Closing the highway in Wyoming

This morning the TV (we have TV for a change for some reason) said that I-80 was closed from Rawlins (where we are) to Chyenne.  Winds and black ice is the problem so I think we will stay put for another day.  It is cold and very, very windy although the sun is very bright!

Wyoming, here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was a Donner Pass Summit rest stop.  It still lots of snow amongst the trees.
 

After going to Yosemite, Monday we headed by car to the old mining town of Coulterville to eat brunch and ask the best way down to Sacremento.  The brunch was great and the people grand.  They gave us wonderful directions and off we went north to I-80 and east.  We have not headed east since we started this journey last September! 

We went right through Nevada stopping at Winnimucca (I love that name) and Elko.  We stopped at the California Pioneer Trail Interpretive center which was in Elko.  We just saw a sign and stopped.  It was another great find.  In Utah we stopped at a rest stop on the salt flats for three hours because the wind was really bad.  It had an interpretive sign about the 40 mile desert that was the deadly dreaded portion of the California Trail! I sure saw the point of the sign!! We went on to Wyoming and stopped at the first town, Evanston, because the weather was supposed to be windy and snowy.  We have not seen snow except in the peaks this winter/spring.  It did snow a little and we roamed the town, staying for 2 nights.  We had a Mexican Dinner that was really good and I cooked a crockpot meal to take with us traveling and I cooked a soup also.

By Sunday I was itchy to go on.  John was listening to the weather that was mostly behind us in Utah mountains, which was predicting snow so he was hesitant.  We headed out and we are now at Rawlings, WY on I-80.  From here I want to turn north away from the highway to Casper, WY to see some historic museums and sights.  The weather here is cold and the wind has gusts 35 plus miles on the highway.  It was not bad traveling today but it will not be great on the highway tomorrow.  We did see snow flurries and John wanted to stop.  He fought wind at times today and that takes a lot out of a driver of a huge sail MH.  We are hooked up to electricity, like in Evanston,  and our electric heaters are on as well as the furnace so we are cozy. We save our propane for boondocking in cooler weather. The campground is right beside the highway and nothing but a parking lot but they do have hookups.  This one is $24- a night.  The other campground was $32-.  Having free internet and a coin laundry helps out.  I washed this morning before heading out. The weather is supposed to change Thursday to be sunny and warmer.  Of course we are in a northern state so maybe spring really did not arrive here yet!

Yosemite National Park, my Bucket List Park!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We headed north on State road 99 and then took side roads to a campground outside of Yosemite.  I used Passport America which I should not have.  We arrived at a campground up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains that probably was terrific 50 years ago but the road was very, very narrow and steep, the campground itself was old, old, old.  The water was too rusty even after running it for 20 minutes to hook up our lines, the sites were dirt and very unlevel so after a few hours we took the slide in and the power was intermittant enough for us to unhook our shore power.  We might as well of boondocked.  And it was still 23 miles from Yosemite entrance.  The good thing about it was we traveled the Muir trail that John Muir first traveled to Yosemite Valley in the 1800's.  He was the father of the Sierra Club and a great advocate for national parks. 

We spent Easter Sunday in God's Cathedral.  But unfortunately so did many, many others.  It was very crowded.  Yosemite Valley is a park explored from below hiking up like Zion looking at magnificent blocks of granite and beautiful waterfalls.  It is a destination within itself and so far away as to be a destination and stay-awhile park.  We did not have the time and could not get the rig in the winding narrow roads.  One day was all we could do.  We saw the famous waterfalls and domes.  I will take away from Yosemite the wonderful scenery shared with many, many others.  The walks were paved to the falls. Some hikes were paved also.  One could get around easily on a bike and many did.  The bathrooms were the dirtiest of all the parks, etc I have visited.  That turned me off!

 

 

Bridal Falls, our first stop.

 

Half Dome

Upper Yosemite Falls

KIngs Canyon National Park and Slide/Jack Trouble

The travel to Sequoia stressed the little Scion.  The front brakes after 60,000 miles were fixed by a wonderful mechanic who overnighted the pads and replaced them the next day for $140.  We felt we were lucky to have it quickly done in such a tiny town.  The mechanic also checked the car out other than brakes and took a personal check from me.  He trusted a stranger!  I met both he and his wife and they were just lovely people.  People are so nice especially in small towns.

 John went to move the rig in Three Rivers and the jacks and slide would not go in.  He finally manually cranked them up and the slide in.  We went to Vasilla, down in the valley and to  small RV dealer.  Monaco could not sent a part for they did not have one on hand and the manufacturer had to make the part.  The RV dealer suggested to have the motor rebuilt (he sent it out to a small shop in town) for that was the problem.  Within a day the part was fixed and back on the rig and everything was working.  We stayed at a KOA recommended by dealer and everything worked out without too much delay or headaches, just money.  I wrote to Lazydays in Tucson for that part was replaced exactly 25 months ago and should not have failed.  I hope they reimburse us for the rebuilt part.

So we went on Kings Canyon while the motor was rebuilt.  Part of it was closed but we had a lovely day traveling the park and the General Highway that connects Kings Canyon and Sequoia.

Manzanita in bloom

Between the Sequoia one feels dwarfted

Gravity Fed Pumps in Kings Canyon NP

Kings Canyon itself

California Poppies are the state flower and they are everywhere!

 

Sequoia National Park and Three Rivers

We arrived at Three Rivers, CA, a small town just outside of the park.  I love this campground.  It reminds me of the type of camping we did years ago and the campground was probably in operation when we camped with children.  It is right beside the 3 rivers and we are camped next to one of them.  I could hear the sound of the river rushing when in bed.  What a lovely sound!

We went to Sequoia National Park in the Scion.  The first thing we did was go to the Foothills Visitor Center and look up Dani.  Our former Organ Pipe ranger boss, Kristina, worked in Sequoia before coming to Organ Pipe.  Dani was a very good friend of hers.  We found Dani working and introduced ourselves. Dani told us that Kristina got engaged at the end of March when on vacation at the Grand Canyon to Stephan, who is lives  in Austria.  Kristina told me she started every day at 6am with a long distance chat with Stephan.   We met him when we first arrived in ORPI.  He lives in Austria and was visiting for the Christmas holidays and again in March.  I wonder if we will gain a citizen or loose a NPS ranger??? 

 

Sequoias look like redwoods but have much bigger girth.

Our little Scion going under a fallen Sequoia.

John is going into a fallen log

The tree does not grow in girth until it is very tall. 
It needs fire to reproduce.  The heat opens its cones.
  The bark on a giant tree can be 12 inches thick.
They can live up to 2,000 years or more!

We hiked to this cabin which is a fallen log.  Look carefully on the right.
That is a window opening in the log.  The fireplace is a short extension of the
log room inside.  It had a bed beyond that window & a kitchen Cira 1850's
It was used for a residence when cattle was brought for summer grass.

This is one of the meadows that you can imagine cattle grazing in. 
Note the snow in some of the shadier places.

Back at the campground our site was right on the river.

To the right is part of the swimming area on the river.
  There is a pool in the CG also.

 

Anza-Borrego Desert

In this desert there are sculptures everywhere on one road.
 This dragon goes across the road on both sides.

This is just the left side of the road portion of the sculpture.

This male California quail (above)and its mate were crossing the campground.

California poppies are everywhere.
  In the desert and the hills and the mountains.

This is the start of a trail to a Palm Spring

The campground is beautiful with native palms everywhere.

We arrived after stopping in Gila Bend for the night.  This is in the middle of nowhere and the road to the state park, east of San Diago, is pure dusty desert roads in terrible condition.  It just goes on and on and suddenly there is a nice small touristy town in the desert, Borrego Springs, with nice shops, eateries, churches and businesses in the middle of the state park.  Amazing!!!  We had the air conditioner on but hiking was out of the question for it was going to be 100 degrees the next day.  So off we went to the national parks.  I would have loved to hike some of the trails here.  It is a beautiful place.

Goodbye Organ Pipe and hello Lazydays???????

We have finished our time at ORPI and packed up.  The weather was getting hotter so I turned on the air conditioner to cool the rig down.  Yup, you guessed it, it did not work.  It worked fine in Texas last December but we have not used the air conditioner since.  The desert gets cool at night and with the dry desert temps in the pm, we just used the draw fan.  It always cooled down when the sun went down.  So at Organ Pipe John called the tech from Lazydays and discussed the problem.  We reset a circut and it worked for 20 minutes and stopped.  Then again he reset it and again it stopped after a time.  So John called Lazydays in Tucson and made an appointment.  The California desert could wait until we had air.  After an uneventful trip east instead of west we had it looked at.  And guess what? It seems to be working fine now!  The tech cleaned and checked the unit.  He thinks it could have had a problem with our shore power.  Someone else complained about that at ORPI but we seemed to be OK. We shopped at Walmart and picked up a few things at Lazydays.  John got the oil changed in the Scion. Now we are really ready to go on to California and the national parks.  Life just gives you this wakeup call on occasion!



Goodbye  beautiful Organ Pipe



I gave this to the new superintendent of ORPI.  It is a sketch from the VIP campground.

Eating our way out of Mexico

On our way out of Puerto Penasco we stopped for brunch at a German Bakery/Restaurant.  I usually do not post pictures of meals but this restaurant was really something!  Our menu was Mexican fare with a German twist and pastries and meals to die for.

This is a veggie omelet to die for!

Mickey asked for a large coffee and this is what he got!
  He drank the whole thing!



John and his breakfast.  Note the hand painted tile table.

My Mexican style breakfast with tortilla, 2 eggs,
re fried beans, home fries, salad, green chili sauce and feta cheese - a WOW!!

Mexico

Our good friends arrived at Organ Pipe and we headed to Puerto Penesco, Mexico for a few days.  We ate, relaxed, watched pelicans, tides and the sun set. We stayed in the Old Town part of the city, on the Sea of Cortez which is Arizona's nearest beach.  It is a tourist town.  We stayed at a very unusual mexican style inn with very unique rooms just north of the plaza of old town.  We had 2 rooms each with a kitchen, & living facilities that shared a common outdoor courtyard, which we sat on most of the time.  Emma was welcomed also.

We stayed one block up from the Old Town plaza right on the water.

Pam, John and Emma on the beach at "The Reef" where we ate lunch.

We watched the sun set after dinner at El Capitan.

This is where a future cruise ship will dock.
  It is a shame that this pristine beach will be the port for cruise ships.

 

Part of Old Town from our restaurant high on a hill

We watched birds and boats from the plaza in Old Town, Puerto Penasco

The elementary school grounds and old port from the Dream Weaver Inn