Scouting Trip

Last week we flew down to California for a series of family visits starting in Visalia and ending in San Diego.  The primary purpose of the trip was to attend Mama Grande's (Eva and Julia's Great Grandmother, and Mary's grandmother) 85th birthday party in Visalia.  We also had secondary trips to Los Angeles to visit my family, and San Diego to visit Mary's mom.  It was an ambitious trip with lots of driving on tap and hot, hot weather in the Central Valley.  Along the way, I managed a trip up to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park and saw the Giant Sequoias while scouting for a future Calfornia camping adventure in the trailer. 

Mary and I have been living in the Northwest now for over 15 years, but both of us are California natives.  My home State takes a lot of flack for crazy politics, overcrowded beaches, and endless traffic jams, but I am still very much a Californian.  The Golden State will always be my home, and I truly love just about everything there is about California - crazy politics, overcrowded beaches, ridiculously hot weather and all.  There is just something in my blood that draws me to the beauty of the California farmlands and the dry hills full of Oak trees.

The dozens of rivers pouring out of the Sierras are also a huge draw for me.  California has the best whitewater rafting in the country (are you sensing my bias yet?).  Nothing beats ninety degree-plus temperatures better than Class IV and V whitewater in your face (except maybe some Class II and III on a beautiful stretch of California river).  I ran many of them when I lived there and still try to get back for a little pool-and-drop whitewater boating whenever I can. 

California finally received a good snowpack this year after several drought years and the rivers were still running high.  On one of our drives up into the mountains along the Kaweah river, we saw a rafting company running some of the Class IV rapids that make the Kaweah one of the more challenging runs in the State.  Rafting a snow melt river like the Kaweah in late July is very unusual because the snow pack is typically long gone by this time of year.  But it looked great and I was kicking myself for not thinking ahead and arranging a trip while we were there. 

When heading to the Central Valley and Southern California in late July, you have to be prepared for hot weather.  And hot weather is exactly what we got.  It was 95 to 100 degrees the three days we spent in Visalia and about the same in Los Angeles, but after a second Seattle summer in a row with lots of rain and temperatures that have barely broken 80 before August, the heat was perfect.  Early mornings at the park and plenty of time in the pool and at the beach, beat the heck out of the thunderstorms and 60's that were hitting Seattle while we were away. 

During our stay in Visalia, I also had a chance to drive up into Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks to scout out some future camping sites.  One of my goals in rebuilding the trailer and getting the family out camping, was to plan some National Park visits as the girls get a little older.  My parents were great at taking my sister and me to some of the most beautiful places in the U.S.  I was lucky enough to grow up in a State with great National and State Parks and we saw many of them over the years.  In the next few years, I'm hoping to do a trip south to Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia with the trailer. 

Before Mama Grande's birthday party last Saturday, I got up early and drove east out of Visalia on Hwy 198 into Sequoia National Park.  It was a beautiful drive that took me through the dry Central Valley farmlands, rolling foothills, and up to about 7,400 feet where the Giant Sequoias dominate the landscape.  I hit the gate to the park by 7:15 a.m. and was up into the Giant Sequoias by 8:00 - beating the crowds and only sharing the park with a dozen or so other early risers.  Along the way, I stopped for a couple short walks through the trees and had a brief encounter with a bear cub near the General Grant tree at about 7,000 feet.  I never saw mama bear and quickly got back to my car and on the road again. 

The entire drive took me about 6 hours as the roads are very winding with dozens of 10 mph switch backs climbing up to the summit.  About 10 miles into the park, they currently have Hwy 198 down to one lane as the park service repairs a long section of the road.  The remaining lane is barely a sliver of a road as they build new retaining walls to fill in the other lane.
  

Hwy 198 is not the route we will take with the trailer.  I came back down towards Fresno on Hwy 180 which is much more manageable for towing.  On the way down, I met a couple who were pulling a 26' toy hauler and talked to them a bit about the tow.  While not for the faint of heart, the setting is well worth the effort.  I drove through two of the campgrounds while in Sequoia National Park and took notes on sites that looked good for the trailer.  I didn't start hitting the crowds until my last stop at Grant's Grove when I encountered the throngs who had come up 180 from the Fresno area.  It was a perfect day and made me proud to be a Californian.  I can't wait to take the whole family up there and spend more time exploring the park.

After our stay in Visalia, we headed down to Los Angeles and spent some time with my family out in the Santa Clarita Valley.  More time in the pool and lots of cousins kept the girls very happy and it was great to catch up with my many aunts, uncles, and cousins. 

We also visited with Mary's college friends in Santa Monica and took the kids to the beach at the Santa Monica pier for the day.  I managed to pull an idiot tourist move and lose my wedding ring while swiming in the ocean.  My window as a single guy closed very quickly as I kept my wife and picked up a new ring within the hour (no, a new wedding ring does not come with a new wife).  Other than the lost ring, the day in Santa Monica was another in a string of perfect Southern California days. 

After three days in Los Angeles, we headed down to Oceanside to visit Mary's mom.  On the drive down, we stopped at Mission San Juan Capistrano for an afternoon.  Visits to places like this make it easy to understand why it is so outrageously expenssive to live in this part of the country.  Who wouldn't want to live in a place this beautiful where the weather is almost constantly 75 degrees and sunny.



The main event of the trip was also a huge hit with the girls.  They both love their Mama Grande and we all had a blast toasting her 85th birthday.  Dan put together a great party with plenty of food, a Mariachi band and several generations of family.