Kings Canyon and Sequoia NP

Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park are basically one park.  While they are separate parks by name they geographically connect.  There was no where available in the parks for the RV so we parked it at an Elks lodge in Fresno.  Yes I am an Elk.  We got a hotel at the south end of Sequoia NP and planned to use it as a base.
Day 1 we saw and hiked Kings Canyon.  It was our first viewing of sequoia trees.

Day 2 we spent time  Sequoia NP and did more hiking and saw more trees.

This is a seed cone from the Giant Sequoia

This is the GPS in map view of the road we drove each day in and out of the parks.

Bears

We went into Southern California from Arizona in April of 2014.  Mostly we followed the coast north with a few excursions inland.  As we got away from the cities we began seeing signs about bears.  "Speed Kills Bears", "Don't Feed the Bears".  We even saw cute road signs depicting a mama bear and 2 cubs with the phrase "Bear Crossing".  It made sense that there would be lots of bears as California is the Bear Republic.  These signs continued all thru Oregon and Washington.  (by the way, they don't call it Washington state out here,  they just call it Washington and refer to Washington D.C. as "the other Washington".)  As we turned south from Washington to head back toward AZ we were more inland and stayed in or visited several National Parks.  Bear warnings were everywhere.

While in the National Parks there were multiple warnings about bears.  The National Parks even provide food containers (Bear Boxes) that you are supposed to put all food in before you go on a hike.  If you are tent camping even your tooth brush and tooth paste are to be stored.  Anything with an odor is to go in the Bear Box.  They tell you they are not responsible for any damage to your car if you leave food in it and a bear damages the car trying to get to the food.

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So we were warned and taking all the proper precautions.  We figured we'd see lots of bears.  We spent April thru mid-November in the 3 states.  In that time we saw 1 bear!

Yup!  That is it.  What a thrill to see a bear so far away you can't even get a good picture!

I think the bear warnings and bear boxes are simply a marketing tool used by each state to try to increase tourism.  Much like Northern Minnesota and Canada do with moose signage!

GPS, Rt. 49 and king pins

We have a GPS in the RV that is made for RVers.  It is made for/by Rand McNally and offers some very nice features.  It will locate Walmarts that allow over night parking, or find gas stations that are truck friendly so our vehicle will fit.  We entered all our RV dimensions such as length, height, weight, how much propane we hold etc.  We even put in our total length with the Jeep attached.  The GPS is then supposed to keep us off any roads that would be hazardous with our particular vehicle.  There was one instance where it was giving us bad directions but we were made aware of the low clearance by the campground host and were easily able to avoid a problem.

In early October were coming out of Reno, NV. headed to a campground near Yosemite NP and the GPS directed us to take I-80 west then head south on Rt. 49.  We looked at a map and saw that 49 was going to cut some miles from taking I-80 west to 99 south then cut back east on 120.  We followed the GPS.

We turned on to 49 and about 100 yards after we were already committed (by this I mean we could not turn around)  we see a sign that says "30 foot king pin not advised".  While towing we are 56 feet long.  We did not know what a king pin was but we were concerned about the 30 foot part.  But there was no place to turn around or even pull over to disconnect and drive separately.  So we had to keep moving until we could get off or turn around.

This road was narrow, very windy with lots of hairpin turns and steep grades.  Some places offered no guard rail.  We were only able to drive at about 10 to 15 mph due to the turns and narrowness of the road.  And  the road was full of pot holes.  We drove for over an hour with both of us white knuckled with elevated heart rates and blood pressure.  Finally, we found a spot where we could get on a better road and head to route 99.  From there the trip was very nice.  What a day.

We have since learned that a king pin is where the pulling vehicle and the trailer attach.  So on a semi truck the king pin is where the trailer meets the rig.  So trucks with trailers can very in length.  We now avoid any road we can with a king pin warning.  Lesson learned!

Mono Lake

We were staying on the west side of Yosemite about 5 miles outside the park.  One day we drove through the park to the other side. We ended up in a small town called Lee Vineing.  Lee Vineing is outside Yosemite but not by much.  It has a lake called Mono Lake that is fascinating.  For millions of years rain and snow melt filled this lake but a bubbling action formed towers of calcium carbonate under the surface.  Then in the 1920's the city of Los Angeles, some 300 miles away, decided to build a aqueduct/pipeline to bring the water to the city.  The lake has 2.5 times the salt of the ocean and is highly acidic.  So rather than take the lake water they took the streams that ran into the lake that had pure rain and snow run off.  The lake had been a major stop off for migrating birds and home to many other unique forms of wildlife.  But over the years the diversion of the water basically dried up the lake.  In the 1960's citizens began an effort to stop the water diversion and restore the lake.  After a major law suite an agreement was reached that LA could take only some of the water and only in normal or wet years.  The lake is nowhere near where it was before the diversion but it is coming back.

When the water level went down it reveled the giant columns of calcium carbonate.  We went down to the water and hiked along an area that used to be under water but now shows these magnificent formations.

Fire in Yosemite

Our first day in Yosemite a wild fire started far from the village.  We were unaware of the fire but as the day progressed the air quality deteriorated.  The valley filled with smoke and most of our pictures were very smokey.  As we drove out of the valley back to our campground we could see where the fire was.  These pictures, like the ones you see on TV, do not show how big the area is or how much smoke is created.

The next day we learned that a plane that was fighting the fire went down and the pilot was killed.  That day there was a sense of sadness throughout the park.

Yosemite National Park

Are you kidding me!! This place is amazing in so many ways.  The view from the valley/village is overwhelming then when we drove to the ridges and the view got better!

Lassen Volcanic National park

Lassen NP is in Northern California and has the distinction of having all 4 types of volcanoes.  Yep, there are 4 types; plug, cone, shield and combination.  Very cool...or hot on any given day.  We spent 6 nights in the park dry camping in late September.  We were waking up to temps in the mid 30s but by mid day temps were in the upper 60s to mid 70s.  Great hiking weather.

The refrigerator light

Several months ago our refrigerator light went out.  No big deal.  I checked it out to see if it was just loose or if was really burned out.  I could not really tell but it did not work.  We stopped at a camping store and looked at replacement bulbs.  The exact replacement cost about $6.  But for $12 we could have an LED light that would last longer than we will.  Of course, we went LED.

Back at the RV I replaced the bulb but it still did not light.  So I started checking the switches on the door to see if there was a problem there.  None that I could find.  So no frige light, no big deal we'll get it taken care of at some point when the RV is in for other service. In the mean time we are using a flashlight to see what is in the refrigerator...sad but true.

We attended an RV rally and I asked the rep from the manufacturer if I was overlooking something obvious.  He said no but here is our help line number maybe they can help.  I never called.  While in Coburg, Oregon we had some service on the RV and I ask them to check on the light.  When we got back to pick up the RV I asked what they found on the light.  "Oh!" the tech said, "It was in backwards."  I said "wait, what???"  It is a light bulb, how can it be backwards?

The next chance I got I took the bulb out and looked it over.  Sure enough, there is a positive and negative side to the bulb.  Really!??  When did this happen?  So I'm an idiot that can't even put in a refrigerator light!  Now, in my defense, there was no info on the packaging that there was a positive and negative side.  Nor did the salesman who sold it to me or anyone else I talked to about this say anything about a positive or negative side.  But I still feel pretty stupid!

And now I just spent 10 minutes uninstalling the bulb, taking this pic and reinstalling the bulb.  How silly is this!?

Mt. Hood

We took a day and went to explore Mt. Hood in Oregon.  On the way back we stopped and had dinner in Hood River at a restaurant and brewery.  What a great day!

Mexico

For the BIG 40th anniversary celebration we went to Mexico for a week.  We were just north of Plya Del Carmen.  We had a great stay and met some great people.

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