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.

Staying Here Until Monday and Plans For Next Week

Bakersfield, CA.

43 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Clear. High of 77F. Winds less than 5 mph.


This is probably going to be another short post. Nothing much happening around here to write about.

Jim went over to the office and paid for 3 more nights so that I can stay here until Monday. Jim and Linda learned a long time ago that it's usually not a good idea to be on the road on a Holiday weekend, so that's why we're staying here as long as we are.

Jim also called an RV Park about 100 miles North of here to make sure that they could accommodate me, and made arrangements to go there on Monday. The park sounds really nice and it's one of the parks I talked about that is right on a river. The lady that he talked to, assured him that she had a "riverfront" site available that I would fit on.

There's actually 2 reasons that Jim and Linda want to go to this park. The first one is, of course, is the attraction of having a site overlooking the river. The second reason being that this park is not far from the Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, and they can use that RV park as a base to go into the N.P. to see the big Redwood trees. 

So,  ,  ,  ,  ,  I'll be here until Monday. It'll be interesting to see of this RV Park will be busy or not for the Easter weekend. There's not many RVs in this short term section again this morning, and I'm beginning to think that this section of the park may be pretty empty on Sunday.

Did you know that when it comes to eating of chocolate bunnies, the ears are preferred to be eaten first by as many as 76% of people?

Out Of Nevada And Back Into California

Tecopa, CA.

54 Deg. clear, NE wind @ 5 mph.

Forecast = Partly cloudy. High of 75F. Winds from the ESE at 5 to 15 mph with gusts to 30 mph

Because they were forecasting some possible windy conditions later on in the day, we left the Cal-Nev-Ari RV Park earlier than usual, (about 8:25), and continued North on US95.

When we came to the town of Searchlight, we turned West on NV164. 164 is a 2 lane road that is basically good, but it is full of dips and humps.

 It’s kind of like riding a roller-coaster and it’s necessary to  give full attention to the driving. Once we crossed into California, and went through the little town of Nipton, the road started climbing, and it climbed steeply at times, all the way to I-15.

Yes, up into those mountains in the photo above. ; )

Turning West on 15, it was still more climbing for another 15 miles or so, before we started going down again, all the way to Baker.

Once to Baker, we turned North on CA127,

 and brought it up to the Old Spanish Trail Road, which took us into Tecopa and the Petersen’s Tecopa Palms RV Park, where Jim had made reservations for me.

CA127 is a very good road with very smooth pavement, but again it had lots of humps and dips and was very curvy and hilly in places.

It was 11:15 when we pulled into the park, so it took us about 2 hours and 50 minutes to travel 133 miles.  Not too bad considering we slowed down for the dips and humps on the roads.

Petersen’s Tecopa Palms RV Park is a very well maintained park, and the owners are supper friendly and willing to help in any way they can. I’ve got one of the longer sites in the park and in fact, there’s a whole vacant area behind me.

I’ve got full hook-ups with 50 amp electric and a great view of the mountains off to my right, left, front and rear. ; )

I think I’m going to like it here for the next week. : )

A Point to Ponder :  Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.

Cal-Nev-Ari

Cal-Nev-Ari, AZ

54 deg. clear, S. wind @ 4 mph

Forecast = Clear. High of 82F. Winds from the South at 10 to 20 mph. Breezy.

We left the short term Boon-docking area just North of Quartzsite about 10:05 and headed North on AZ 85. When we got up to Parker, we crossed the Colorado River and entered California. The route # changed to CA62 and we followed to to US 95 at Vidal Jct. Turning North on US. 95 brought us up to Needles where 95 joined with I-40 for about 11 miles before heading North once again.

Staying with 95 brought us up to Nevada and about 7 miles farther brought us to Cal-Nev-Air.

We arrived at 12:40, so it took us 2 hours and 35 minutes to travel the 135 miles up here.

Cal-Nev-Air, NV is nothing more than an wide spot in the road. There’s an RV park here and they only charge $18 per night, (plus tax). It’s a pretty nice Park that seems to be well maintained, but unless you want to go to the small Casino across the road, there’s really nothing to keep you here longer than one night. ; )

As you can see by the photo below, the area between rows of sites is huge, so you have no problems getting into or out of your site. The row I’m in has very long sites, so that you don’t have to un-hook the toad or truck if you don’t want to.

Like I said, the Casino is across the road and there is a Restaurant inside. What Jim and Linda didn't know when they went over there for dinner at about 5:30, was the restaurant is now closing right after lunch because of slow business.  : ( 

So, , , , , ,  back here they came and popped a couple of TV Dinners into my microwave. It was a meal, but not what they were wanting. : (

Jim called the RV Park outside of Death Valley where I will be staying while they go into the valley to explore, and asked if it would be alright if we would come tomorrow instead of Sunday as planned. The lady that he talked to said that it would be fine if we came early as their park is not busy at all. 

Hmmmm….I wonder of the high price of gas and diesel has anything to do with it?

Did you know that Cal-Nev-Ari was created in the mid 1960s by Nancy and Slim Kidwell, who acquired a 640-acre section of land from the U. S. government and commenced development of an airport-based community? In addition to the FAA-designated Kidwell Airport, the community has grown over the years to include a casino, motel, RV and mobile home parks, convenience market, and over 100 residential lots.

Tires, They Won't Rent Me A Site but Problem Solved

DeBary, FL.

53 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Partly cloudy in the morning...then considerable cloudiness with a chance of afternoon showers. Highs in the mid 70s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30 percent.

Jim's big project yesterday was to check tires.

The first thing to do, of course, was to get out the compressor and hose. After getting it ready he started on my tires, first on my left and then my right. I'm pleased to say that out of all of my tires, (8 of them), and after more than 2 months, only one was about 5 PSI low!!!  : )

After checking my tires, he checked and filled CLT's tires and then his bike's tires.

The other item he took care of was to call back Roland and Louise, (very good friends of theirs who visited us up in Rantoul this past summer and who are now down at at park in Frostproof, FL.), to see if I could get in their park for a few days. He had called them the other day and they said that they would check.

Well, guess what?  Even though they have sites sitting empty, they told Louise that they would not rent a site to anyone for less than a week!!!! : (   That won't work for us this year because Jim has made reservation at another park, (starting on the 28th).

Needless to say, Roland and Louise were very disappointed and so were Jim and Linda. : (

Anyway, after Jim and Roland hung up, Jim got on the Internet, found another park that is only a few miles from Roland and Louise's park and made a reservation there!! 

They were very happy to rent me a site for less than a week!!!!! : )

Jim called Roland back and told him the good news. Now when we leave here, we're heading to the Lakemont Ridge Home & RV Park in Frostproof for 5 days before heading to Thonotosassa, FL to spend some time with the "Illinois Bunch".

After that, we start heading out West. : )

For dinner, Jim and Linda took CLT and headed over to the Pier 16 seafood restaurant in Orange City. They hadn't been there this year yet and always enjoy eating there. Again, both the food and service were very good.

Did you know that on this date in 1957 the first, non-stop, around-the-world, jet flight came to an end at Riverside, CA? The plane was refueled in mid-flight by huge aerial tankers.

Reservations, Getting Ready and The Plan

Virginia Beach, VA.

45 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Partly sunny. Highs in the upper 60s. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.


Again, not a whole lot to write about. Linda spent a good part of the day yesterday doing laundry. Then, she helped Jim call the different RV parks along our route, (the I-95 corridor), down to Florida to make reservations.

They were able to make reservations at all of the parks that Jim had picked out, and now unless something comes up where he'd have to change them, we don't have to worry if the parks will be full. Now, I know I'll have a place to stay every night this week. ; )

Speaking of this week, the plan is to leave here tomorrow morning and start heading towards Florida. One of our stops along the way will be in S. Carolina to see Anna. That stop is scheduled, (because of her work schedule), to be Thursday evening for dinner at a restaurant near her house. Then, we'll continue down into Florida, where we'll stay for a little over 2 months.

Other than making the reservations, Jim started getting me ready to travel. He checked some of my fluid levels, added some water to my fresh water tank, and secured a few items in my basement compartments.

Today, before they head over to Joe and Nancy's, he'll dump my tanks and put all the hoses away so that he won't have so much to do tomorrow morning.

We'll probably leave here around 10:00. Much earlier than that, and the rush hour traffic will still be really bad.

Don't know if I'll post in the morning. I haven't had much luck getting on the Internet weekday mornings. Don't worry though. I'll get you caught up on my wanderings as soon as I can. ; )

Did you know that November is "National Peanut Lovers Month"?