Wandering North And Then West To Another Great RV Park

Nice, CA.

42 deg. cloudy, no wind.

Forecast = Partly cloudy. High of 72F. Winds from the WNW at 5 to 15 mph.


Jim woke up earlier than usual yesterday morning, so instead of just sitting around, he woke up Linda and we left the Dos Reis Park at 10 minutes after nine, (almost an hour earlier than usual).

Once back on I-5, we continued heading in a northerly direction, through Stockton, Sacramento and up to exit 578 at Williams where we turned West on Rt 20.

Now, I'd like to make a comment about a comment I received yesterday from Paul and Marsha Weaver, I don't know about the condition of I-5 through the whole state of California, but the section that I was on, (exit 403 to exit 578), was in good condition with only a few rough spots. There were a few construction areas but nothing that even slowed down the flow of traffic.

Anyway, after turning off of I-5 onto Rt. 20, our average speed dropped considerably. You see, 20 is a 2 lane road that heads up into the mountains. As you might suspect, it's a twisty route that is very hilly with lots of sharp turns, so it was slow going! : (   It was about 50 miles from I-5 to Nice, CA and the Aurora RV Marina & Park and I'm not sure, but I think that section took us close to an hour and a half.

It was 1:35 when we pulled into the park, so it took us 4 hours and 25 minutes to travel 167 miles.

As we were pulling into the park, both Jim and Linda remarked that everything looked very familiar, and sure enough, I looked it up on the computer and they had been to this park before, back in November of 2003!!!!  In their comments about the park back then, they said how much they liked this park, and I can understand why.

As soon as I was parked in my site, Jim got out his camera and took some pictures. The first 3 photos below were taken out of my windshield just after we arrived here. It was kind of overcast and there were bugs on my windshield, so please excuse the quality, but I wanted to show you the view of Clear Lake that Jim and Linda have from inside of me. 

And, what a view it is!!!! ; )

View straight ahead.

View off to the right.

View to the left.

As you can see by the photo below, there's only a few trees on the shore of the lake, so the view is almost unobstructed.

Jim took this photo from near my site, looking across the lake.

Oh, as soon as Jim found out that we were going to get a site overlooking the lake, he payed for 3 nights, so we'll be here until Friday. : )

For dinner last night, Jim and Linda took CLT and went to a little restaurant in town called the Marina Grill, which the campground host said was a good place to eat. The restaurant is nothing special, but both the food and service were good. Jim said that he thinks it's one of those places where the "locals" go to eat. ; )

When they returned, they watched TV, played with the computers and read until bedtime.

Did you know that Clear Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake entirely in California, and has the largest surface area of any freshwater lake entirely in California?

Kings Canyon / Sequoia N.P

Kingsburg, CA

46 deg. clear, SE wind @ 5 mph.

Forecast = Overcast with a chance of rain, then rain in the afternoon. High of 66F. Winds from the SSE at 5 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.

It was about 9:45 when Jim and Linda drove CLT (Cute Little Truck), out of this park Tuesday morning and headed for the Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. Jim had talked to the owner of this park and had asked him which was the best way to get there. He not only told Jim the best way, but drew him a map too.

That was sure nice of him. : )

The route from this park to the North Entrance of the N.P. was to leave the park on Rd 28. Take it to Rd 400. Turn Right on 400 and take it to Rd 120 and turn left. Follow 120 (which joined up with CA 63) until it comes to CA 180. Then, turn right on 180 and follow it right into the N.P.

On the way over there, they had to stop and buy CLT a drink of 87 octane because there are no gas stations inside the park. So, they stopped at Squaw Valley and filled him up.


Shortly after leaving Squaw Valley, they came upon a pull-off where Jim got out and took this photo.

They had already climbed to almost 3000' by this time, (the park here in Kingsburg is at about 300'), and were looking down on the valley.

CLT said that from that point on, he was never out of 3rd gear all the way up to the turn-off for the Kings Canyon Visitor Center, which is at 6589' !!!!

After Jim presented his "Old Foggy Card" , they were given a tag to put on CLT's windshield and proceeded into the park. The Ranger gave Jim a newspaper and a pamphlet that showed what attractions were in the park as well as a driving map.

The main reason for coming to this park was to see the giant redwood trees, so from the Visitor's Center, they drove about a mile to the General Grant Grove.

There are a whole bunch of the giant redwoods there and the parking lot was right in the middle of the grove. Linda said that no matter which way you looked, you were looking at some of the magnificent trees.

CLT said that Jim and Linda both got out and just stood and looked at the trees.

They're so big that it's almost impossible to describe the feeling you get when surrounded by these huge trees. It was such an emotional experience for Linda that at one point, she told Jim that she felt like crying.

The photo below may give you some idea of the size of these trees, but pictures don't really show it well. This is another one of those things that you just have to see for yourself to really appreciate it. (That's Jim standing in front of the trees).

After spending almost an hour looking at the trees, both Jim and Linda decided not to go any farther into the park. The Generals Highway is very long, twisty, hilly, and right now, is also under construction, with up to 2 hour delays.

What they really went there to see was the giant sequoias, they saw them, and that's what counts.

It was about 2:30 by the time they returned here to the park and they were both still talking about their experience.

As for CLT, he just wanted to rest. Going from about 300' to over 6500' and back down again almost did him in. ; )

Oh, when they returned Jim walked over by the river and took this photo. There was no wind and hardly a ripple on the water. I think it's kind of neat so I though I'd share it with you.

It rained all day here yesterday and at times it really rained hard. In fact as of last night, it rained over an inch and a half. (Jim had put his rain gauge out the night before).Being that it rained almost all day, about the only thing that happened was that Jim went up to the office and paid for 3 more nights.

All the weather forecasts are saying that it should clear up by Sunday.

Oh, one more thing. Jim talked to Jeff on the phone and it was decided that we would get to Portland on the 8th of May. We'll stay for 3 weeks and will leave on the 29th of May, the day after the Memorial Day Holiday. Because we're going to be there for 3 weeks and Jim wanted to make sure we had a site for that period of time, he has already called the park and made reservations for me.

So now, for only the second time on this trip, (The first one being the CG just outside of Death Valley), we're locked into a date. That's OK though. I would sure hate to get to Portland and then not have a place to stay.

Did you know that the General Sherman Sequoia Tree in Sequoia N.P is the earth's largest tree? It's estimated to be 2,200 years old, its largest branch is almost seven feet in diameter and every year it grows enough new wood to make a 60-foot-tall tree of usual proportions.

Still In Alabama

Troy, AL.

70 deg. flog, no wind.

Forecast = Partly cloudy. Patchy fog early in the morning. A 20 percent chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 90s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

We left the CG near Cullman right at 10:00 again yesterday morning. Once we were back to the the Interstate junction, Jim pulled me into a gas station and bought me a nice drink of diesel fuel. After my drink, we got back on the Interstate and continued heading South.

When we got down to Birmingham, the traffic picked up and we had a lot of construction zones. The traffic moved well though, and we didn't have any serious delays. When we got down to Montgomery, the traffic picked up again, but it wasn't as heavy as in Birmingham and we didn't have the construction.

In Montgomery, we turned East on I-85 and followed it for 9 miles to Taylor Road. Turning South on Taylor and following it for a few miles brought us to US 231 where we turned SE and followed it for about 32 miles until we came to the Deer Run RV Park .

It was 1:30 when we pulled up to the office so it took us 3 1/2 hours to get my drink of diesel fuel and travel 182 miles.

This is a nice park that Jim and Linda had been to before. There are shaded and open sites and they have a couple small lakes that are kind of nice. The Owner was very friendly and led me to my site with her golf cart, and made sure that Jim knew to contact her if he had any questions or problems.

Jim signed me up for 2 nights.

I don't know how my posting from here will go. Last night I wasn't able to get on the Internet at all, but this morning there was no problem.

Did you know that the world's first Electric Trolley System was introduced in Montgomery in 1886?