Adventures With Ruby

May 23, we camped at Crystal Spring Campground in Kings Canyon NP.  There was snow, but the temps were in the high 40s and the snow was melting. We weren't too worried about freezing pipes because it was not suppose to be below 32 degrees. 

The next morning we drove further down into the Canyon and checked out Princess Campground. There was no snow on the ground there so we went back, hooked up Ruby and found a beautiful site I, Morning Star Loop.  Site #7 for two nights. 

After we set up, we continued our adventure driving the Canyon road as far as the road went; to the floor of the Canyon.

The Canyon is beautiful. Views at every turn. 

The next day, May 25, we drove to visit the General Sherman Sequoia. The biggest tree in the world.  

 The Grove of the giant trees were amazing.

May 26. We had to change camp sites for one night, so we moved to site #44.

 It was a beautiful day and we were surprised to hear that 2 to 4 inches of snow was predicted. 

And snow we did get. It was beautiful, a winter wonder land. Ruby did fine even though temps were in the 20s. I was concerned about our water lines but this morning everything was fine. 

We saw the park in sunshine, fog, rain, and snow. It truly has been an adventure. Some we had not planned for. But, we have had an amazing time and met many nice people. 

Adventures With Ruby

Today is May 23, 2019.

 We camped at the Sequoia National Park (May 20 and May 21) in the Potwisha campground for a couple of nights. 

After setting up camp we drove up further into the park. It was a beautiful drive but did have some hairpin curves. The views were amazing!  

Not far from the camp is Tunnel Rock. This is the rock that you use to drive through but now that part of the road is closed. 

At around 5000 and 6000 ft we started seeing the huge Sequoias. Here are a few pics. 

Absolutely amazing!

The next morning we drove to the visitors center to find out about the road conditions on up to the General Sherman tree. The park ranger said the roads were open. 

Glenn overheard a young man ask about the shuttle but the shuttle was not going to start running for a couple of days. We felt badly for the young family because they were in a big class A rv. There was no way they could drive their rig up the mountain.  Glenn ask the young man if they would like to ride with us, so they did. 

The couple and their three children live in Charlotte but we're from the Ukraine. They are a sweet family and also Christains. We had a fun time with them. 

It was snowy so we didn't see the General Sherman tree but viewed numberous big trees around the Sequoia Museum and visitors center. 

Yesterday we drove to Fresno. We had a turn signal light to go out on Ruby so we had to find a Retro dealer to order a part. 

We continued our travels toward Kings Canyon but since it was getting late, we found a Corp of Eng camp for the night. 

Today we made it to Kings Canyon and walked a little ways to view the General Grant tree. It was a snowy trail but paved trail. The trees are magnificent!

Since the fog was rolling in, we decided to stay in the park. We have heat and water so we should be fine. Temps will not be freezing tonight. 

Adventures With Ruby

We left Joshua Tree on May 16th and headed North. We had made reservations at Paradise Cove in the Sequoia National Forest on Lake Isabella, CA. It was a fairly nice spot and the lake was beautiful surrounded by the Sierra Nevada Mts. 

We were still making our way to the Sequoia National Park through Bakersfield.  Hwy 178 from Lake Isabella to Bakersfield follows the Kern River. It is a beautiful drive,  however it does get a little nerve wracking with twist and turns and narrow road at times.  Straight down views of the river are breathtaking. 

We had checked the Recreation.gov web site for a campsite in Sequoia NP but none were available.  The reserveable sites were taken but they had a few walk in sites. We thought we would check it out and see if they were already taken. The first campground in the park was Potwisha and we knew there was one walkin site for three days. Site 26. Sure enough it was still available!!  SCORE. So here we are for three nights.  We couldn't do this type of camping without our Ruby. She is perfect. Happy Campers. 

Adventures With Ruby

We left Yuma May 14 and headed to Joshua Tree NP. We had reservation for Black Rock.  We entered the park at Cottonwood and drove through the park to get to Black Rock. Black Rock is a part of the National Park but you exit the park and drive through Yucca Valley to get there. I can't say I would recommend Black Rock, the campground is a little hard to maneuver in,  but we did enjoy Joshua Tree. Here is a pic of Ruby and our camping spot. 

I took so many pictures as we visited JT NP that it was hard to pic which ones to share. Joshua Tree is where two deserts meet and you can tell the suttle changes between the Colorado Desert and the Mojave Desert. 

We really enjoyed our time and even got to visit Palm Springs. 

Road to San Jacinto. It was overcast and foggy so we didn't go on the tram.

View on the way back down. 

Palm Springs

Thousands of wind turbines.