Kay and I fasted last night in preparation for our “regularly scheduled” blood work. I get uptight before these tests, anxious to hear the results of my PSA to know if cancer has returned. I can usually put “cancer” out of mind, but these tests always brings it to the surface. We drove into town and had blood drawn, then rushed to McDonalds for a breakfast sandwich and caffeinated beverage; it’s no fun doing without morning coffee. We drove back to Harp’s for groceries, mostly fruit, before returning to the campground.

Back at the campground, we had a pretty simple day with a bike ride or two around the park, and a brief walk.

The campground is pretty empty following Memorial Day weekend–just the way we like it.

My cold is slowly, but steadily getting worse, and energy levels continue to decrease. We read, watched television, and did a bunch of nothing before retiring for the night.

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After a good night’s sleep–we always sleep better in the motor home–coffee, and an English muffin, cottage cheese, and fruit, we drug the kayaks to the river. Kay boarded hers first, and was paddling upstream before I was able to get into mine. I quickly realized that power stroking created a lot of instability, as I rolled first to one side, then to the other. Meanwhile, Kay was gliding smoothly upstream, outlined by the early morning sun streaming through the river fog. We paddled around for a short while, and returned to the bank, having had enough for our first time. Back at the campground, we switched from kayaks to bikes, and rode around the campground a couple of times.

Kay and I drove separately back to the house to do some chores and feed the birds. Wayne was busy with an auto repair project, but had time for a quick cup of hot chocolate, and we enjoyed a brief visit. Despite my suffering from severe allergy problems (or a cold), the river looked too inviting to ignore. I suited up, gathered vest and fly rod, and headed off to the river. Sulphurs were already coming off, and after a few fish, I switched from the Wayne’s fly/zebra midge combination to a parachute sulphur dun. The fish wer e hitting the fly almost every cast, and then with a fish on I noticed the water steadily rising. While reeling in the fish, I gingerly waded to the bank for a quick hike downstream. The river has come up without warning more this year than all the previous years I’ve fished the Norfork combined. I made it safely out, drove back to the house for a shower and clean clothes, a quick early dinner, and a long nap–feeling the worse for wear with either a cold or severe allergies.

Kay returned to the motorhome, and I drove into town for quartet practice. Back at the campground, we enjoyed a quiet, albeit short, evening before turning in for bed.

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Memorial Day weekend, and the accompanying crowds are just about all gone. Via woman’s intuition or just maybe a whim, Kay announced at 11 AM that she was driving a couple of miles up the road to Quarry Park to check on the availability of sites at this great US Army Corps of Engineers campground; I came along for the ride. She hit a home run as one of the 3 most choice sites was vacant. The Corps won’t let you “reserve” a site by putting lawn chairs, ice chests, etc. around them, so we rushed back home, she dropped me off to ready the motor home and drive it back to the campground,while she returned immediately to “occupy” the site. I quickly removed rodent control “measures”, retracted the slides, and retracted the leveling jacks, arriving back at the campground in just shy of 30 minutes. After setting up, i.e. leveling, hooking up electricity and water, and deploying the slides, we returned to the house for kayaks, bicycles, groceries, clothes, and other paraphernalia needed for an extended stay, and lastly, a call was made to DishTV to activate our account for the RV.

Back at the campground, we unloaded our gypsy caravan and stowed things as best we could. The DishTV Tailgater satellite dish was connected, but we kept getting an error message. Another call to DishTV corrected the problem–the satellite dish and receiver must be on in order to activate the account. Afterward, we rode our bikes around the campground, and settled in for the remainder of the day and night.

P.S. Since flying back from San Francisco a few days ago, I have been sneezing, coughing, and losing energy little by little; seems like a cold is coming on.

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Visiting San Francisco is also a bucket-list item for us, so today we did a whirlwind tour, hitting all the high spots and eating at both Fisherman’s Wharf and in Chinatown. We also managed to "kill two birds with one stone" by returning the rental car to the airport in the process. After dropping the car off, we caught the airport tram to the Bay Area Rapid Transportation (BART) station for our 30-minute ride to the city.

We exited the BART at the Embarcadero on Market Street in the financial District of San Francisco. It was the first time we had been among high rises and skyscrapers since before retirement. A requisite stop was made at Starbucks for a bathroom break and coffee; there was a Starbucks about every half block! From the Embarcadero, we walked to the waterfront, hoping to catch public transportation to Pier 39, but the bus was bulging with passengers, some even hanging out the door. So, we continued walking the rest of the way to Fisherman’s Wharf.

At Pier 39, we bought tickets on and boarded an open-topped Grayline Tour bus for a two-hour tour of San Francisco. We have found that in a city new to us this is the best way to see the highlights, and get a brief history along the way. We rode Ghirardelli Square–home of the great Ghirardelli chocolate, the Cannery–home of Del Monte Canning Company, Lombard Street-the most crooked street in the US, Little Italy, Chinatown, the Tenderloin District—one of the few unsafe places in the city, Nob Hill—where the rich and famous live, through Golden Gate Park, and finally to the Golden Gate Bridge, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this coming Sunday.

During the brief stop at the bridge, Kay and I hurriedly walked to the cabled span over the water, feeling the bridge bouncing up and down. We rushed back to the Grayline bus, finishing the tour and returned to Fisherman’s Wharf.

Cold and famished, we stopped at the Boudin Sourdough Bakery for lunch; Kay had crab tortillas and I had clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl with a Caesar salad. I didn’t finish the bread bowl and shared with both Kay and George. We spent some time seeing the sights of Fisherman’s Wharf, including the famous sea lions.

We then began the long walk to Chinatown. We walked the entire length of Grant Street in Chinatown, stopping to window shop at some of the more interesting stores along the way.

Their grocery and produce stores were fascinating, including whole cooked chickens hanging by their heads, and many kinds of produce we had never seen. Wanting to eat something in Chinatown and perhaps see it at dusk or dark with all the attendant lights, sounds, and smells, we returned up Grant Street to the famous Empress of China restaurant for appetizers. They wouldn’t let us eat in the dining room–it required a $60 minimum–so we ate in the bar near windows overlooking the area–6 floors up and probably the best seats in the house.
We walked down California Street back to the financial district and caught BART back to the airport where we caught the hotel shuttle to the hotel. They fulfilled their commitments to provide us with different rooms, and had moved our luggage. We said goodbye to Nan and George, replaced our bags for the return flight home, and made it to bed at 11 PM for our 3:15 AM wake-up call.

Getting to see and briefly tour San Francisco was a real treat, and we’d like to come back, maybe in late fall some year, and spend a few days.

Today, we depart for San Francisco.

After packing for the road trip back to the city, we returned to the Giant Tree Museum parking lot for one last hike among the giant sequoias. The trail was paved, with little change in elevation, but provided a reverent end to the trip. It struck us as a bit odd that we talked in an almost whisper quietness, much like we were in church. We felt God’s hand the entire walk, and particularly as we circled the meadow surrounded by the giants. Following this solemn hiking experience, we drove to and stopped at the Lodgepole Market for a breakfast sandwich, followed by the long downhill drive back to the Bay area. The air temperature steadily increased from the 50s to the mid-90s, and traffic became heavier as we shifted from the national park’s two-lane road to the 10-lane interstate.
Back at the hotel, we were assigned a room in a building that allowed smoking in some sections, and the building and rooms as a whole were substandard. The hotel was booked full, but promised to move us tomorrow as both George and I are allergic to smoke.

After a lengthy rest, Kay and I joined Nan and George for dinner at Denny’s, and the food wasn’t half bad. We talked and laughed for way too long before adjourning back to our rooms for the evening.

In retrospect, Sequoia National Park proved to be far more substantial and worthy than we had anticipated. I will now include it among my top five!

Today marks our last full day visiting California’s premier national parks. King’s Canyon NP is comprised of two segments, a small area on the west side containing the Grant Tree and other giant sequoias in the Grant Grove, and a much larger area, physically separated from the smaller area, to the east and north. Much of this larger area is wilderness and inaccessible by road; in fact, we traveled to road’s end today.

After departing Wuksachi Lodge, we stopped briefly at the Lodgepole Visitor’s Center and Market (Sequoia NP) for information on Kings Canyon NP roads and breakfast sandwiches. We were off then to the canyon, not knowing what to expect. George opted to take a “short-cut” through the mountains that proved to be a most delightful drive, with spectacular views of the canyon much of the way. After a brief stop at a small market, we drove to a trailhead and hiked a seemingly docile trail (Zumwalt Meadow) along the Kings River, surrounded by high granite walls though much of the first 1/2 mile was over and among granite boulders and rubble. Kings Canyon reminded us of Zion National Park, but to a smaller scale.

Our next hike was to Roaring River Falls, and a high desert area adjacent to the road. There was a high volume of water spilling over the two-tiered falls.

On our return trip to the lodge, we took a side trip near the Kings Canyon Visitors Center at Grants Grove up a narrow, switch-backed Panoramic Point Road, for a short hike to a spectacular view of the Sierras.

We stopped at the Lodgepole Market for sandwiches before adjourning to the lodge for a visit with Nan and George, and packing for our return trip to San Francisco and home.

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Today was a special day; George had laid out an aggressive itinerary.

Our first stop was at the NPS Lodgepole Visitors Center and Lodgepole Market. At the Visitors Center, George verified our itinerary, and we all walked through the exhibits. We purchased a few snack items and coffee at the Lodgepole Market, and were off for a full day of hiking.

A half mile hike down a fairly steep trail with some stairs led us to the world’s largest tree, the General Sherman Tree.

Along the way we passed many of the world’s largest trees, but my photos are no match for their magnitude and magnificence. The General Sherman Tree and Trail led us to the Congress Trail where many more of the gigantuan specimens live. The Congress Trail gets its name for two sets of trees, the Senate and the House, and a tree named The President.

This hike was one of our top 3 day hikes of all time, and left us speechless and in awe.

After a strenuous climb back to the parking lot, we drove to the Giant Forest Museum which provided a lot of information on the giant sequoias.

We then drove to Moro Rock and made the steep 1/4 mile climb up a 300 foot gain in elevation staircase/trail to the top of this granite dome and were rewarded with a 360 degree panoramic view of the Great Western Divide.

Our next stop was the Crescent Meadow Trail which took us through seemingly hundreds of the gentle giants overlooking a couple of fragile alpine meadows. We crossed a small stream and saw some beautiful trout–we think they were golden trout which the park is trying to protect. Snow still remained on the ground in places as the trail has only been opened a short while. A couple of notable sites were Tharp’s Log Cabin, built into the end of a fallen tree, and Chimney Tree, a hollow, standing remnant of a burnt out tree.

After the arduous hikes of the day, we drove through the Tunnel Log, a fallen sequoia that was tunneled through and the only tree one can drive through in the two parks (Sequoia and Kings Canyon).

The Wuksachi Lodge was a welcome site. We had a great dinner in the Lodge restaurant, somewhat making up for the less than mediocre fare last night.

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After our last night in Curry Village, we were up early again this morning, off to the coffee shop, followed by reading email in the reading room. Our plans were to have the breakfast buffet soon after the restaurant opened, but seemingly hundreds of middle schoolers beat us to the punch, overpowering the restaurant and its staff. The kids are here for a school outing and outdoor camp. During a lull in their arrival, we joined the que and had a pretty good breakfast while attempting to stay on our diet.

We returned to the “tent”, finished packing, checked out, and were on our way to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. Crossing the San Juaquin Valley, we stopped at a roadside market across the highway from one of many vineyards but found nothing we could live without.
Interestingly, a rose bush was planted at the end of most rows–we didn’t understand the rationale for this–maybe we should Google it.

Leaving the San Juaquin Valley at Fresno, California, we began gaining elevation, arriving at the entrance to Kings Canyon National Park about mid-afternoon.

At the Visitor’s Center, George pursued information on scenic drives and worthwhile hiking trails, given our time constraints.

We drove to the Grant Tree trailhead and hiked among the giant trees comprising this part of Grant Grove, including the Grant Tree, one of the two most famous trees in the park complex.

There were several other notable trees, but we did not have their names. We then drove an almost 4-wheel drive US Forest Service road to a turnout and hiked to the Chicago Stump, remaining after the tree was cut for exhibition at the Chicago World’s Fair.

By then we were all ready for a nice hotel room and a hot shower, so we drove the remaining 40 or 50 miles south to the Wuksachi Lodge at Sequoia National Park. After checking in and a hot shower, we ate dinner at the Lodge restaurant. It was just okay.

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We had a pretty ominous start for the day as Kay was up and down all night from apparent food poisoning, with chills and fever. She rarely gets sick so this was quite unusual. However, she definitely felt better when we got up about 6 am, and returned to her old self as the day wore on.

We’re staying in Curry Village, and it’s like a small city with shops, stores, food establishments, etc. All are pricey as is the norm for national park concessionaires. I walked down to the coffee shop, then across the path to the “reading” room for Internet. The reading room is really a separate building with a big porch and rocking chairs. Internet was good with a strong signal so we were able to keep up with email and news from home. Kay, Nan, and George joined me, and it was a surprise as George is not an early riser.

We drove down the Valley to the trailhead for viewing Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. The trail was short, but the views of the falls were inspiring. Yosemite Falls is the highest falls in the US.

Nan and George opted for a hike to Mirror Lake, and we stayed behind to further Kay’s recovery. We had reservations at the old and famous Ahwahnee Hotel, and the Mediterranean salad was among the best salads I have ever eaten, comparing favorably with the Caesar salad at the Grand Ely Lodge in Ely, Minnesota.

We departed the hotel and began a long afternoon of sightseeing, stopping along the way at the Tunnel View of the Valley. This is a pretty awesome place.

Here you can see El Capitan, Bridal Veil Falls, and Half Dome.

Our drive continued south and much higher in elevation to the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoia trees. It is almost unimaginable that such living things exist on our earth.

Driving back northward, we diverted off the main road for viewing the Valley. Our first stop provided a great view of both Vernal and Nevada Falls, and Half Dome.

From there, we drove to Glacier Point, one of the best areas from which to view the Valley. The short hike provided spectacular views at every turn.

On a whim, George elected to hike to the top of Sentinel Dome, and Nan and I joined him. This 1.1 mile hike climbed almost a 1,000 feet in elevation in the short distance from the trailhead to the the top, but the views were to behold. After the long, but exhilarating hike, we returned to Curry Village for our last night in the “tent”, ready for a good night’s sleep and tomorrow’s adventures.

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Kay and I slept so so, but awakened early for the hotel breakfast of boiled eggs, toast, and yogurt–yum, yum.

After the others had awakened and had breakfast, I caught the hotel shuttle back to airport with George to pick up the rental car, then we drove back to the hotel to pick up Kay and Nan, and luggage, and departed South San Francisco for Yosemite National Park. We made an uneventful drive, stopping along the way at one of many produce stands to buy apricots, oranges, apples, and cherries. This California fruit is outstanding. We arrived in Yosemite NP in mid-afternoon, and oohed and ahhed at our first waterfall. The drive down into the “valley” was pretty awesome along the steep, curvy roads. As we entered the valley, we stopped and hiked a short distance to a viewing area for Bridal Vail Falls.

At the registration office, I asked Kay to sign us in since she had made the reservations. She was not her usually enthusiastic self, and would have preferred that I do it, but offered to wait in line, etc. Enroute to the “tent”, we stopped by the Visitor’s Center for maps, park guides, and trail recommendations, and then bought sandwiches at an adjoining store–of course paying National Park Service concessionaire prices. Nan and George bought crackers and hummus (we’re all dieting), and we all ate at a picnic table just outside the store. With almost full tummies and armed with all of the info from the Visitor’s Center, we proceeded towards the “tent”, taking requisite photos of Half Dome along the way.

As we approached the “tent” area, we looked and looked for our “tents” among the several hundred, and finally finding them, had a difficult time then finding a parking place. And this is the off season!

As we unloaded the car, it was obvious that Kay was feeling bad; in her usual fashion she toughed it out, but went to bed immediately with chills and fever. She vomited and had other stomach problems, all symptomatic of food poisoning.

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