Tulare, CA Part 3 - Sequoia National Monument

Since the National Parks are very busy on the weekends, we decided to go to Sequoia National Monument south unit on Saturday to avoid the crowds. The Trail of 100 Giants is a highlight of the national monument. It is a beautiful walk through several hundred Giant Sequoia trees, which range in age from 2 to 1500 years old.

Kurt couldn't resist entering the small room inside the tree trunk.

Our trail brochure stated:

Look Skyward. Wow...look how they are "leaning".
How much longer will they stand?
It appears they are being undercut by the stream.

Since the needles on the tree were still green, this giant
tree had fallen very recently. It looks like they will have to
reroute the path and update the brochure. 
Since it takes many 100's of years for the sequoia to break
down they will have plenty of time. 

Sitting on the Giant's Knee

View from the top of Dome Rock

Tulare, CA Part 2 - Sequoia National Park

Friday we visited the south side of Sequoia.
A bit of trivia.
Sequoia is the only word that includes all 5 vowels.

Moro Rock


We took the .25 mile vertical trail up 400 steps to the top of Moro Rock, a large granite dome in the Giant Forest area.

The View from the dome offers an unparalleled view of
the Great Western Divide and its Canyons.



At the end of the trail you are standing
at the very top of the dome.

  

Picture window view of the snow capped mountains of
the high Sierras.

Auto Log

Tharps Log
Hale Tharp built a simple summer cabin from a fallen
fire-hollowed Sequioa Log in the 1860s.

Yes, our Yaris is very small, but these old trees are VERY BIG.

A neat view from inside a set of triplets.

Tulare, CA Part 1 - Kings Canyon National Park

We parked at Sun & Fun RV Park in Tulare, California for the week. The sites are very level, but a bit tight for all of our vehicles.

The next morning we started out early to visit Kings Canyon National Park about 50 miles away.

Kings Canyon is deeper than the Grand Canyon.

These old style canister pumps are still in operation at
Kings Canyon Lodge. Only $5.60 a gallon!

The steep and winding road through the canyon follows
King River with an elevation change of 7,000 feet.

Beautiful red mountain flowers.
We don't know what they are called.
Any Ideas?

We took the Zumwalt Meadow Hike, near the end of Kings Canyon Road. This 1.5 mile hike offers views of the steep canyon walls as well as flower covered meadows.

We took a guided tour of Boyden Cavern.

A Fallen Giant Sequoia in Grants Grove.

The General Grant Tree
It measures 267 feet tall and 107 feet around.
The star attraction in a grove of 2,000 to 3,000
year old Sequioas.

California or Bust!

We passed through some interesting weather while driving through the Sierras at Tehachapi, California.

 

We entered the San Joaquin Valley at Bakersfield and spent the night.

We Got Our Kicks on Route 66!

After leaving Santa Rosa, we had an overnight stop at USA RV Park in Gallup, New Mexico. Then on Saturday we drove to Blake Ranch RV Park in Kingman, Arizona.

We enjoyed attending church at Good Shepherd LCMS in Kingman. It is a small, friendly church. They gave us a coffee mug and a book mark to remember them.

After church we dove up Hualapai Mountain to the Hualapai Mountain Resort for a Breakfast Buffet and a drive through the Mohave County Mountain Park.

Next we drove west out of Kingman on Route 66. Western Arizona boasts the longest continuous stretch of this legendary highway, as well as some of the most dramatic scenery.

Along the Route we passed this vintage gas station at Cool Springs Camp. It was closed on Sunday. We were the only ones there.

Wild burros are descendants from the mining days when burros were used to haul rock from the gold and silver mines. When the miners abandoned the area they left some of their animals behind.

Oatman, once a mining town of 8,000, is now a favorite historic stop along Route 66. This "almost ghost town" now has a population of 135. Some call it the town that refused to die.

A few of the wild burros enjoy the attention of the tourists and have found that it is easier to find food in town. Some of the vendors sell bags of "burro food", which is just compressed hay squares. I guess that is healthier than either popcorn or candy.

Continuing our circle tour, we crossed the Colorado River into the town of Laughlin, Nevada. Walking along the strip we came across this old train station.

At the Don Laughlin Riverside Resort and Casino there is a free Classic Car Museum. It was the best vintage car museum we have ever been in. We completed our tour by taking US 68 east over scenic mountains back to Kingman.

Mohave Court House in Kingman, Arizona
Built in 1910

Mural on Route 66 Museum

We Got Our Wheels Back! We Are Rolling Again!

Thursday afternoon, May 2, we picked up our truck from Rich Ford in Albuquerque. Thankfully our comprehensive auto insurance policy covered the expenses minus our deductible. It was almost dinner time, so as long as we were in Albuquerque, we went to a great Mexican restaurant to celebrate. El Pinto was recommended to us by the locals. Boy, we have gotten really good at spelling Albuquerque and now we have to leave already.

YES, we are still here in Santa Rosa, NM

It has been almost two weeks of waiting for the truck repairs. The Ford dealer is still telling us that repairs should be complete by Thursday or Friday. We are excited with the idea of continuing our trek to Oregon. While we are here we did some day tripin'. Here are some of the pictures.
Puerta de Luna, a very small town ten miles south of Santa Rosa, is the site of the Santa Rosa de Lima Chapel built in 1865.



Scuba diving in the desert? The Blue Hole is one of seven rare sink holes in Santa Rosa. Formed by water erosion and connected by a underground river, it has a year round temperature of 62 degrees. At 80 feet deep and 60 feet wide, it has a constant inflow of 3,000 gallons of fresh water a minute.



On a day trip, driving north, we saw many small rock structure ruins.



One stop was at Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge. All the lakes on the Refuge were completely dried up due to the three year drought.



We enjoyed a quiet secluded walk along the Gallinas Canyon.

We did get to the town of Las Vegas, but it wasn't in Nevada.

Montezuma Hot Springs

On another day trip we drove 45 miles south to Fort Sumner, NM. This towns claim to fame was Billy the Kid once called it home. He was shot through the heart at age 21 in July of 1881. As you can see his grave is now protected by a cage as well as secured by iron shackles since the grave monument was stolen and then recovered two different times.