We had originally planned on flying to New Zealand and
Australia, but had to cancel due to the terrorist
activity that took place the day before our scheduled departure.
Instead, we decided to take a week off and rent a
30 foot motorhome. Half a tank of gas for this sucker
cost just over $50!
Our first stop was Pismo Beach. We decided to rent a
dune buggy and ride on the beach and dunes. Kathleen
decided that Bill was not wild enough and
took over the controls!
From Pismo Beach, we then moved on to Lodgepole
Campground in the Sequoia National Park.
We found gas in Visalia at just $1.39 per gallon!
Now, there are two ways of getting up to the
campground. We decided to take the southern
route. We were a little concerned when we
saw the sign that said vehicles over 20 feet were
not recommended, but continued on when the park
ranger said that they actually only prohibited
vehicles that were 40 foot or longer.
Boy, was that a mistake. We learned what the term
hairpin turn truely meant as we traversed a multitude
of turns marked 10 mph. Most of the time,
we were on the wrong side of the road when
attempting the negotiate these suckers.
Luckly, there was not much traffic going in the
opposite direction since we were arriving on a
Sunday afternoon.
Anyway, we made it in one piece and set up camp.
We camped along side the Kaweah River and
virtually had the park to ourselves!
The shots below are from the Tokopah Falls Trail.
If you look behind Bill in the picture above,
to the right you can see a trickle of water.
That's the falls!
