Abbey's Road

We stayed one more night at the campground in the Sequoia NF. Yesterday we drove up to the end of the road and took a long hike ' 6 or 7 miles ' to a place called Jerkey Meadows. Don't ask me why the name, but just beyond there, the views of the high Sierras were great. There was snow on the peaks, but unfortunately it was pretty hot where we were. Luckily there were a few streams to cool off in. Abbey was so hot where we stopped for lunch that she just laid down in the stream. Wish I could've done that. By the time we got back to the RV where we both pretty beat. Needless to say when we got back to our campsite we both took a nap. I had a beer first, though. I think I could get used to that afternoon nap thing, especially if it's after a beer. Then I made my first campfire of the trip and barbequed some chicken. In case anyone is wondering, I've been eating real well, though I can't say it's exactly been gourmet. And another nice thing about traveling in an RV is that you have a freezer so you can always bring ice cream along. So much for my sugarless diet. Right before I went to sleep I looked out the window and saw a beautiful full moon. It doesn't get much better.

This morning we took off early ' 7:30am to be exact which is pretty good for me. Unfortunately, a lot of the roads are still closed due to snow so we had to go way south, and then cut over on State Hwy 155 before going north towards the national parks. That was the windiest, steepest state highway I've ever seen. Switchbacks and S-curves for 20 miles and 11% grades over much of that. If it was a bumpy road I would've said it was worse than the Road to Hana. If there were crazy Yugoslavians passing on blind curves than it would have been worse than the roads leading from the Plitvice Lakes. One lane roads in Scotland were easier to drive than this one, even with the sheep. When I finally got in the valley and could go straight for more than 100 feet I made good time until I hit State Highway 245. On the map it looked fairly straight. Yea right. At least it wasn't as steep as 155 was, but let's just say that we were both happy to get to Kings Canyon and off those roads. I can safely say that the handling of my RV is nowhere near a BMW, or even a Ford minivan for that matter.

We're going to spend 2 nights camping in Kings Canyon National Park. Sequoia NP is right next door so we'll get to see both. After circling around the campground several times I finally decided on one that was fairly flat and had lots of room. I pulled in, got out and immediately 2 little chihuahuas started yapping away from a nearby RV. So much for that spot. So I took another that was less level, but seemed quieter at least. Little did I know. We took a drive down to a place called Hume Lake to get some gas (where we paid $2.75!!) and Abbey revived herself with a swim in the lake. After finding a dead fish she went crazy looking for any other disgusting smelling things she could find along the shore. At least we got a good walk in after all the driving. Unfortunately they don't allow dogs on the trails in the national parks, but luckily the national forest is adjacent to the 2 parks so we'll still get some hiking in. There's also a lot of snow around so Abbey gets to roll in it ' one of her favorite joys in life. If only life were that simple for me. When we got back to our camp and started making dinner, I found that the chihuahuas may have been the lesser of 2 evils. This little bratty kid next door was screaming and crying about something for what seemed an eternity. I know it's easy to say since I don't have kids, but if he was mine I would've killed one of us. Thankfully, I think his mother locked him in the car when even she couldn't stand it any longer. The joys of camping in our national parks, and it's not even summer yet. Well, I think I've managed to ramble on well past my limit tonight. More in a few days??..
View from Jerkey Meadows
Hume Lake
Kings Canyon
A faroff view