This is the fifth or sixth day without internet access. So it has been very difficult to keep up with the posting to the blog. Today we are leaving Yosemite and heading to Sequoia National Park.
No alarms and I don’t even wake up until 7 o’clock. Cold outside and in the RV, but not as cold as the yurts the past couple nights. I wake up long before everyone else, as usual. I decide to catch up on my blog and pack up outside so we are ready to go. At 8:30 I wake up Wendy and let her know that she wanted to have the car returned by 9. I figure we have a couple hours for her to get ready, so we are already behind schedule, but no worries. We have no set agenda today. We are doing a 5 hour drive to Sequoia with a stop to drop off the rental car, dump and refill and get the oil changed in the RV.
I stop over to check with the campground host to see where the closest RV dump site is. She tells me that it is in Oakhurst, but if we want to save $10 we can drive out to the lake and there is a free one there. A 10 mile drive and we burn about 50 cents a mile when we drive, so I opt for the one in town. I talk to her a while about RV’ing and discuss some good hikes for the kids in Sequoia. I also get to meet the Dept of Natural Resources ranger who is pulling though to do another restock of the trout in the stream. He is dumping 200 pounds of trout. Fishing will be good tomorrow.
When I get back to the RV, they still have an hour or so to get ready, so I relax a while outside. We finally take off around 10:30 and head into town. While Wendy makes a stop at the grocery store to pick up brownie mix for Georgia’s birthday brownie and drop off the rental car, I head to Sierra RV Park to do the dump and fill. When I get there, the gentleman behind the counter notices my license plate and ask if I am from Illinois. I reply yes, and he asks if I have ever heard of Wilmette. Turns out he grew up in Wilmette in the 40’s and early 50’s, but left right after graduating from New Trier. He takes my money and then walks with me over to the fill site and we talk about New Trier and Wilmette. He grew up on Birchwood, joined up with the military and has never been back since.
Once I finish here, I head over to meet Wendy who has just dropped off the car. I pull in to pick her up and check the internet for a place to get the oil changed. I call a couple, but can’t get an answer. We decide to pull out and while doing a turnaround I notice a bunch of RV’s in my rear view mirror with the hoods up. It is a Quick Lube, so I pull out, turn into the first lot and go and Around Me to find the number. Turns out they do repairs and maintenance on RV’s and can get me in. It will take anywhere from an hour to three, but they will do their best to get it done quickly. I pull in, pay and pull up to the bay. The guy doing the change tells us we can stay in and leave the generator on, but only if he can join the kids watching the Harry Potter movie. He does quick work at getting us in and out and 35 minutes later we are pulling out. I hand him a couple strawberry-lemonade smoothie coupons from McD’s that I had in my wallet and thank him for pushing us though.
We stop before pulling out to check on some things to do in Vegas, fix lunch then get on the road by 2. The drive into Fresno is fast, and I enjoy looking at the fruit trees and vineyards as we head east. An hour later and we are starting to climb back into the mountains. The roads are starting to wind again and the going is much slower. At 4, we hit the ranger station for Kings Canyon National Park. This is a longer route, but the only route that we can make in any RV over 22 feet. We continue to wind up the roads and eventually are at 7,000 feet. When we look over the horizon, it looks like there is a storm rolling in. Turns out they are doing a prescribed burn and the entire valley is filled with smoke.
We talk to the rangers at a pullout and learn about why they are doing the burn, and how they control it. As we wind back down the road into the valley, the smoke detector starts going off. This is going to be very annoying. I pull over and pull the battery, but find out it is hard wired so continues to go off from time to time.
I swing into a store to pick up a new fishing license and then back to the curves and switchbacks. Wendy tells me that all of them are not feeling well from the constant acceleration and slowing and all the turns. We still have an hour or more and it looks like we won’t get in until after 6. Then we hit some construction. Some traffic lights that control the one way traffic, so 10 to 15 minute waits. I finally see a sign that our Lodgepole Campground is a mile away, so I know the end is near. We pull in, check in at the ranger station and get directions to our campsite. He tells me that the fishing has not been good due to the high water.
I back into our spot, do a little unpacking and walk back to the information booth.
The ranger there tells me that there are some fish being caught close to camp, but the water is running fast so be careful. It is very manageable, but avoid the fast current around the rocks. He also tells me they are hitting on mosquitoes and cadis, so I should have some flies that work in my tackle.
I head over to the store and pick up some beer, a Hair of the Bear Ale from Mammoth Brewery, the same brewery that made the IPA I was drinking at Yosemite. Back to camp and the kids have a great fire going. Wendy is working on dinner and once again fighting the clock for generator time. She is not excited that we have to do the same route out and will be repeating many of the switch backs. She is still not sure this was the best pick, for today, but I don’t know how else we could have routed this out and still made time for the beach in North Carolina.
I set up the grill for some burgers and we prep for Georgia’s 12th birthday. She has not had much of a day, travelling all day – though we did fill up the RV with balloons and streamers when she woke up.
We sit out by the fire, and then come in for dinner. Gifts back out fireside and then inside for a brownie cake with candles.
She is getting tired and heads to bed while Wendy, Charlotte and Jackson watch the end of the Harry Potter movie they started earlier. I catch up on my blog and then time for bed. I want to head out early in the morning for some fly fishing and then some great hikes.