On Wednesday, the 13th, we headed west toward California and the Giant Sequoias. We opted to leave the “house” behind and made reservations in Three Rivers, California for a cute little cabin for two days.
It’s been a while since we weren’t able to just hook up to our belongings and take them with us, so we had to remember what to pack for the trip. First off, we realized we would have to use our Wal Mart “Samsonite” (plastic bags) since all our suitcases are in the barn back home in Texas. Oh well, it wasn’t like we would be having to tote our “Samsonite” past a registration desk in a hotel, so all was well. We managed to remember the phone chargers, but I forgot to take the charger for the camera battery (oops). The only other thing I forgot was the fingernail polish, which isn’t exactly a necessity, so we did pretty good.
We pulled out of Fallon around 9:00 in the morning, ready to knock out the 300+ miles to the Sequoia National Park.
The Fall colors were really pretty!
And we marveled at this beautiful lake out in the middle of nowhere.
We checked out the gas prices in the first town we came to in California. Wow!
We had a yahoo map to follow, the road atlas handy and the GPS system hooked up, never really noticing that our route would take us straight through Yosemite until we drove right up to it! Isn’t it amazing those little details that just slip by you? We’re so smart!
Well, Yosemite was gorgeous, of course. But the road was so curvy and steep in places that we were doubly glad we weren’t pulling the fifth wheel.
As far as the park, I’ll let the pictures do the talking:
These were just a few out of over 200 pictures I took in the more than two hours it took to get through the park. We were awestruck by the beauty all around us, but it was a hard drive with lots of twists and turns. So many that by the time we got to Three Rivers that evening, my back and neck muscles were aching from keeping myself braced in the seat all day from the constant swaying from side to side.
After leaving Yosemite, the roads straightened out a lot and the landscape changed to foothills, then orange / lemon groves and vineyards. Pretty!
We finally made it to Three Rivers and our destination for the next two days, the Sequoia Village Inn, just before dark and boy oh boy, were we ready to get out of that truck!
Three Rivers makes me think of quaint little town in the Swiss Alps. It’s just beautiful and cozy and friendly. There was a black and white cat lazing on the porch of the office across the street and an orange cat that made herself at home around all the cabins, including ours. I loved this little town.
It was too dark to get pictures by the time we settled into our cabin, so I put the camera away for the day, got myself a beer and headed outside to sit at the table, gaze at the stars and smell that wonderful mountain air. Heaven!
So that takes care of our trip to Three Rivers. I’ll stop here and start another post about our trip into the park. I know, I’m w-a-a-y behind, but I’ll get caught up today. Hang with me, folks!
We’re still in Fallon, Nevada at the Naval Air Station RV park. Life here has been relaxed and easy. The air is crisp and the sun shines most of the time. I love opening the door and the windows, letting in the fresh air. Oh, and the sunsets are beautiful!
We did have a few days of rain and cooler temperatures, but now the weather has returned to normal and the sun is shining again.
I haven’t blogged much lately simply because since our trip to Reno, we haven’t been anywhere to blog about, unless you count Wal Mart as an interesting place. That, however, is about to change.
We will be leaving here Wednesday for the Sequoia National Park in California where we will be staying for two nights. We opted not to drag the fifth wheel along with us, so we’ll be staying in this cabin.
We will just be a few miles from the redwood trees that we are both anxious to see and I hope we also get to see some wildlife and beautiful countryside. So I’ll be taking lots of pictures for the blog.
One of the most interesting things about our stay here in Fallon is watching the fighter jets as they take off and streak across the sky. It amazes me that anyone can have the mental capacity to safely maneuver something that travels at that speed. Heck, I just don’t think that fast! Could be why I’m not a Navy pilot, ya think?
Probably.
They leave the runway almost even with the RV park and just above the buildings when they are first visible to us. They sometimes take off one after another, making for a lot of noise around here, but it doesn’t last long since they are gone in no time. I was sitting outside the other day when they were taking off, so I snapped a couple of pictures.
We have enjoyed the Flight Line Bar & Grill and their daily lunch specials once in a while. The movies theater is across the street from the RV park and the movies are free and new releases, but the majority of the new movies that come out these days don’t interest us, so we’ve only been to see one. We have gotten quite a few movies from thrift stores or from wal mart that we’d rather watch here at home.
I’ve had more time on my hands lately, so I’ve been trying some new recipes, which is fun. It’s hard to find new things to cook that are healthy and tasty without buying expensive spices and things that I don’t normally stock, so I’m going to try and buy a little here and there to build up a supply. I enjoy cooking new things and trying new recipes, so I’ve decided to put my imagination to work in coordinating what I can do in an RV and just go for it. Who knows, I might just put together an RV cookbook.
I did take a few pictures of the RV park we are in the other day. So this is our current “neighborhood”:
That’s our “home sweet home” above. And this is the view outside our front door:
Notice the corner of a net on the left of the picture? That is part of the driving range that is connected to the RV park and DeWayne likes to utilize once or twice a day.
That’s all the news for now. Stay tuned for details of the trip to California and also when we go to Lake Tahoe. I can’t wait! So, in the meantime……
HAPPY TRAILS!!
Snookie let me know this morning that it has been nine days since I posted on the blog, so I decided I’d better get off my lazy butt and get something posted today. Thanks for the nudge, Snook!
We left Declo, Idaho Saturday the 18th and had over 300 miles to cover for the day. We wanted to make it to Winnemucca, Nevada and stay in Wal Mart parking lot for the night.
We turned south toward Nevada at Twin Falls, Idaho and crossed the Snake River immediately after leaving the interstate onto U.S. highway 93. After crossing the bridge, we just had to pull over and get some pictures.
The river is waaaaay down in a deep canyon and it was hard to get good pictures due to the 6’ chain link fence that stood at the edge, so I had to hold the camera above the fence to take them. We walked down a hill to get to the fence and met a guy that said something to the effect of “You can get really good pictures if you go down there to the end of the path and go through the fence”. Okay, I’m thinking, til I actually find the spot he’s talking about. The sheer drop-off was off-putting enough, but when I saw a WREATH by the fence, I decided it just wasn’t worth it. I did find a big rock to stand on that gave me a little more of a view over the fence, so I settled for that.
Highway 93 awarded us with views of beautiful farm land where we could see for miles and miles. The fields of alfalfa were so pretty. There’s nothing like the sweet smell and deep green of a field of alfalfa.
Then we crossed into Nevada and I got a picture of the sign, but cut part of it off. But here’s what I did get.
By this time, we were seeing much less farm land and lots more hills and sagebrush.
The first town we came to in Nevada was “Jackpot”, which I thought was fitting for Nevada. Soon after, we too Interstate 80 and headed west again in the direction of Winnemucca. The landscape got rocky and we stopped at a roadside park where a stream cut through the rocky cliffs.
I looked up at the sheer rock cliffs beside the park and noticed all the graffiti left by folks dumb talented enough to climb them.
Back on the road, we drove through valley after valley of flat lands, occasional alfalfa fields, sagebrush and mountains in the distance. In places, I wondered just how many miles we could see across to the distant mountains. Some had snow near the tops.
We made it to Winnemucca and Wal Mart parking lot for the night none too soon. We were both ready to get out of that truck for a while. We found a great spot and got set up for the night, ate our supper, and went to bed early.
We left Winnemucca around 10:00 and got back on the road for the last leg of our trip to Fallon, Nevada. There were a few clouds around and the morning sky was a brilliant blue.
We only had around 150 miles to cover, so it was an easy day. The terrain had not changed from the day before. More sagebrush, hills and mountains in the distance.
When we got close to Fallon, I abandoned the camera to help navigate using the instructions on the website to Fallon Naval Air Station, which took us to the back gate of the base, which was closed. So we had to backtrack to the main gate, then find the RV park inside.
The RV park itself is well maintained and the sites are a comfortable distance apart, which I like. It has concrete pads to park on and the rest is all gravel. The camp hosts are very friendly and helpful, so we like it here. I had read on the website that the laundry was free, but I guess it has changed since that was posted. The washers and dryers each cost a dollar per load, but I’m not complaining. And the laundry facility also includes a book exchange and a place to work on jigsaw puzzles.
The weather is a definite plus! 80’s during the day and constant sunshine. Ahhhhhhh, love it!
We made a trip into Reno, which is 60 miles from Fallon, on Wednesday so DeWayne could take care of some business at the VA Administration and we could check out the casinos.
We passed through mountains and some great scenery on the way.
We rounded a bend and there was Reno in the windshield.
And the casinos in the distance.
After visiting the VA office and having some lunch, we drove down to the casinos and spotted the Eldorado, which is where we always stay in Shreveport.
We parked and went in to try our luck, which wasn’t great. We both went in with $100 and DeWayne went to the black jack tables while I browsed around among the various slots. After about an hour, we left for home, DeWayne still had 80 dollars and I still had 20, so you do the math. No big winnings for us, for sure! So we came back home without the thousands of dollars we planned on bringing back. Darn….
Our stay here at Fallon NAS has been relaxed and we love the sunshine. The movie theatre is just across the street and has free movies daily. We plan to go over there in a couple of hours to watch “Eat, Pray, Love” and I hope it’s as good as the book was. We’ve gone to the “Flightline” bar and grill a couple of times here on the base for lunch. They have specials every day for $5 and serve really good food.
There is also a bowling alley that we can go to, but haven’t yet. Next door to the movie theatre is a thrift store that is open two days a week and DeWayne has been there to look for movies and books. We got our flu shots out of the way for the year at the local CVS pharmacy a couple of days ago.
We can look out the kitchen window and watch the fighter jets taking off several times a day on certain days. Let me tell ya, those navy pilots are hauling a## when they leave the ground!
We plan to visit Lake Tahoe this next week and also plan to take a couple of days and travel into California to see the redwoods while we are here, but I don’t know yet when we will do that.
I think that’s all the news and I’m caught up finally. I think I’ll hit the shower and get ready for the movie at 3:30. I promise to be more prompt with my postings, so stay tuned for the next episode of the “The Breeze”. And in the meantime…….
HAPPY TRAILS!
