Blogs from Visalia, California, United States, North America

3rd July, 2009. Visalia, California. Off out to Tulare this morning, approx 12 miles down the road and another 57,000 people (some cities are really close here, Fresno has 900,000 people and is 40 miles up the road). Looking for something particular as its Independence Day sales, found, purchased and stored ready for the trip home, that wasn't hard, Anyway were going to do a round trip of two other country towns but at midday when we walked out into the 96F heatwave we decided to go back to the RV park for a swim. The Fireworks sales places aren't doing a roaring trade but we saw one place today selling fireworks manned by none other than the Fire Brigade, they were raising funds, bit different back home with the Fire Service dead against Fireworks. I'll ... read more

1st July, 2009. Visalia, California. Well, big effort this morning, we drove 40 miles down the road to Visalia, a town of about 120,000 and center of a big fruit growing and farming area. Californian Raisins are grown and processed nearby. More importantly to us it is close to Sequoia, and Kings national parks, Sequoia is the home of the giant Sequoia Trees which we plan to visit tomorrow. Today we booked into the local KOA (Kampgrounds of America), we have been booked in here for a while, this weekend is American Independence day (4th July) and most campgrounds get booked out, Friday is an official holiday so long weekend. Lots of Independence Day red/white and blue for sale in the shops and also now being decorated on homes, RV's and businesses. The people are pretty ... read more

Sixth stop: The arse end of nowhere AKA Exeter (Eastern California) Dodgy rating: some and some Crazy Count: A few goats Fun Rating: "Hmmmmm, kill weeds, I will" Yoda fun. Stay: 7th November - 20th November My time in San Francisco drew to a sad close and I prepared to exchange my hedonistic lifestyle for a few weeks of hard graft at my first WWOOFing placement at Harmony Hill (I hate to disappoint the lewd-minded friends of mine out there but I'm afraid WWOOFing is not a sexual term, it stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. Slightly less exciting I know). I've often found that it's the people you meet along the way that add to your experience of a place and without even realising it Scott, Szonic and Corey had helped to make ... read more

It seemed too good to be true. There was always a hint of the fairytale-Colin Frizzle ("and he's got a big...")-all a figment of Philip's imagination- about it. But yesterday (I am glad to announce) that I gained irresputable evidence that Laura Taylor, Californian beauty and apple of Philip's eye does, in fact, exist. I even shook her hand. Ok, so right now we're staying with Tim and Diana Mulick, who are friends of the Taylors in Woodlake and their adorably hyperactive boys: Jacob, Samuel and Thomas. Woodlake is not at all a tourist place - if it was, then believe me, the road signs need improvement! - so what we're getting here is a reallife slice of American family life. They live on a citrus ranch, about 22 acres of orange, lemon and olive groves. ... read more

Only three days left before we leave for our vacation/wedding/honeymoon. It is difficult trying to get everything done, as I still have school and my 2nd job teaching, and both of us are working. Luckily, we do not have a reception to worry about right now, in 2 weeks it will all be about the reception and planning our next vacation. Who knows where and when, we will have to wait to see if we want tropical or what, depends how much we like Belize and Guatemala. So much to do so little time. Can't wait for Friday and on our way, so I can be done with all of this stress. ... read more

. After the challenges of yesterday, the plan for today should be recover and do nothing… However, it is not to be, as we need to move on if we are to make some commitments later in the month. So the plan is sleep in a little, publish the Blog, tie up a few loose ends in Yosemite and move on towards our next destination… Statistics Starting Destination: Midpines, California Ending Destination: Vidalia, California Ending Destination GPS: N: 36° 19.577’ W: 119° 20.700’ Miles Driven: 248 Distance Walked: 3.1 miles Seen - Carl’s Favorite Tee Shirt Slogan: Support your local Search and Rescue… Get Lost! Investigating… We accomplished the first two items on our list without any difficulties; then moved on towards ... read more