SEQUOIA / KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS, CA.

     After spending the night in the Walmart parking lot in Visalia, we arrived at the Kaweah Park Resort in Three Rivers, California on March 23, 2013.  The campground had a beautiful setting right on the Kaweah River and our site had water, electric, sewer and wifi.  We had decided not to camp inside the National Park after following the weather reports showing cold temperatures holding firm in the higher elevations, after all it is still March.  Anyway, during our check-in at the resort office I discovered that the guy behind the counter, Kevin Canter, was born and raised in Brooklyn until his family moved West when he was about 15 years old.  So with that said and me being from New York, he took good care of us during our stay and he received a nice plate of Spaghetti and Meatballs from us before we left.  The strangest thing about meeting him is his remarkable resemblance to a friend of mine, Nicky Vergata, who passed away a few years back.  We spent the rest of the day setting up camp and getting comfortable.

     We got an early start the following day to get going on our tour of these adjoining parks.  The plan was to start at the Ash Mountain entrance in Sequoia, drive through both parks on the Generals Highway, and exit at the Big Stump entrance in Kings Canyon.  Our first stop was at Tunnel Rock and then on to the Foothills Visitor Center to check out the displays.  We were then off to Hospital Rock to view the Indian Exhibit and hike around a bit.  Next up was a drive through Tunnel Log and then a hike to Crescent Meadow and a look at Tharp's Log Home.  A pioneer home made from a single hollow sequoia log.  Then it was up 400 steps to the top of Moro Rock for a beautiful view of the surrounding area from an elevation of 6725 feet.  After making our way back down we were then off to see the Worlds Largest Tree, (Sequoiadendron giganteum), the "General Sherman Tree!"  By volume, it is the largest known living single stem tree on Earth and estimated to be from 2300 to 2700 years old.  Unfortunately, many areas of the park and park roads were still closed off for the Winter, so we were limited in our exploration of the park.  So at this point we headed over to the Kings Canyon Visitor Center and from there took a gander at the "General Grant Tree!"  This giant sequoia is 268 feet tall and 107 feet in circumference.  You can't help but feel humbled at times standing in the presence of these enormous trees that are more than 2000 years old.

     It was late afternoon when we finished our abbreviated tour of the two parks so we headed out the Big Stump entrance on Hwy 180.  We took a left on Hwy 245 heading South and another left on Hwy 198, which took us back to our campground.  The following day we took a drive to check out the Army Corps of Engineers campground on Kaweah Lake and some of the other recreation areas along Hwy 198.   The next stop on our Endless Adventure will be Yosemite National Park!  What a big beautiful country we have! 


FP & RG

PS:  To view all of our photos, please use the link below to Frank's facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/frank.posillico.351

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, CA & NV

     On our way from Joshua Tree to Death Valley we stopped at the Walmart in Barstow, CA to have the oil changed in our Jeep Liberty.  We thought we would be in and out and on our way in no time, but when the tech tried to move the Jeep in to the shop the transmission started to slip.  After adding some transmission fluid we were able to have the oil change completed.  The tech let me in the pit and showed me that transmission fluid was leaking from somewhere.  Since we had an extended warranty we located the nearest Jeep Dealer and set up an appointment for the next day.  We spent the night at the Barstow Flying J Truck stop and brought the Jeep over early the next morning.  After looking at it we were told that the transmission fluid lines to the transmission cooler had corroded and were leaking.  A little too much road salt was probably to blame.  That's what you get when you buy a car from the snow belt!  Anyway, they said they would have to order the parts from L.A. and that they wouldn't be here until tomorrow.  So I checked our extended warranty, and you guessed it, the transmission lines were not covered!  Every single part of the transmission was covered, but not these external lines!  With that said, we took off in the RV and spent another night at the Flying J.  The job was completed by 4:30 pm the following day, so we hooked up the Jeep and finally headed for Death Valley.  We spent the night at a rest area on I-15 and reached the park the following day on March 7, 2013.

     Now let me ask you, does "Death Valley" sound like a place you would want to visit?  Not really!  So why would anyone want to spend time there?  Let's look at some facts about Death Valley; Situated in the Mojave Desert in Eastern California, it is the lowest and driest area in North America and it holds the record for the highest recorded temperature on Earth, 134 degrees on July 10, 1913 at Furnace Creek.  The average yearly rainfall is less than 2 1/2 inches (we were shocked when it rained all day, 3/8/13, the second day we were there) and within the valley lies Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level.  So why do people come here?  Well, from November to March, the temperatures average between the high 60's and the low 80's.  Not a bad climate for snow birds, and that is one of the reasons why we were here.  In addition, Death Valley is about 120 miles long and there are many interesting sites.

     We set up camp at the Sunset Campground, which is across the street from the Furnace Creek Ranch and right near the Visitor Center.  It is just another one of those large gravel parking areas with rest rooms, a dump station, a fresh water station and dumpsters.  Nothing fancy...  an inexpensive dry camping site with plenty of sunshine for the solar panel... just the way we like it!  The first day we did a basic set up and the second day it rained all day, which was quite amazing to us since we were at one of the driest places on Earth.  Day three we finished setting up for our two week stay, so by day four we were ready to explore.  The first thing we did was to drive to Beatty, NV to get gas, since the price of gas at Furnace Creek was $5.64 a gallon for regular.  Returning from Beatty we stopped at an old ghost town call Rhyolite and checked out what was left of some old buildings from this early mining town.  We then drove through Titus Canyon, which consisted of 4-wheeling along some narrow, one-way, treacherous gravel roads up and over Red Pass in the Grapevine Mountains and then down through Titus Canyon.  The canyon started out very wide and ended up quite narrow as we exited out to a parking area and then on to Scotty's Castle Road for our return drive back to our campsite.  That, by far, was the most adventurous drive we have taken with our Jeep Liberty!

     Since we basically have plenty of time on our hands, being retired and all, when it comes to exploring the National Parks and such, I don't like to explore day after day if we don't have to.  I prefer to have R&R every other day so that we can regroup, relax, read, cook a nice meal, or catch up on the computer. However, the following day we did take a bike ride about a mile down the road to see the Harmony Borax Works where Borax was once processed for shipping.  Some of you will remember the "20 Mule Team Borax" commercials or "Death Valley Days" from TV when we were growing up.  Well, this was one of the places that helped produce that Borax Soap and that Boraxo hand cleaner that I remember so well.  That bike ride didn't take too long, so we did get R&R for the rest of the day.

     Death Valley National Park is located for the most part in California, but a small portion of the park is in Nevada, including Devils Hole.  This fact helped us check off two states while visiting the park.  Devils Hole is located within Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada.  It is a fresh water thermal spring in a deep cavern and is the only home of the endangered "Devils Hole pupfish".  While at the refuge we took a hike and later parked and had lunch at the reservoir while watching the wildlife.  After lunch we headed back and took the drive to Dante's View.  From this mountain top location we had a breathtaking view of Death Valley.  We also took a drive through the 20 Mule Team Canyon for a look at some interesting geological formations and then a drive to Zabriske Point for more of the same and that was enough for one day.

     Starting week two, the weather report told us that it was going to be about 100 degrees as we drove to Badwater Basin after breakfast.  We walked out to the valley floor to get a close up of the parched salt crusted earth at the lowest point in North America.  Our next stop was a hike to see the Natural Bridge, then to view the Devils Golf Course.  After that it was a drive to see the Artists Palette and then one last hike on the Golden Canyon Interpretive Trail.  Although it was quite hot that day we did manage to enjoy our site seeing.  The following day was 101 degrees, which we spent hopping in and out of the pool at the Furnace Creek Ranch.

     After a few more days of R&R, we started up the Jeep again and headed out for more fun in the sun.  This time we went to see the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, hiked to Darwin Falls and in Mosaic Canyon.  After seeing the sand dunes and walking out on to these immense piles of sand we had quite a drive over the Panamint Range to the trail head for Darwin Falls.  The drive and hike was well worth it.  On our return trip we stopped to hike in the Mosaic Canyon, where Rene climbed her way up to the top of a narrow cliff.  See photo below.

     After a day off to do some laundry, we took the drive up to see Scotty's Castle and the Ubehebe Crater.  Scotty's Castle has an interesting story behind it, but basically a cowboy conman (Scotty) swindles a Millionaire from Chicago on a phony gold mine claim and the Millionaire ends up taking a liking to Scotty, falls in love with the area and builds this castle retreat in the desert.  The Ubehebe Crater was nothing more than a large hole in the ground where a mountain top use to be before it was blown off during a volcanic eruption.  Unlike Crater Lake in Oregon, there is no water in this crater, so if you wanted to you could hike down to the bottom and then hike all the way back up again.  We decided to pass on that one!

     Anyway, we had to get back to the RV and start packing things up for our next adventure.  Although we had a great time in Death Valley, we were departing the following day and would need to plan out a few things.  We would need to stop for gasoline, propane, an oil change for the RV and find a Walmart to restock our supplies.  I believe we found it all in Bakersfield, CA. and we are ready for our next stop... Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks.

FP & RG

 

To view all of our photos, go to Frank's facebook page using the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/frank.posillico.351

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK

     What is a Joshua Tree you may ask?  Well... it is sort of like a yucca plant on steroids.  They are giant branching yuccas (Yucca brevifolia) that got their name from early Mormon settlers.   The tree's unique shape reminded them of a Biblical story in which Joshua reaches his hands up to the sky in prayer.

     Our first concern about camping in Joshua Tree in early March was that the Winter daytime temps average around 60 degrees, but the nights could go down to freezing.  We had been monitoring the weather there at two of the RV campgrounds in the park where we were considering staying.  We decided on the Cottonwood campground near the Southern entrance to the park which showed warmer temps than the Black Rock campground near the West entrance.  We are happy to say that we didn't experience any freezing temps during our stay.  

     The Cottonwood campground consisted of two loops with a total of 62 sites.  The loop roads were a little narrow, especially when an RV had its drivers side slide out in the open position at one of the "pull over" sites.  There were also a few "back in" sites for RV's as well.  There are no hookups for RV's, but Black Rock and Cottonwood have fresh-water fill-up and dump stations.  There is a restroom with flush toilets at each loop.  We were lucky that we arrived early that Saturday, because the campground was filled by the end of the day.

     We spent all day Sunday touring the park.   We drove from the  Cottonwood Visitor Center, North on Pinto Basin Road, up to the Oasis Visitor Center where we checked out the exhibits and walked over to the Oasis of Mara.  We then drove West on Hwy 62 over to the Joshua Tree Visitor Center and re-entered the park heading South East on Park Blvd.  We stopped at Hidden Valley to hike the trail and watched some climbers scale the cliffs.  After that we drove to Keys View (5185') and got a nice view of the Coachella Valley farmlands, the Salton Sea and the Sonoran Desert mountains in Mexico. Across the valley we could see Mount Jacinto (10,804') towering above Palm Springs.  We also hiked the Arch Rock Nature Trail, the Skull Rock Trail and the Cottonwood Springs Trail.

     At the end of the long day, one thing that we agreed upon was that the giant boulders throughout the park, referred to as Jumbo Rocks, were just as cool as the Joshua Trees.  Our first stop in California turned out to be much more exciting than we had expected!

FP & RG

PS: To view additional photos of our adventures please follow the link to Frank's facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/frank.posillico.351

QUARTZSITE, ARIZONA

     If you have an RV and want to spend up to 7 months (Oct. to Apr.) somewhere warm, on U.S. Government property managed by the Bureau of Land Management, for a total cost of $180.00 and don't mind boondocking, then this is the place for you.  You have this option in what is called the Long Term Visitor Area or if you want to stay for a shorter time you can visit for 14 days at a cost of $40.00.  (You can stay 14 days for free in the Short Term Visitor area North of town, but you will not have access to water, sewer or trash container.)  It may not be the most picturesque location on the planet, but you do have some desert mountains views in almost every direction.  The 4 Long Term Visitor Areas are only a few miles South of town so if you need supplies you are not far away.  There is also a Walmart in Parker about 35 miles North of Quartzsite.

     Now some of you may not know what I am talking about when I say boondocking, also known as dry camping.  When you boondock you do not have any of the amenities that you normally get at a full service campground.  There are no electric, water or sewer hookups for your RV.  You need to provide your own electricity, replenish your water supply and empty your waste holding tanks.

     Your electricity can be generated by using either solar panels, wind turbines or by running your generator to keep your batteries charged.  You are basically running all of your electrical devices from your 12 volt battery system or using an inverter that converts 12 volts to 120 volts to run traditional appliances.  Keep in mind that the refrigerator operates primarily on propane and only uses a small amount of 12 volt electricity to power a circuit panel.  The cook-top and oven also operate on propane as does the hot water heater and hot air furnace.  If you are a real simple camper and don't need to use a lot of traditional electrical appliances you can probably get by with just a simple 12 volt system to operate the lights,water pump and to charge your cell phone and laptop.  For the heavy 120 volt appliance users (satellite TV system, microwave, etc.) you will need a large battery bank and multiple solar panels and/or a wind turbine.  We are of the simple type.  We currently have one 95 watt solar panel charging 2 group 24 AGM batteries.  We have another 95 watt expansion panel that we bought on sale recently that was shipped to New York.  We will install it when we get back.

     The water that you use on a daily basis is stored in a holding tank in your RV and when it runs out it must be replenished.  You can do this two different ways; you can bring the RV to the water or you can bring the water to the RV.  If you choose to bring the RV to the water is may be as simple as driving your motorized RV to the fresh water station and filling up or you may have to hook up your trailer type RV to your tow vehicle and move it to get your tank filled.  These two scenarios require too much effort and a waste of fuel, so boondockers have come up with some ingenious ways to get there water tanks filled.  This usually involves some sort of container to fill with water, bring back to your RV and then transfer the water to your holding tank.  The transfer is either by gravity feed or my some type of pump.  We carry two 7 gallon water tanks in the back of our Jeep Liberty and when we need water we fill them up and then using a 12 volt water pump to pump the water in to our holding tank.  We tried holding the 7 gallon tanks in our arms and pouring it in to the filler opening, but 7 gallons of water weighs 58 lbs and our backs were not going to survive this system, so we went with the water pump.  So much easier!

     Now, when you use the water in your RV it goes down the sink or shower drain and collects in a holding tank, also known as the grey water tank.  The same goes when you use your toilet, but that goes in to a different holding tank, known as the black water tank.  At some point these tanks will have to be emptied and the question arises; do I move the RV to the dump station or do I empty the tanks in to some type of container and bring that to the dump station?  Some of the campers we have seen use containers for this job, especially the ones that own a tow-able RV.  It is too much effort to move the trailer to the dump station.  Most campers with drive-able RV's will drive their RV to the dump station to empty their tanks and while they are there, refill with fresh water as well.  We like to use the latter method, because I don't like to let the RV sit for too long a period without starting the engine and moving the vehicle around.  So when the tanks need to be emptied we just start her up and drive her over to the dump station.  Now keep in mind that the grey water tank will usually fill faster than the black water tank, so the trick is to limit the amount of water that goes down the drain so as to lengthen the time between runs to the dump station.  That means taking NAVY showers and using a wash basin in the kitchen sink to catch the water from going down the drain, then dump that in to a bucket and then dump the bucket in a nearby restroom toilet when it is full.

     I know this boondocking thing sounds like a lot of effort, but we see it as a challenge to us to live "Off the Grid" as they say and reduce the cost of living in our RV while traveling on the road.  This way our financial resources can be best used to fuel the RV so that we may continue with our trek to Alaska and stay within our monthly budget.

And here is Rene's view of Quartzsite, Arizona -

     Well lets see, my first 'site' was just as we drove into the town of Quartzsite.  It was the naked backside of the infamous Quartzsite bookstore owner - go figure!  Once we found out which area had the water and dump station we headed there and looked for a spot not far from the fill area (you don't want to be too close to the dump area - enough said).  My impression was that this was a big rocky desert area with RVs and assorted vehicles haphazardly strewn around the grounds.   We got set up and were in shorts and flip-flops enjoying the sun soon after.  We did our first tour of the selling areas near town, it was past the 'big tent' time so things were extremely downsized.  (Quartzsite is known for its RV and Rock & Mineral shows.)

     We spent time riding our bikes down through the trails that headed back into the mountains near camp.  It  got a bit too rough after a while so we decided to go get the jeep and do some 4-wheeling instead.  We viewed campers way back into the outback areas, I personally am not looking for that much remoteness.  While Frank worked on other RV projects I took the time to make some reflective window coverings to try to alleviate the heat on high temperature days.

     We took a side trip one day to the Imperial Dam LTVA area to check out the scenery at this BLM managed area.  We were considering splitting our 14 days between Quartzsite and Imperial Dam, but decided to stay put.  This LTVA was located near the Yuma Proving Grounds, so we stopped on the way back to look at the display area of old military test vehicles just outside the entrance.

     On one of our R&R days I spent the whole day hulling and cleaning a bunch of black walnuts given to us by a fellow camper from Iowa who camped next to us when we were at Padre Island National Seashore.  My initial excitement wore off quickly after only a few walnuts, but I persevered on and completed the task.  I have already used those walnuts in banana bread and I'm saving some for the brownies that I am planning on making soon.

     It had been windy for quite a few days so we headed out for a hike through the camp area to check out the other RVs, buses and campers.  We were looking at all the solar panels and wind turbines that some of the hardcore boondockers were using.  We ended up wandering through an area that was thoughtful enough to post a sign warning people that there may be "nude sunbathers" - thankfully there were none out on this windy cool day.

     We found out that Frank's cousin was going to be visiting their retirement home in Chandler, Ariz. so we backtracked one day and headed the 150 miles back towards Phoenix and spent the afternoon enjoying a nice lunch and letting Frank and his cousin Mary (husband Tom) get caught up with family news.

     The next couple of days were spent restocking at Walmart in Parker, AZ, and doing laundry in town.  Near the laundromat Frank discovered a classic old MCI RV bus conversion similar to his friend Jonathan's. It excited him and initially he began formulating options for the future - personally it was a scary investment that I just couldn't quite buy into.  We both moved on and got ready for our next destination across the border in California.

FP & RG

     To see photos of our travels, please go to Frank's facebook page by clicking the link below to view albums.

https://www.facebook.com/frank.posillico.351

SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK & TONTO NATIONAL FOREST

     Continuing with our Westward trek our next stop brought us to Tucson, Arizona and Saguaro National Park.  The National Park is in two sections, one East of central Tucson and the other on the West side of town.  The National Park does not operate a campground at either section so for this adventure we stayed at the Gilbert Ray Campground in the Tucson Mountains County Park, near the West section of the Park.  The sites had water & electric, but you had to use the dump station to empty your holding tanks.  The park was very well kept and beautifully landscaped with plenty of Saguaros and other plants native to the area.

     We decided to visit the East section of the park first, so we stopped at the Rincon Mountain Visitor Center to check the exhibits.  We left there and drove the 8 mile long Cactus Forest Drive loop where many of the saguaros are over 150 years old.  The following day we drove over to the West section and stopped at the Red Hills Visitor Center and checked out more exhibits.  On this side of town there was a 9 mile Bajada Loop Drive, which we drove through while making various stops along the way to hike some trails.  We strolled through the Desert Discovery Nature Trail and hiked the Valley View Overlook Trail to stunning views of the cactus studded landscapes.  By the time we were done we were on "Cactus Overload!"

     Our next destination was the Tonto National Forest just North of Mesa, Arizona.  We stayed at a campground called Phon De Sutton.  It was another parking lot campground, but it was right on the Lower Salt River with a view of the Superstition Mountains.  This campground did not have water, electric or a dump station, however a few miles away at a Shell gas station, water (free) and a dump station ($5.00) were available.  We needed a cheap place to stay in the Phoenix area and this was pretty reasonable at $6.00 a night.

     One thing I wanted to do while we were in the Phoenix area was to visit Arizona RV Salvage and hunt for some hard to find parts for the RV.  I had used them in the past and they helped me out with whatever it was that I was looking for at the time.  So now I had a chance to visit in person and to see if they had what I was looking for this time around.  Well, it must have been my lucky day, they had the parts.

     The other thing I wanted to do was to get together with my old high school buddy, Peter Jaffe.  I saw him about 10 years ago when he invited me on a fishing trip to Lee's Ferry, where we camped and fished for 4 days in the Grand Canyon just South of the Glen Canyon Dam.  Unfortunately, he was kind of backlogged with his business, Southwest Cable, but he found time to have lunch with us in North Phoenix.   It was good to see him again, even if it was just for lunch.  I hope to see him again next time we are in the area.

FP & RG

     To view photos from our travels, please use the link below to Frank's facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/frank.posillico.351

GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS & CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARKS

     Our first impression upon pulling in to the "blacktop" campground at Guadalupe Mountains National Park was that this place looks like a parking lot, which it was.  Adding to our concern was the fact that the campground did not have a dump station, although it did provide fresh water, restrooms, and outdoor sinks for washing dishes. We adapted well and continued our practice of emptying gray water occasionally by making multiple trips with our 4-gallon bucket to the restroom, and practicing water conservation.

     Soon after our first hike in the afternoon on day one our concerns disappeared as we thoroughly enjoyed the Smith Spring Trail and the Frijole Ranch grounds.  We liked the ingenuity and simplicity of the fruit orchards, garden areas, handmade fences and irrigation ditches.  We even got our first good view of some javelina's, while they aren't cute they weren't as intimidating looking as we thought they would be. We realized that it was going to take an extra day to explore the trails and areas of this small but enjoyable park so we went ahead and booked another day.

     On day two we took a side trip to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, about a 30 minute drive over the border  into New Mexico.  We enjoyed our walk through the caverns and were amazed at the beauty of this underground wonderland.  Having been to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky we were impressed by the indirect lighting throughout the caverns in Carlsbad and enjoyed it much more than Mammoth Caves which, to us, seemed to be way too dark to view many of the details.

     On day three we hiked the McKittrick Trail to the Pratt Cabin.  This was a fun hike with a variety of terrain and plenty of 'scat' identification.  At one point Frank commented "with all this land why do the animals have to poop right on the trail?"  We stopped again at the Frijole ranch, but it was still closed, so we checked out the grounds once more and were amazed at the variety of fruit trees that had been planted in this small ranch orchard.  After dinner we hiked from the campground over to the old Butterfield Stagecoach Trail and Pinery Station.  This was a leisurely stroll and it was interesting to hear about the history of this business venture.  

     On day four we hiked the Devil's Hall Trail.  We like trails that require some climbing and this one had some boulders that we enjoyed scrambling over.  That night we listened to the wind blow down from the mountains and appreciated our warm and cozy RV. We were pulling out the next morning and were glad that we took the time to appreciate this little park.

     To view photos from the National Parks we visited, please use Frank's facebook link below:

https://www.facebook.com/frank.posillico.351