YOSEMITE VISIT CUT SHORT

Our destination from Sequoia National Park was to move south to Yosemite and the Escapees campground the Park of the Sierras. 

This was our view from the patio.  What a wonderful Escapees park.  It is an older park, but well maintained. The campsites were spacious.  It was so nice to not have our neighbors "up close and personal."

We have purchased numerous harnesses, belts, collars, etc. to keep him on lead, but the rascal keeps slipping out of every one.  He also will slip out of the door when John dallies too long coming or going.  Or if the sliding hatch / window in the door is left open, he just jumps out.  He has been very trying.  

Noah hanging around the patio

But, we have finally learned that Noah is not going to go far from the motorhome. The worse thing we can do it try to capture him.  It just frightens him and THEN he goes way too far, so now we let him alone.  Usually he sits on the steps or under the motorhome.  If we are outside, he will venture just a bit, but we must be in his sight or he will come back and cry at the door.  

I shaved him while at Jojo's.  He had some mats in his long hair and we did not want him to have the mat adhere to his skin and create an infection.  One time for that is enough. 

The morning following our arrival we headed to Yosemite.  

What can I say about Yosemite?  All I can say is breathtaking.   

Breathtaking was two-fold though.  When we were ready to leave for our second day, I walked outside only to inhale lungs full of smoke...dreaded smoke from the Aspen Fire in a remote part of Yosemite.  

There was no way I was going to have John inhale smoke. We decided to have a day of rest and hoped that the smoke would blow in another direction the next day. It did not.  We did learn one thing from our rest day though.  The smoke would clear up in the afternoon, so this third day, we left after the smoke cleared.  

We drove to Bridal Veil Falls, walked to the viewing area.  There was not much water falling, so we did not get to see the beauty of the falls.  But we did notice how the wind would effect the falls.  

In this photo, way at the top, you see the falls blowing to the left.  Later, they wind shifted and the water would fall straight down or to the right.  By the time the water reached our level, there was just a mist.  

We then returned to the car to decide what we should do next.  At the high altitude, John did not feel like getting out of the car.  I knew then that our time at Yosemite was over.  

With the length requirements being around twenty seven feet for RVs, our forty feet plus sixteen feet trailer added, we could never qualify to camp in the park and John could not adjust to the altitude changes from five hundred feet to seven thousand feet elevations.  It was sadly time to move on.  

Oregon, here we come!  The scenery changed with every mile we drove north on California 99 to U.S. 101.  

Steep mountain climbs and heart-stopping descents changed to rolling hills.  

Lush green changed to dry grass brown.  Open land became fenced and cows appeared on the horizon.  

Within an hour on the road, the temperatures began to drop from the high nineties.  

Eureka, California was our destination.   

Stay tuned.....I just may get caught up on my posts since we have more than one bar on our hotspot.  

God Bless!  

MURPHY TRIES, BUT WE CAN'T BE BEAT!

After  a couple of days without our pump and the heat continuing to make it impossible for John to change a pump, I just started to play with valves a.  I could have, but nd switches.  Somehow, I managed the correct switch positions and we had water.  Nan and John one, Murphy zero!

Then, Murphy decided to attack once more.  I had photography that I wanted to download to Picasa and the port on my computer was not securing the USB connector.  

For days I could not blog.  To put it better, I did not want to blog without photos.  Rick tried to help.  But since all my photos come from my Droid Smartphone, he did not have the answer.  

Yesterday, I decided to email all my photos to me so that I could blog.  During this process, I saw a strange, to me, looking symbol.  I clicked on it and voila, there were about fifteen options that I could do with the photos and one was.....send to Picasa!  My phone, obviously, is smarter than I.  
Nan and John two....Murphy zero.  


Sequoia National Park was next on our list, so that is where we headed.  And the heat followed us leaving Jojo with cooler temperatures. 

We are convinced of one thing.  We need solar panels for the motorhome.  Our generator ran continuously for three and a half days in order to air condition the motorhome while we were boon docked outside the park.  

Here are a few photos of Sequoia.

John, the tree hugger!

Tunnel rock - you can easily drive a car through the tunnel created by the rock.

Small stream and waterfall coming down from the mountain.

Castle rock off in the distance.

The final waterfall of the rock stream from the mountain.

The six and seven thousand feet altitude created some shortness of breath for John so, we did a little and decided to return next year to see  more.  Gee, just gives us a good excuse to return!

Till next time, God Bless!

  

THIS AND THAT ..... AND HEADING TO SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK

We are doing "just fine" without the water pump. Gallon jugs of water are meeting every need.  Dishes are washed, we are clean and the toilet is flushed, what more can we ask for.                                                    This situation reminds us of our first experiences tent camping with our children. But back then, we had to deal with flies, mosquitoes and June bugs.

John will change the pump just as soon as we reach higher elevation with cooler temperatures. 

This morning's breakfast consisted of home-made banana bread, a going away gift from Jojo's next door neighbor, Sandy.  And to top it off, fresh oranges from the neighbor across the street.  A wonderful, fresh treat.  

In June, while picking up the wood for Jojo and Cathie's pergola, I noticed a huge number of birds flying around the fascia of the Home Depot.  It turns out that Capistrano has nothing over Home depot.  Hundreds of nests were lined, high up near the top of the building. 

                                     Jojo also grows veggies in her back yard.  She decided to let this artichoke blossom.  It produces a stunning blossom.

After a great night's rest and an equally great breakfast, we are packing our backpack with egg salad sandwiches, raw veggies, chips and plenty of water. Then we are heading off to explore Sequoia National Park.  

A fire has been reported in the park and we are hoping that it will not be near us!  Frankly, I have had enough wildfire excitement to last a long, long time.  

Until next time.... God bless you all.