This morning Gena cooked bacon and I cooked pancakes and we breakfasted together. The Monterey Bay Aquarium didn’t open until 10, so we had time for a leisurely meal. Gena stayed behind this morning to do laundry (and watch Milo) while Kerry, Bob and I went to the aquarium. We parked at the garage that was labeled Aquarium and Cannery Row parking. It turns out it was five blocks from the aquarium, but we made the best of it by checking the stores along the way for patches and cheap postcards. Once in the aquarium, we went first to see the feeding at the Open Sea tank. This tank had tuna, dolphin fish, sardines, sharks, hammerheads, sea turtles and a big sun fish, among others. These were the fish you’d see if you were dumped out ... read more

We hated to say goodbye to Yosemite, but it was time to go. We’ll be back someday. We drove back out the way we came on Highway 41, climbing up to 6,000 feet, then back down winding and steep roads. Kerry hates steep downhills, hates overheated brakes, stays clenched all the way down. But finally we reached flatter ground between Coarsegold and Fresno. Then it really flattened out, back to mile after mile of grapevines. I understand most of the grapes will become California raisins. We also passed orchards of walnuts, avocados (mmm, avocados,) cherries, and oranges, along with other crops unknown. Once we crossed I-5, and got through the second long construction delay, it started getting hilly again. The coastal mountain range came into view, though it was mostly brown. We were still on highway ... read more

Kerry, Gena, and I took the shuttle into the village around 10 am. Bob stayed in camp with Milo because they don’t allow dogs on the shuttles. We were a little late getting started, but so were a lot of other people, the shuttle got pretty crowded. At the Visitor Center Gena and I were able to get our stamps, patches and postcards, while Kerry studied the topographical map. We got back on the shuttle and rode to the trail that leads to the base of the Lower Yosemite Fall. We could hear the sound of the water from the road. The trail was short, about half a mile, through beautiful old growth timber, redwoods and pines mostly. There were Dogwood trees with enormous blossoms the size of my hand. The trees themselves were taller than ... read more

Friday morning we left Cattail Cove SP and drove into Lake Havasu City to an rv dealer, where we bought a new grease hub cover (or whatever) for the camper. Then on to California. We drove through many miles of Mojave Desert to Barstow on I-40, then Hwy 58 over the Tehachapi Mountains and into Bakersfield. We had an appointment with an rv dealer in Bakersfield to fix an electrical problem that showed up the night before. There the service manager recommended we just get a new gfi outlet at Walmart or Home Depot and change it out ourselves. This was without looking at the camper, just his assumption that that was the problem. Turns out it wasn’t, but that wasn’t evident until Saturday, when Kerry changed it out. Luckily his cousins, Jim and Jerry, are ... read more

Yesterday we decided to just stay put in Roper Lake State Park and take it easy. We rested, blogged, read and rested some more. Kerry and Gena went down to the “island” and walked around and waded in the lake. After supper we all went into the hot tub for a little more relaxing. This morning we packed up and headed to Tonto National Monument. It was a beautiful drive through the high desert and past Roosevelt Lake. At Tonto NM are some well-preserved cliff dwellings from the 1600’s and before. The saguaro cactus, along with most of the other cactus species, are in bloom. Tonto (which the ranger said means “foolish” in Spanish) also overlooks Roosevelt Lake. Quite a stunning site in the middle of the desert. The road we planned to take from Tonto ... read more