Good Friday

I am taking advantage of opportunities to get on the Internet to keep everyone posted. We had a change in plans since we were not able to stay at Sand Hollow State Park. The camp was fully reserved for the weekend so we had to move on. We went southeast to Lake Powell Recreation Area and found camping here. We spent a night at the developed campground and are now going to move to a rustic area to camp for the duration of the weekend. We will be on the beach of Lake Powell along with a few other RV's. We checked it out last night and it looks like a great place to kick back and relax.
We are hoping that everyone enjoys the Easter weekend and we miss being there with you.
Happy Easter to all...

A view from our campsite at the mountains across Lake Powell. This is a scenic area with lots of colors in the rocks and hills.

We visited with our neighbors here and it turns out they are from Ludington, Michigan. They are here for three months working as volunteers in the visitor's office. They gave us a lot of information about some of the rock formations around here and told us where some great hiking was to be found. These people spend three months volunteering at Big Bend N.P. in Texas and three months here for the past six years. What a way to spend the winter and camp for free!!

We are in Utah!!

We made it to Zion National Park yesterday and found that all of the campgrounds are full. No room at the inn?
They were not supposed to be taking reservations for camping until April, but opened the reservation system on the first of March because of demand. There are tons of foreign tourists at all of the parks we have been to so far. Lots of Asians, lots of Europeans, lots of Spanish and lots of Canadians. It shows that our country still is a draw to the rest of the world, and that they are clamoring to see it.
We found camping at Sand Lakes State Park, about a half hour from Zion and are spending a couple of nights here to relax, get some laundry done, and take in Zion Park.
Surprisingly the weather here is quite warm and we were in the high seventies yesterday and not too cool last night.
We are two months into our journey at this point and have a lot to see in the next thirty days. We are still planning to be back in Michigan by the first of May. Please see what you can do to get rid of all that snow for us before we return!! 
Hoping that everyone is well.

Looking back at some pictures I just can't get over the size of these trees at Sequoia N.P.

They started growing over two thousand years ago!

Walking among the giants makes you feel very humble.

The dunes in Death Valley. Seems like every desert has a sand dune somewhere.

The courtyard at Scotty's Castle. We got here as the tours were ending and the museum was closed, but walking around we couldn't believe that anyone could build this kind of mansion in the middle of nowhere in the 1920's. 

Wednesday out of Death Valley

We spent the past three days in Death Valley. The temperatures have been in the eighties. Did some exploring in the desert and a few hikes. There are a lot of neat things to do and see here and it is an interesting place. Right now we are on the road to Utah and are passing through Las Vegas. (Yeah, we are at Lowes in Las Vegas to bring you this post).

We left Yosemite and moved to an Army Corp of Engineers campground east of Vasalia, California and did day trips to Sequoia National Park and to Kings Canyon National Park. The actual valley at Kings Canyon was still closed due to snow in the mountains, but we did manage to see a lot of the park. The sequoia trees here are just incredible and we saw what is designated as the largest tree in the world, based on cubic feet of mass. That is the General Sherman sequoia. There is another, the General Grant that is forty feet across at the base! These trees are over two thousand years old!

Entering Sequoia N.P. 

A view from atop Moro Rock

Some of the trees were this big, others bigger!

 

Oops, this one fell down across Crescent Meadow.

Numero Uno in the world!

The lodge at King's Canyon N.P.

What it says. Two hundred feet below sea level.

Hiking at Mosiac Canyon in Death Valley

Little Hebe Crater. A volcanic/steam eruption from two thousand years ago.

Ubehebe Crater, 1/2 mile across. We hiked around the rim. You can see the parking lot on the other side.

Scotty's Castle at Death Valley. A rancher's mansion complete with a moat! 

Moving from Yosemite National Park to King's Canyon

We spent two and a half days in Yosemite and were in awe at the mountainous beauty of the Yosemite Valley. Every time we turned around we were taking more pictures because there was a new panorama or waterfall at every turn.

We found that Lowe's has a great WI FI signal so we are spending some time in Vasillia,California, on the way to our next camp to post pictures. I haven 't had a good signal in quite some time, so I am catching up from the past ten days.....

Hope you like them

Some of the forty elk that roam San Luis Reservoir State Park where we camped for a couple nights.

We took a day trip through Carmel and south along the coast on Highway One. The shoreline drive was great!

Nancy standing along side Big Sur

Some of the giant redwoods at Big Sur State Park

Some of the small redwoods in Big Sur State Park

 

A California lizard

Towering giants

Swallowed by a tree!

 

The footbridge across Big Sur river

A view on the coast. The temperature was 70 at camp when we left and 54 along the ocean

California coast

Sunday morning in San Francisco

The bay bridge from downtown

 

The San Franciscan sky line

Ghandi and the San Francisco tower on the waterfront

What a paint job! I couldn't pass it up

Tickets to Alcatraz. In the past they would take you there for free and put you up to boot!

Liz at the Bay Aquarium

These guys loved this town!

Fisherman';s Wharf

Carousel at the Wharf

Alcatraz Island

Sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf in the San Francisco Bay

Jumping a cable car

Kids at the park on St. Patricks Day

Monday morning at the Golden Gate National Park. We were heading north for a drive along the coast.

The Golden Gate Bridge

Another National Seashore.

The beach at Point Reyes

 

 

 

Sequoia Valley viewed from above. We had twenty miles of bad road to get here. We didn't think it was such a good idea, but it got better from here on out.

Finally made it!

We camped in the valley for two nights

Ahwahnee Hotel circa 1927

Yosemite Falls

 

Spectacular scenery everywhere

We were here too!

Bridalveil Falls

One of the rivers in the park

Mirror Lake

A rainbow at Vernal Falls

 

 

Painted rocks on the cliffs.

On our way out of Yosemite Park