Memorial in Kings Canyon

This weekend was our second annual trip to Kings Canyon-Sequoia NP.  It was a very interesting trip, to say the least.

We started out on our usual zero dark thirty, 4am, on Thursday morning.  The first sign that this trip was not going to be the norm was the Garmin GPS informing me the Interstate 5 was closed up ahead and to detour onto to the 101.  Well, we didn't see any signs to indicate that so we chose to ignore the GPS, not a good idea.  We started to see signs saying the same thing, luckily there was another detour option and we took that.  The Ventura Hwy to the Hollywood Hwy back to the 5.  Okay, that wasn't to bad.

Tooling on up the 5 towards Newhall a gentlemen in a pickup is motioning to us that there is something wrong on the passenger side of rig......crap!  Pull over in the emergency lane....that was fun in the dark.  One of side doors is open....double crap....our little step in missing along with a small rug...close the door and get back on the road.

Get into the Flying J in Bakersfield to gas up and get some breakfast.  Open the door and the steps do not come out.....that's not good....it's going to be a long weekend without them working...it's a really big first step, not to mention getting back into the coach.  After a brief discussion, we decide to have breakfast and by that time the Camping World in Bakerfield should be open. 

We back track 20 miles to CW.  They won't even look at it, to busy.  The receptionist does google other options in the area.  Before we leave we buy a replacement step that is now somewhere along the 5 freeway.

Our second call gets us Rosedale RV service, he says bring it on in we will take a look at it.  The problem is a bad circuit board on the steps.  Great.... this is a small shop, no way they have one in stock.....WELL they have one....YES!!!  They even call our extended warranty and get it covered.  They have us up and running in a little under two hours.  Total of three hours lost....still have time to get there before dark.  Great guys at Rosedale RV.

We get into  Kings Canyon, Morine campground and get setup around 5pm.
Let the weekend begin.  There are three campgrounds along the river and we are in the last one.  All three campgrounds are mostly tent campers.  About 98% tents and 2% other, MH, trailers, popups, FW.  This place is absolutely beautiful.  Tall pine trees, large spaces between campsites.  Note: none of which are level, that's okay we brought blocks. We are settled in for the weekend.  The weather was beautiful, lots of sun, around 70 degrees.  We had a campfire on Friday night and Saturday we took a hike.  The area is full of all kinds of hiking trails.  What a wonderful weekend.

Saturday night the sky is starting to get dark so we run up to the Ranger station to check on the weather.  30% chance of rain, okay...we are leaving on Sunday morning anyway, so we pack up the outdoor stuff...good thing...it rained off and on all night. 

Sunday morning we are sitting at the table eating some oatmeal and suddenly it starts to snow...Oh.....how beautiful.......WAIT!!! we are leaving and we have to climb another 3000 feet to get out of the canyon....NOT GOOD!  We get our butts in gear and get on the road.  By the time we get to the top we are driving with about three inches of snow on the road....but we made it just fine.  No chains.....good thing we don't have any....we did see two cars that had slid off of the road.

Got to Bakersfield and spent the night and got on the road in the morning and got home all safe and sound.