steep drop-offs and no guard rails. The last part of the drive was in Sequoia National park and I noticed that we were driving into the clouds – only the clouds were smoke! We saw a lot of forest fire trucks and such and believed that it was a fire set to manage the undergrowth. However when we got to the Visitor Center we found out that it is a fire that has been burning in the park for about 10 days and is about 90 percent contained and should be out by Tuesday.
     Fortunately after driving through very smoky conditions, it cleared up and there is very little smoke in the campground. There are huge Sequoias everywhere, which is quite cool. Even a large one in our campsite. I love big trees. The campground is almost empty, but I got the dates wrong and we have only two nights at this spot. We will work on getting a site for the third night tomorrow. I was sure THEY were wrong until I actually found the reservation. Pooh.

     There are signs about being careful about bears everywhere. The brown box in the picture is a place to store food rather than in your car. We are supposed to close all windows in the RV and pull the blinds when we leave so the bears can't see in and try to get food. We are NEVER supposed to have food in the car and folks with baby car seats need to take them out at night and store them in the bear box.

     No electricity or water, no TV and music. But we can hear the wind in the pines and the creek trickling behind our camper. It is great. Also at 6500 feet it was cooler this afternoon and very cool tonight so we won’t miss our air conditioning.

Last Day at Yosemite

     We headed up the Tioga Road to the Tuolumne Meadows. Once again there were tunnels, passes, narrow winding roads, and road work. Apparently when fall comes and there are fewer people in the parks it is time to work on the roads. Delays have not been TOO bad.
     We had lunch by Tenaya Lake accompanied by a bunch of jays who wanted us to feed them. I have a bad record of being pooped on by birds so I tried to scare them off. We saw a bunch of climbers on the rocks across from the lake - a much easier climb than El Kapitan or Half Dome - sort of a beginners hill for Yosemite climbing.
     Tonight we have done laundry, gone grocery shopping and are cleaning up in preparation for leaving our little Yosemite KOA home and moving to Sequoia National Park. Hopefully I will have cell phone access there (Yosemite has been a dead zone), but we won't have Internet as we are staying in a park campground.

Glacier Point and Mariposa Grove

      Great day of sightseeing! First we drove high in the park to Glacier Point where we could look out over Yosemite Valley. It was quite a drive including through a long tunnel and up and over a pass. It amazes me to see the large RV's that people feel comfortable driving on such narrow, winding roads.
     We had our picnic lunch sitting in the car at a turnout (place where all the really fast cars can pass you when driving on crazy mountain roads). Then went to visit the Mariposa Grove of Sequoias. This grove was the inspiration for setting aside wilderness land as protected park land. The rest of Yosemite (over 100 square miles) was added later.
     We took a tram ride through the grove and learned a lot about the big trees - which are not good for woodworking and were at one time cut down to make toothpicks and similar trivial objects. Some of Yosemite's trees are over 2000 years old. I just love big trees.

Yosemite Valley

     We thought about camping in the Park but some information about the road in made it seem difficult. Ya, no kidding. One way in has a tunnel that requires a guide through it if you are longer than 25'. We chose to camp outside the park, but even in the truck the road in was interesting. A huge rock slide covered part of the road. Two temporary bridges took the road across a river, down a temporary road clinging to the edge of a cliff and back to the regular road. Several places along the road huge rocks overhang like a roof. We would never have made it with the trailer.
     We started in the Valley part of Yosemite. Even though it is late September the roads in the valley were busy. We parked and found that a shuttle bus runs around the whole area all day, so that is what we did. We saw El Capitan, the Half Dome, many climbers on the rocks, had lunch at the Wawona Lodge (one of the great national park lodges), and took a look at the campgrounds. Too many people and too much traffic, but it is a great park and when we escaped to walk under the trees for bit it was amazing.
     We will head for the less busy parts of the park tomorrow.