California Dreamin'

All the leaves are brown (all the leaves are brown) And the sky is gray (and the sky is gray) I've been for a walk (I've been for a walk) On a winter's day (on a winter's day) I'd be safe and warm (I'd be safe and warm) If I was in L.A. (if I was in L.A.)

California dreamin' (California dreamin') On such a winter's day...

Well, Not really. We weren't going to L.A. (Much to my dismay - I love it there)

Again, I apologize for misspellings and bad grammar. I try to catch everything I can on this, but I read it 3 times and STILL miss stuff. Grammarly would probably help, but again. This is for FUN, and I don't care. If someone wants to step up and be my editor, then sure. Have at it, lol.

We headed out of Vegas, and as we trekked our way across the Mojave and had to stop for fuel. Our first stop in the ridiculousness that is California’s gas prices.

I HATED paying these fuel prices but seeing friends and some of the Center of California we’ve never seen, we were both looking forward to it. Scott pulled into the Truck lanes and I got the dog and the cat out to stretch and pee.

As soon as I got out a man carrying a large cross and had a big fuzzy dog with backpacks approached me. He tied the dog to a tree, put the cross down and came over.

Ugh. I thought. At least he was nice enough to tie his dog away from mine and the kitty. He was older than me and built so much like my step-son, I think I know what he’ll look like as a 60(?) year old.

He asked if I had any feed or extra bedding.

I didn’t have either, as both were tightly closed up in the camper, inaccessible, and I had given ALL of my spare bedding away to the goodwill before we left Arizona. I told him we were on the move, and didn’t have much in the way of extras.

He thanked and blessed me and proclaimed “Welcome to the Mojave!”

I felt bad. I wished I could have gave him some dog food, but, he’ll figure it out. When you have the type of setup he did, it’s a life choice, not a misfortune.

He’ll figure it out for himself, so I made peace with it and moved on.

We passed by a town called Hinkley. Hinkley. I said “Why does that ring a bell?” Scott said “Yeah it does….Hinkley…." He repeated "Hinkley. OH Greatest American Hero! His last name was Hinkley! Yeah!" We both bobbed our heads in agreement…..Then I started to shake mine. No. That’s not it. My instinct wasn’t satisfied. I looked at my phone. I had a signal. ‘Town of Hinkley, California.’ “OH! I figured it out” I said. It’s the Erin Brockovich town! The one where all the people got Cancer, because of PG&E poisoning the water. Yikes. I looked at the town. Man. Not much there.

We got into Bakersfield to an RV park in the center of town, and pulled in the drive. The spot they had us in was the last one in the row, right by the office and it was WAY too small. I’m not sure what people are thinking when you say you have a 41’ 5th wheel, and a separate tow vehicle, and stick you in a spot that’s 39’ long. So what am I supposed to do with the remaining 24 feet exactly? I said No way, we need another spot – I saw they had plenty. Something that working FOR RV parks has taught me is that I can speak up and get MY requests met if they can. I don’t need to suffer because I don’t want to make waves. Hell with that.

We had to pay extra, but we got an extra long spot, next to several other large rigs and toy haulers. There was even two busses with a trailer and 2 bikes and a car dolly with a small SUV on the back. And they MATCHED. The same bikes, coach, and car. LOL. Wow! First time we’ve seen twin setups before.

We relaxed and had dinner, (Courtesy of the Resort in Mesa – leftovers) and called it a night.

The first trip we wanted to head up into the hills, since my friend wasn’t available. She said she’d be back on Sunday – and I said we were there until Sunday only, then up to Fresno. We drove up the hill to the closest area that looked like it had some hiking trails.

The place wasn’t what we’d thought it would be. In Colorado, and in Arizona in most places for that matter, There are small downtown districts with shops or plazas with restaurants or other ways to bring tourists and money TO the town. No so much here. The town looked bedraggled – despite having a large lake as a recreation area. Nothing was open if it was in business, and it just looked....run down. We needed food, so we stopped at the Burger king for a snack. The door handle to get in was falling off and the floor was sticky and dirty. Scott went to the restroom and came back out and said “We’re not eating here” I agreed when I came out of the bathroom. The one thing I can ALWAYS judge any business on is on the cleanliness of their bathroom. If they can’t find time to clean THAT – then they can’t find time to follow safe food handling rules.

So we continued and found a Taco Bell that was in better shape, down the road and had a few tacos. I looked for trails on my apps and found one on the other side of the lake, and down the road a little. It was not in any sort of National park so I was sure Dogs were ok – A quick check on my app and I confirmed we could take him.

The hike was level and easy – following the river and it wound through the scrubland. I was hoping we’d have a walk through the forest but a not-so-recent fire had obviously burned all the big trees, and it had been too short a time between it to grow more.

There was nice little stream Odie was able to drink from, and we had fun looking at all the little wildflowers now peeking out of the dirt, and on all of the shrubs around. I did find an ENORMOUS pine cone, though - and saw the tree it came from was NOT a sequoia. It was not a big tree but the pine cone was sharp and weighed probably 5 pounds. I did some research and found it's called a "Coulter" Pine and their cones are called "Widowmakers" They can reach up to 11 pounds!!!! I said I wanted to grab it on the way back, and Forgot. Damn, that would have been a REALLY cool souvenir. Well, we'll be in these forests a few more days - I'll look for another.

The rest of the hike wasn’t anything special – so we headed back to the truck.

We drove a different way back down, and drove through some pretty serious fire areas. Looks like it probably burned within the last 6 to 9 months – and a lot of the trees were smaller Sequoias. It was burnt to the ground. Most black and no signs of life – other areas grasses only were gracing the blackened slopes with spring color.

Sequoias need a small amount of fire to germinate - just like in Colorado the Lodgepole pines need fire. But this is WAY beyond that. Fire is healthy - burning it down to the ground, and only ash is left? Not good.

The drive back was long, and windy. Scott said these roads are the windiest - where many could have been straight – he’s ever been on. The truck is 20 feet long, and had a pretty stiff suspension and it just doesn’t do well in those tight corners.

As we rolled through many different landscapes….Rocky slopes with scrub brush and an occasional conifer, to burnt mature woodlands – with other spots that were saved due to homes and businesses being there. Then more scrubland with thick manzanita groves, oak trees and California buckeye. Then, to open grassy hills, green with new growth and beautiful old Black oak trees – with cows mostly – grazing peacefully beneath.

There were swatches of bright yellow, and bright orange flowers crowding he hillsides, or popping up to over 6 feet tall between the tall green grasses of the fields and valleys.

Something triggered a memory. Grassy slopes. Oak trees. A little girl running down the hill and other behind her crashing just before reaching the bottom. “Where was little house on the prairie filmed?” I suddenly asked. Scott said “Kansas, right?” I looked around and said “I don’t think so. This is WAY WAY too familiar up here. Same with Dukes of Hazzard. Remember when we re-watched it after being in Kentucky and realized they did NOT in fact film it in Kentucky – because we now KNOW what Kentucky looks like!” I looked it up on my phone. While it wasn’t filmed “exactly” where we were – it wasn’t terribly far geographically speaking, and I bet you anything the landscape looks A LOT like this one. It had a strange familiarity to it, and it was weird lol.

After that, the trees disappeared and the rolling grass hills were devoid of all Trees. Piles of random boulders and rocks poked out in some areas, but it was mostly just grass and cattle. Then the orchards and vineyard started. Then were getting hit from all sides with bees flying through the air – as we saw hundreds of hives all around the orchards and vineyards for pollination. We drove back through Oil City – Just north of Bakersfield, and we went from Smelling the sweet, sweet aroma of thousands of blooming orange trees, to Oil and Gas fields.

According to SvjGeology.net

"The San Joaquin Valley is also home to 22 giant oil fields that have produced over 100 million barrels of oil each, with four "super giants" that have produced over 1 billion barrels of oil. Among these "super gaints" are Midway-Sunset, which is the largest oil field in the lower 49 United States, and Elk Hills, which is the former U.S. Naval Petroleum Reserve. The aforementioned 22 giant fields are responsible for 95% of the cumulative historic production, and they were responsible in 2014 for 96% of the annual production for the entire San Joaquin Valley."

I always look up the history of an area, and read it to Scott. Why is it here, who is it named after? What “built” the town. We found out that the entire valley was a swamp once. A SWAMP.

Wow!

Bakersfield was inhabited by the Yawelmani Yokuts. They Lived in lodges along the Kern river (the main watercourse in the city) and indicate that the village of Woilu was situated in the bounds of the present city. In 1776 a Spanish explorer and priest made contact with them – and they welcomed him, and he gave them/traded beads and tobacco. For another 70 some years because of the remote location of the village, they didn’t see much outside contact. In the 1840s Mexican settlers moved into the area, until gold was found along the river and that brought many, many more people. They Drained and filled in the swamps – which made it some of the most beautiful, fertile crop ground. There at last count was only 25 Yawelmani speaking people left

We headed back and got dinner made and ate. We called it a day, but not until after teh dog got to run (And get mauled by a 5 month old Pointer puppy for 1/2 hour) and a nice soak in the hot tub. If there is one at a park we ALWAYS take advantage of it.

The next day, I tried texting a friend of mine who lives near Ventura - and din't hear back. We thought maybe if he was free, he could meet us 1/2 way for lunch or something. Apparently he doesn't check his FB messages because He never saw the message. Since we didn’t REALLY want to drive anyplace far again, went to a local park along the river (yea well it WAS a river/Floodplain. There isn’t hardly any water in it anymore) and walked to a Microbrewery/restaurant and had lunch. The food was OK and the beer was OK, but not great. I gave most of my beers a 3.5. The wait staff was great though.

We went home and took Odie to the little dog park along with the kitty. If there is an empty park, and I can kind of control entrance and exit of the cat and the dog, and prevent others from coming in until I can collect her - We do it. We tossed them in the trailer and went to look at the hot tub and if it was occupied.

The Hot tub was only ¼ full that night, and we figured it was broken so we didn’t partake that night, unfortunately. Seems like it's the only way I don't HURT all the time anymore.

We left the next day.

Fun huh?

We trekked up the road, and the GPS took us off the highway and down another road that cut off going into Fresno, by some 10 miles or so. Problem was they were narrow orchard roads with bad BAD blacktop.

Some strange thing. Ridiculous fuel prices and the roads SUCK so far. Where does all this tax money go, Cali?

Highways were “Ok” but there were still some really bad places that was hard on the truck and trailer - especially in the "Truck" lane. Trucks are by law meant to stay in the right lane, so they are JUST horrible.

Despite what Google said it took WAY longer to go that way, than on the highway – even if it was 10 miles or more longer. I saw the little "Leaf" on the map and knew I shouldn't have went the "economy" way - it's not economy saving for us when it's 20 miles an hour down a shitty road.

When we pulled in – it was ½ trailer park and ½ rv park, with a good number of full time RV residents that look like they’ve been there for a while. There wasn’t anyone around. I hopped out and went looking for the office. Found it about 100 yards down the road, and it was locked.

So I got back in and checked my email. I think they had a self check-in option. It’s quiet here, I don’t blame them for not being around. No reason to be. So far I'm seeing that there were plenty of spots open this time of year, despite what I'd been told about Cali. Perhaps in the summer, but the shoulder season was lovely, as far as park fullness went. I checked in online, and Scott got out and walked around to try to find our spot. With the help of a resident, we found it, and pulled in between a couple of large trees. Nice and shady.

Despite what the website said they were “Not prepping our site for arrival” It wasn’t mowed, and the picnic table was in our way. We moved it (It was REALLY heavy) and got set up. Kitty was THRILLED to have such a nice grassy spot, however, and we sat outside and enjoyed the shade and nice day.

Scott grabbed his drink, say down, and sniffed the air. He looked down, and had set his chair in, and stepped in a nice ripe pile of dog shit. It wasn’t Odie’s either – we had just got there, and there was a couple of dog toys lying around right by it.

Great.

I picked it up and the toy and washed the bottom of the chair and Scott’s shoe so he didn’t have to try to walk around in it.

The little fenced dog area was directly across from us, but I saw some people walk into the forest behind us, across a bridge, so we went that way for a walk. As soon as we figured out there wasn’t anyone else around, Odie went off leash and he had some fun walking around the river, biting at the water and trying to fish a 20 foot log out of the water. His favorite thing to do at our property was carry around huge logs. No reason. Just carry them around, haha.

He bounced through some tall grass and weeds like a Coyote and was bounding on top of something. I called him back because I’m not sure what snakes are out here – not that he would anyway – but I didn’t want to take a chance. He’s snake trained and wouldn’t have done that if he’d smelled one, but can't be too cautious in new places.

The next day, we took off to the Giant Sequoia National Park. We knew that Odie wouldn’t be able to get out, but we thought a nice drive-through would be good. It’s an enormous park and driving through took most of the day (Especially with the steep windy roads and our too-long truck) The first Sequoia on the hill when we pulled around the corner was MASSIVE all by itself and resulted in a “WHOA!!” from the both of us. We pulled into the park, where there were multiple other trees and stumps and continued on to see General Sherman. The first thing we noticed is there was a LOT that was burned. To a crisp. No trees, all black. Then trees still standing – but all dead.

The fire was only in September of 2021, and burned 14% of all the Giant Sequoias on the planet. Fire is part of the cycle, but hot fires that sterilize the ground will have bare, rocky slopes for a very, very long time.

Those fires burn so hot, they kill all the beneficial bacteria, and organic matter that is responsible for sustaining life in the soil. The roots of everything that could typically come back after a beneficial fire are gone. Seeds, gone. As we climbed the mountains we were struck by something we never realized. The Sequoias are HIGH up in the mountains – not down in some beautiful valley protected by wind, or harsh conditions. They are up there with all the snow and pines and things at a high altitude.

It would seem that 2/3 of the park was affected by the fires, and it was pretty devastating. We saw a lot of black. We parked the truck, and since it was at a pretty high altitude, and cool out - made the quick hike to the General Sherman tree. That grove was impressive and amazing. The sequoias aren’t like the redwoods at all. Other than size they are very different.

Behemoths that are fat all the way to the top – with strange angular – and sometimes huge arms sticking out at all angles. Their bark is almost shaggy, soft and fibrous. Not like the other conifers with flakey hard bark.

(be sure to follow me on Instagram – Scott and Nikki RV journey – I post a lot of photos there, as well as the website)

Many, many of the large trees were gutted in the center – but much of the forest was closed off, or the campgrounds weren’t open yet so we couldn’t really stop to look at anything, really. The dog isn’t allowed anywhere in the National Parks, so we were limited to where we could stop, too.

It took several hours to drive the long, long road through the park – and when we came out we were almost 45 minutes south of our camper. We drove that 45 minutes through mostly orange orchards – with some other nut trees – probably Almond – thrown in.

SO many Migrant farm workers were setting up and driving around the farms that day. An old beat up Ford pickup, pulling a trailer stacked with tubs, ladders and always 2 port-a-potties. Dozens of them that day on just that one road.

Then it hit us. They pick all this BY HAND. Holy cow. Each orange handled by human hands and placed into a bag hanging at their waste, then dumped into larger bins on trucks waiting to take them to the processing centers.

We kept thinking we’d see a farm stand or two – but the ones we did happen to see were closed up. Seems like it’s still pretty early in the season for anything.

The next day I left open for my friend to come up like she said she’d planned, but it turns out she was having work done on her place and they were still working on it that morning. So, we went into town to do some laundry, and wait to see if she’d be up for lunch. That way we’d already be in town , and wouldn’t have to spend the $7/gallon driving back and forth in Diesel. When we were finished with Laundry, and decided we’d try the National Park again, because we hadn't heard anything. This time we hit King’s Canyon National Park, and tried to find a good hiking trail in the national forest in-between the Sequoia and Kings parks.

I also had to make some phone calls. My friend up in Oregon informed me that she can’t get the days off we would be there, so I thought maybe we could do a weekend instead? It would only move the days forward by 2, so I said I’d work on it. I was able to move our two stops before that forward, and add 2 days to one of them. I wanted to add the days to our stay at our next stop, but she said there wasn’t room. Damn. So I added 2 days to our Sonoma stop instead.

We drove up the mountain and to the General Grant - another large tree in another large grove of Sequoias. It was chilly that day, so we left Odie in the truck and made the short walk to that tree as well. Honestly that tree is taller – if not too much more beefy and is more impressive. It really is hard to capture the enormity of these trees, but I took photos anyway.

There was a little cabin in the grove and lots of trails going around to the different trees. There are signs all around – don’t climb the fence, stay away from the trees, to protect their roots.

See, the curious thing about a tree SO huge is they don’t have a tap root. The #1 killer of large trees like that – is falling over. So the way of keeping the millions of people that visit the National Parks every year from damaging the root system – which is shallow – and help preserve the natural area, is to stay away from the trees, behind the fences and on the trail.

There was a group of foreigners who were climbing the fence and taking photos by one of the big trees. A lady jumped their shit and was telling them “That’s why there is a FENCE THERE, get away from the trees, and respect this place!” Things like that. As soon as she was gone they hopped the fence again, putting up peace sign fingers and taking photos. As we rounded another spot, there were two other people, and they were not from here either. They were talking loudly in French I believe, and running all over the place by the trees, climbing fences, taking photos.

So I guess it was my turn. The more they did it the more pissed off I got – so I went and pointed to the sign that LITERALLY STATES IN FRENCH to stay ON the trail, and away from the trees, yelled at them to get back ON the trail. GAH.

This world is so selfish, so ridiculously entitled. “It doesn’t apply to ME because ‘I’ am special! I am ME!” Fucking hell I was so mad. WE ALL want to touch them – but PEOPLE are the reason there aren’t many left because the pioneers cut them all DOWN! YOU are why we can't have nice things! There was even a tree the pioneers cut down – to take back east, because when they said there were these mammoth trees out west – everyone said they were lying, and it was fake news. So they cut them DOWN to show them they weren’t lying. <facepalm>

Scott and I are tree people. We were/are Professional Tree trimmers. That’s how we met. He was my boss. (haha oops) I was a climber and he a foreman on a Bucket crew. We then were put together on the same crew, and the rest as they say, is history.

After working for the Pro tree service we met at, we started our own, in the town we lived in and ran that for many years. Trees for us have always been fascinating – as well as highly respected. Even if much of our time was spent cutting them down. The heavy logging and the selfishness of the pioneers just RAPING the land back in the “Day” (As well as now) just makes us both cringe. So many HUGE stumps hacked at abnormal angles all around the forest. The crazy thing about these trees is the amount of TIME the logs and stumps stick around.

There was a huge old log on it’s side near General Grant. And the men who lived in the cabin (first forest service employees/Cavalry) To guard the trees that were left, LIVED IN THE LOG until the cabin was built. IT’s still there – and it does not rot. We found this is the same way with Redwood trees. A few years back we came to Cali from the north, down, and toured a Redwood grove. There was a tree on the ground that had fallen I think it was 1,000 years ago, and it was still taller than I am. Unreal how SMALL you feel in a place like that.

We hopped in the truck and headed for the National Forest – a place we could walk the dog. As we drove, and as I looked at trails as we approached them – they were ALL closed. All of them. Fire had ravaged THAT area several years ago, and the forest was too dangerous to allow hikers I guess. OK. Fine we’ll drive to the King’s Canyon overlook. That’ll take some time – if not get Odie out of the truck.

A few miles down the road – there were gates across the main road. NOW WHAT!? We drove back a backwoods way and all the campgrounds were closed, and nothing was really impressive. We found out from stopping at the visitors center back at General Grant, that the road was closed until they cleared it for the summer. Rock slides and whatnot. Seriously?

Well, that was a bust. At least we saw General Grant, and a few other HUGE trees. As we came back down the hills, my friend texted and said she wouldn’t make it up after all. She asked if we wanted to come down, but we’d by that time been driving for like 4 to 5 hours and were done in, and not wanting to go BACK to Bakersfield (A 2 hour drive or so) and then BACK to Fresno that night – we were leaving the following day.

I let Kitty run around the little dog park with Odin that night and she had so much fun being off leash. She never tries to jump over or escape, and when I call her she’ll come running. It was a BEAUTIFUL night, and we relaxed under the trees.

The following morning I was a wee bit stressed out. The road up to our next stop was going to be pretty windy. I called and she gave us directions on what road NOT to take, but I wasn’t convinced. I’d seen some of the roads here in California and they are STEEP and really tight switchbacks. We also didn’t want to try to drag the trailer through a bunch of 2 lane roads through farms and orchards again this time. So we angled out – about a 20 mile detour to bypass those roads. Neither of us were happy about it, but it’s better to stay on the highways than those roads. Takes 2x as long.

We started rolling up the hills. Up, down, around all these rolling hills then there it was. The hill going up. STEEP switchbacks, and the craziest grades. Omg. This is NUTS! That beast of truck pulled this heavy, monstrosity all the up the hill to Yosemite National Park.

We stopped just before the park at an RV resort and got parked for the night. There was a winter storm warning for the night so we were relieved we got up there and done before it started to snow.

The dog and cat had a great time walking over to the little petting zoo they had. The cat had NEVER seen goats, donkeys, and Alpacas –and they had never seen a cat, obviously, either. They both just stared at each other. Any time the Cat would move. The ENTIRETY of the goats, donkeys and alpacas would move down the fence with her. It was hilarious. Odie made a friend out of one of the goats, and when he walked away, or by the goat started screaming and bleating at him, lol.

The park's area we stayed at was named after the fact they found gold there, and they HUNG PEOPLE from the tree at the RV Park. They tree was still there – well the stump was anyway, and it was a bit of a trip. Wild, Wild west!

That night was CHILLY, but amazing sleeping weather. It rained HARD, and Scott didn't put the awnings back in. The water built up on the back one and they are designed to collapse on one side, so they can drain the water. It was a LOT of water and it dumped twice in the middle of the night. Scared the CRAP out of me the first time.

I love fall, though and it was like we went from Summer to Fall on this trip. Not Winter to Summer. Slept like a rock.

We got up and had our coffee and hopped in the truck to go to the park. It wasn’t real far this time – as we were actually staying within a reasonable distance this time. I was super happy we made it but damn was that a stressful pull up that hill. We got to the entrance and…..

It was closed.

Gates across the road. Someone said “It’s snowing and chains are required, and there is a wreck up there someplace” Then a Park Ranger showed up and confirmed to us that, indeed there was a bad wreck – 5 car pile up and 3 others off the road.

"Soooo? Is it going to open back up then?" Scott asked. She said "Maybe, but the worst of the storm isn’t even here yet. It’s supposed to move in at around 3 and we don’t even have a tow truck up here yet to clear the road. There is another way you can go, but it’s 4 hours the other direction."

GODDAMIT!!!!!!!!!!! I wanted to cry. We COULD technically move spots at the place we were at, and get a smaller spot, and stay the extra days, but then I’d loose my days deposit at the NEXT place. (This is why I hate making plans in advance!!!!) But, that stop I HAD to secure something. We had heard The Bay area is super hard to get reservations, and the one in Sonoma I was going to have to move spots after the first night to be able to stay there, anyway. So we were stuck. We had THIS day only to see Yosemite.

A couple other folks were standing there and Scott and I talked to them for a few minutes. They had the next day, but we didn’t, and I expressed my disappointment in it. Then my “I’ve wasted XX amount of dollars on this trip and now look what's happening” Starts going through my head and pissing me off more. UGGGHHH. Ok. Lets try to enjoy our day somehow?

We didn’t think we’d be lucky enough to see the road open to get into the park so we turned around and started back. I looked for a hiking spot on my phone, but I hadn’t a signal and the maps were barely loaded. We COULD go back to the Trailer for a signal – or at least further down the mountain, but I saw a cave in the mountains outside the park listed on the map and said awe hell – let’s just go there! So we drove way back in the boonies on terrible blacktop (If you could even call them that) to this Cave. I was able to at least navigate the roads that HAD been loaded at least, but I couldn't see anything else.

We parked the truck, got out and saw the road we were on was the OLD way into Yosemite! No kidding. I consulted my map and there was a possibility we could get PAST the road closure, that way. But I’m not sure if it would come out PAST the wreck, and how the road was if it was snowing. I don’t know. I need to think about this.

We headed up what we thought was probably the trail. There was no sign and no information. We got back into the trees – and.

It was gated and fenced off. No way in.

Jesus Christ. I’m OVER this already.

Apparently the cave was a gathering place way back and people played music INSIDE the cave and there was even a LAKE in there, with a stage and a bottomless pit that if you fell in you’d disappear and be gone forever. OK then. I’m good. I don’t need to die today. Thanks. We got back in the truck and headed back. Maybe if I can get back to the camper we can find something on All Trails.

Scott stopped on the bridge going back and I jumped out to take a photo. I glanced at a big gate with a boulder in front of it, and saw a walk around with a USFS sticker on the pole.

Wait. Is that. A TRAIL!?

I looked and it said “No motorized vehicles” YES! It IS a trail! So we parked and got out. I didn’t have “Hiking” Stuff with me. We were fully prepared to drive the loop into Yosemite valley and just do a short walk – because Odie can’t go with us. I had my Purse and a hoodie. It wasn’t cold, but I felt like a dummy with my Purse, walking down a hiking trail. Lol.

We walked for a while. It was beautiful. It was cloudy and cool. Scott froze in front of me and put his hand out in a “Stop” motion. I stopped and he called Odie back. He walked a little further, and there was a tent, a pile of….trash or belongings – and the tent was flat and smashed. It looked like whoever was living there, or staying there, hadn't

been back in some time, and the winter snows had smashed it all down. It was all melted now, but it was eerie, and we kept thinking we might be stumbling up on someone’s hideout that didn’t want us there.

Cali had a weird vibe – and we know there are vagrants that claim territory in the forests – especially up in the Redwoods areas, and so we didn’t want ANY part of that. No one was around, however so we kept walking. We came up on a pretty confluence of two small rivers, and a grotto where the water splashed and gurgled down rocks and over boulders. Odie and I climbed down to the water so he could wade and drink, and I could shoot a few photos.

Nothing terribly exciting, and nothing we haven’t seen pretty much in Colorado 100 times. It’s strange to see huge Oak trees intermixed with the evergreens out here though.

We started back and about where the abandoned tent was we saw people walking the trail. Oh shit. Scott grabbed the dog, and Clipped his leash on. He is a good guard dog, but we have to keep him close for maximum effect. He’s scary if we let him be. He’s also allowed to be a friendly goof, too. But only if we say so.

We got closer to the group and a man spoke up

“OMG! You look like Yosemite!!!!!!”

It was the people we were speaking to a couple hours earlier, at the sign by the park.

What the fuck?

We were ALL very surprised, and a little freaked out that of ALL the places in ALL the trails in Northern California – we pick the SAME random trail, MILES from where we were initially.

Cue the Twilight Zone music. Jesus Christ.

We said we might go back to see if the road was open, and he brought up his screenshots of El Capitan and Half-Dome from the webcams, and it was completely Socked in. Even if we CAN get there, there was no way to SEE IT.

He said they found the trail we were on, on All trails and that there was a waterfall at the end of it. Easy out and back about 1.2 Miles. Well, We went about a mile, but didn’t continue.

“Can we walk with you guys then?”

Sure!

Come to find out the parents of the younger couple had just come from Mesa. They spent the winter about ½ mile from where WE did.

Good god, how weird is this.

Anyway, we had a good conversations and walked the easy hike back in to a really pretty little waterfall. I was glad we went back. The trail was a bit on the easy side and a little short, so walking it twice wasn’t a bad thing!

The more fit set of three left mom up on the top of where the grottos started while they tried to get to the waterfall from the bed of the river. As they disappeared around the corner, the Temperature dropped pretty significantly, and I smelled snow. Scott said “You feel that?” “Yea” I said. I was not dressed, well NEITHER of us were dressed for snow or hard rain – and we were a mile from the truck.

We said our goodbyes, and when we got back to the truck I left them a card. I felt bad we didn’t say goodbye to the others, but I wasn’t sure how long they’d be, so I figured I’d leave a card with the Instagram and Facebook Journey pages on it. If the universe had us collide like that I guess There was a reason? Or was it simply to show us to keep going and see the pretty waterfall? Seems like a lot just for that.

As soon as we got back to the camper the skies unleashed and it started to pour. Phew, made it just in time!

The next day, a Chinese man had his family in one of the cabins across from us. The whole park reminded us of the park we worked at last summer. The PEOPLE aren't the friendliest. Like you're inconveniencing them by being there - but whatever. Yurts, Campers you could rent, Cabins, and covered wagons. A pool, a petting farm, a walking trail, and a pavilion. I wonder if they do activities in the summer?

Anyway, this Chinese man wanted ALL the details of what we were doing, where we were going, and how when the kids left HE wanted to do something similar with his wife someday. He was also boggling over the sheer SIZE of our rig, as it was bigger than his cabin!

We talked about Alaska, and how we heard he roads will destroy your RV going up there. It was so funny when he replied to that, in his thick Chinese accent "NO, you no go that way! I think I say you need to go as far up as Washington and that's it. OK!?" LOL OK DAD! Haha! It was funny and cute.

The drive back down, was equally as stressful for Scott and the drive to the Sonoma area wasn’t much better. We’d left the highway again, and ended up on a NARROW as hell, ½ built crappy ass 2 lane road, that was divided in the middle by concrete barriers for MILES And MILES.

We barely fit down it. Not to mention the road was SO damaged (were they fixing it orrrr?) it was sending the front of the truck every which way and Scott had to man handle it the whole way.

There was then a huge box, and some sort of plastic or sheet metal in it hanging out of it right in the middle of the lane, and NOWHERE to go to avoid it – so he be-bopped us onto the shoulder, and around the obstacle, which is ALWAYS scary to do. If it’s a soft shoulder, it could give out under the immense weight of the trailer – or it could be glass, or other tire-puncturing objects. I cringed as we went through.

I checked our Tire Pressure Monitoring system, and all seemed ok. Phew. We stopped for gas and Scott went "Phew. Jesus that sucked." I agreed.

By the time we rolled into our next stop, outside Santa Rosa, Scott was more than disheveled, and in need of a stiff drink. We set up, and took the dog for a quick stroll, but called it an early night.

California. You are NOT being real enjoyable or cooperative right now. =(