Friday

We woke to lovely sunshine today. There are a few clouds here and there but I don't think it will rain. It was nice enjoying our coffee in the sunshine and playing some cards.  Frank, Vira, Kara, and Blake arrived mid morning. We decided to secure an extra site so no one would have to park in the overflow parking area, since that area is quite far from us. Deb fixed us a nice chicken salad for lunch then we all relaxed. We took some nice walks then Jeff arrived with Julie, Soren, and Spencer. After they were all set up we had Hobo Packs for dinner. 

Deb and Sam Arrived

It was pretty cold last night because our heater clicked on a couple of times. However, there has been no further rain. We had a nice walk around the campground this morning. There are sure a lot of fat gray squirrels up here this year. Deb and Sam arrived around noon but they had a problem with the LPG hose to their refrigerator or something and Sam went back toward the valley to get the needed part. I believe he went to Reedley to get what he needed, but I'm not sure now. Meanwhile Deb, John, and I were going to go to the little restaurant for lunch. When we got there we discovered it is not open. Either they are remodeling it, or it is never reopening, I'm  not sure. We ate at the Food Court, which was ok but nothing to write home about for sure! 

There is a lot of wood down and we collected a lot for our campfires (which is appropriate in these campsites) picking and choosing the best pieces! Sam rolled down a nice one for a big fire!

After playing cards we took a drive and showed Deb and Sam the Princess Campground as they have not camped there. Looks like it will be full for the upcoming weekend. We drove on to Hume Lake where Deb had fond memories. We had a snack we called dinner and an ice cream then headed back. We did see deer again and a lot of lovely wild flowers. It was Yahtzee this evening and then on to bed. 

Kings Canyon - Sequoia

It's time to head out again! Well, it is really past time ... We planned to go last  week but I am still trying to shake this virus that came to visit. Since we waited out my coughing we decided to just go up today. This is the day Sunset Campground at Grant's Grove opens for the season. The kids will join us for the long weekend and this is their preferred campground. There has been having rain up there this week, which means there is probably no snow on the ground. Anyway, we are looking forward to getting out of the valley as the temperatures are supposed to be going up, no big surprise. By the time we pick up the trailer from storage and finish the prep, we left around noon. 

Our drive up was uneventful. Lovely wildflowers adorned the sides of the road but there was really no place to pull over and take photos of them. There are a lot of dead pine trees, it is sad to see. The ranger at the entrance station said it is due to both the drought and insects. Because of the drought the trees don’t have enough sap to ward off the insects. He said there are 20 million dead trees. I believe it but I wonder who counted them? It is 42 degrees and it began to rain just as we were finished setting up. It let up a little bit and we took a drive and saw wild life, lots of deer. We drove through other campgrounds and there are some people braving the weather. You can see how close the fires got to the campsites last summer when driving through Crystal Springs Campground. The parking lot is torn up by the Visitor Center, so we skipped that, the gift shop, and the restaurant for now. We popped in the General Store to take a look, it is pretty much unchanged still having the various supplies a camper might forget at home. The newest addition is a food court just east of the General Store. Prices looked fair and the sort of stationary “food truck” looking buildings looked were clean with some seating provided outside only. Back to the trailer and we will have dinner, play cards, and go to bed with our Kindles in hand!

Millerton Lake

We are just home from Millerton Lake. It was a quick Family Camping Trip with a 3 night stay. It was enjoyable despite the strong winds the first 2 days. By day 3 it heated up quite a bit so it was good we were heading home by then.  There were 9 of us (minus Julie and Miranda) and a variety of people visited Frank & Vira over the course of the weekend. The lake was not as high as I thought it might be but much better than the pond it was last year at this time. Good times, good food, and maybe a new favorite for some...S'mores made with a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup!

Morro Strand Planned

Deb came over and we planned a Family Camping Trip for June at Morro Strand State Beach. They now take reservations so of course it is filling up fast. I tried looking at Pismo North Beach around 6 weeks ago and it is already full for the summer. I think they should leave some as first come - first served but then they don't ask my opinion. Anyway, we have the reservation for June 16-21. John and I will probably do something else after that but with the limited availability on the coast in the summer, who knows. 

In addition, Deb made some tentative plans for other Family Camping Trips. Hopefully, we can go to each of these planned trips. 

A New Reality

My Mom passed away on Feb. 8, 2016. We laid her to rest on the 20th. We had already shelved our NOLA trip because of her health. Right now I just don't have the desire or the wherewithal to plan a trip. We'll see what the future brings. 

Thinking Ahead

After some thought we have decide AK is not for us this year. Sharon's Mom is a fragile situation and we would not want to be out of contact or have to drive a few days to secure a flight home if there was an urgent situation. That said, we think we will try to do NOLA and the Florida Keys in March-April. Still a lot of planning involved but Sharon can probably fly home fairly easily if need be. 

We also want to stop in TX and get a few upgrades done at Little House Customs along the way. (special valves we have heard about and a double step)

We want to spend time in NOLA for a few reasons: 1) Genealogy research for both my French family and paternal line. Then there  is the WWII Museum that wants to  accept some artifacts from Mom's WWII service. Yes, those could be mailed but it would be such an honor to present these things in person. The Florida Keys - always wanted to go there. The drive should be interesting! Lot's of planning ahead!