Sequoias are quite large...now let's eat some turkey!

The last time we left you we were in Yosemite National Park.  We left there after meeting the amazing Australians and headed to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park to see some more big trees.  We were excited to get there and knew that this was an old park.  We also knew that there were length restrictions AFTER you got past one of the campgrounds UNTIL we got to the entry gate and the Ranger told us "...be careful, anything over about 26 feet is not recommended here but you should be fine.  People do it all the time." So we headed on our way around twists and turns with the RV in tow.  No problems until we got into the actual campground.  Aye yae yae!  This place was cramped!  The spot were not only skinny but they were outlined by boulders so without great detail, we finally got parked and I started worrying about how I was going to get out of our spot. 

No, really, Kamryn is having a good time.  They are playing with a lizard, a favorite for them!

A girl painting her nails!

Anyone for a little baseball?!

This was a beautiful drive.  

It was really beautiful in the campground and we met some folks to chat with.  An Active Duty Navy couple, a couple that were on holiday from France, a couple who loved our story and had "missionary" kids in Israel, and a few others.  We enjoyed the campground and had some good dinners by the fires and had a ton of wildlife around us.  We drove the rest of the road up the mountain and the road that we came in on was NOT windy at all in comparison.  It was quite tiring but it was a beautiful drive.  We finally made it into the grove where the largest trees were and we were welcomed by some big ones.  Like the redwoods when we saw them, these only grow in this region because of many factors.  they have an amazing life cycle and it is a true survival of the fittest for them.  They literally start from a seed that looks exactly like a piece of oatmeal and grow in to these behemoths.  Because of their spongy bark and low amount of resin, they are nearly resistant to fire BUT fire is the only way that they can reproduce.  Fire causes their cones to open up and release those small seeds.  Then they go through their lifecycles, which can include all 5 parts, and some of them are estimated to have been alive for over 2,000 years.  See more here.

These are the four trees that greet you as you enter the grove. 

I know it's a dark phot but ifyou look really hard, you will seen Kelly and Kamryn at the other end of the picture.  The heighth of the this tree, The Sentinel, is marked out on the ground and they are standing at each end.  Nearly 260 ft tall and 79 ft in circumference, 25 ft in diameter...and this was one of the smaller of the old ones. 

We hung out in the visitor's center for quite some time.  This was a very nice one, we feel we can now start rating them because we are about to have visited 70 of them.  So anyway, this one was great.  We met one of the rangers and he was from near my hometown in Missouri. We had all kinds of things to talk about.  We asked him a number of questions and then followed him outside for other information.  This is where Kamryn found her a puppy friend and the humans that belonged to him.  We found a hiking trail and saw some monarchs (the oldest of the trees) and just enjoyed our day. 

They had a great visitor's center. 

Kamryn making friends with folks who had a puppy.  We spent some time talking with them and found out that this young lady was taking her dad on a trip.  He was in his late 70's...we exchanged some great stories. 

They have such an amazing life cycle. 

Park #65!

We had so many questions and were told to feel the trees and see what they sounded like.  These things are like tapping on a wet sponge.  I couldn't get over it.  But that it one of their defense mechanisms against fire. 

Still not the largest...

These trees take a lickin' and keep on tickin'!

No, don't mind me, I will just grow over you Mr. Rock. 

Normally, they choke the other trees out but occasionally they will cause twins. 

The lighter part in the middle of this sidewalk is the footprint of a couple of trees that had connected.  They were massive! 

We got into the truck and did some driving and finally made it to General Sherman's area.  We hiked down the trail and there it was.  This thing was big!  As you walk down the trail, you can begin to see the top which is pretty neat but once you get there, you are dwarfed by it. 

At 275 ft high, almost 103 round, this is the largest tree on earth.  Not the tallest, but the largest by the way of mass.  Each year, it grows the equivalent amount to make another normal tree that is 60 ft tall. 

Burnt out and still alive. 

On top of a monarch. 

The two most beautiful creatures in the forest. 

This is the second sign that we have taken a picture by that is the original sign that has been up since that particular park has opened.  Kamryn is tired and already napping in the truck.  This makes National Park #66!

We left Sequoia and Kings Canyon and headed towards Ventura, California.  We were staying at a Navy base at Pt. Mugu and it was great.  We pulled in and were amazed by our new yard.  We were only paces away from the beach and there was no one else on it.  We spent hours each day on that beach digging holes, building castles, and walking.  The kids also had a blast doing skin boards and boogie boards and on many occasions were only feet away from seals, sea lions, and dolphins.  This place also had free laundry which made Kelly extremely happy and I think we washed every item of clothing that we own!  This is where our saga started with Leo, our pup.  He ate some sand and it made him pretty sick.  He ended up in the vet for an entire day and he became a little better so we left this park. 

Our yard...

A day at the beach...after school of course.

I don't get it but I'll repeat it again.  The Lord has given this kid a gift for plants and animals.  This crab just hung out on his arm. It tried to pinch of our faces if we went for it!

We found another National Park and visited it. 

Very neat visitor's center at Channel Islands National Park.  We met this gentleman and had some Great conversation.  We shared our story and he had many things to share, both about the Park and life. 

Climbed up to look at the Islands. 

#68

Zachary is NOT copying his daddy!

One of the reasons we came to this area was to reconnect with some folks that we actually met on this journey in Flagstaff.  Some of you may remember them, we were dry camping deep in the woods and went to a lake one day not expecting to meet anyone and they ended up in the woods with us one night for dinner.  We loved it and started a great thing!  We coordinated and met them in Ventura on the beach and then we headed back to their house for a BBQ and some good chill out time, both adults and children alike. 

Waiting for our friends to arrive.  Zachary does amazing things on his skin board. 

We were so excited when they arrived!

Always time for a science experiment!

Time for goofing off!

Stopped to see a friend that Kelly went to high school with. 

We took full advantage of the things to see around this area.  We went to Santa Monica Pier, Hollywood, Malibu and we even went to a ranch that the inventor of the Gillette razor owned.  This part of the country was beautiful. 

That was a cool checkbox for us to mark off. 

Taking a walk down Santa Monica pier. 

The claim is that the character Popeye was created here at Santa Monica pier and created after the guy to the right in this picture, Olaf Olsen.  Neat!

Acting like a monkey on the rings.

They all had a blast on these things. 

Kamryn is getting in on the action.

Climbing ropes at the original Muscle Beach

These people were tight rope walking, flipping, tumbling and doing some cool things on the rings.  With nowhere to be, we watched.

The original location of Muscle Beach.

Neat place.  National Park #68

Wow!  What a find!

Leo got pretty sick and we had to do some home care.  My years of critical care also comes in handy for dog care also!

Our back yard. 

A little wrestling in the sand. 

This was the view from our bedroom window.  Not too shabby.

Coming in on the waves.

They went in and out for hours. 

She loved it as much as the boys did. 

He took a break from the boogie board to ride the skin board.  These kids love the beach. 

We love to see moments like this. 

A visit to the Chinese Theatre.  they really liked the prints of Roy Rogers with his hands, feet, pistol, and Trigger's shoe.

We were there while they were getting ready for the opening of Moana.

Just another day for Caleb to dig and crawl into a large hole. 

As I said before.  Leo got a little better at Pt. Mugu, so we left there.  We got to the next stop at March ARB in Riverside, California and he started doing some things that weren't right.  Anyway, without detail, we had to say goodbye to our Leo while we were there. 

These were our last few minutes with Leo. 

We went to Riverside to see another couple that we met on this trip and also to see my Aunt and Uncle who lived close.  Funny things is...we didn't get to see either one of them.  No worries though, it will work out and we will try again later.  We had a great shin-dig for Thanksgiving with a few folks and ate some yummy food and watched some football.  We met one family there who were brand new to RV'ing.  They were moving and living in an RV for 5 months while the husband goes to a military school.  We were able to answer many questions and I even ended up in their RV and provided some answers to a few questions that they had. 

While there, we also met another full time family who had been at this park for a little while. When we arrived and we got settled,  I walked over and wanted to know what he was cooking.  This started some great conversation and a relationship that we can keep over the miles.  They actually told us that we sparked them start travelling and while we were there, they applied and got accepted for a camp host job in another state!  We are very excited for them!  So, we said bye to them this morning and hope to catch up to them again soon. 

Having a Thanksgiving dinner with new friends at the campground. 

These are the friends that we met and spent some great time with. 

Gotcha girls!  (Did you notice that Tony is in both pictures even though I took them one right after the other?!?!  I think he did it on purpose!!!)

Looking back over the last few weeks, the Lord has really blessed us with some great relationships.  A few new ones and the chance to catch up with previous ones.  We are so amazed the He continues to put people in our path and allows us to be a part of their lives.  It is a privilege to get to meet an share with so many people.  I wish I could share every story with every new person...but then you would never come back and read this blog again so I won't. 

Even today, when we arrived in San Diego, we came in and had some laughs with the folks at the counter.  Then, within an hour of being here, we were invited onto someone's liveaboard sailboat.  The opportunities that we have to meet so many people and share with them, laugh, pray, cry, whatever the case may be is an amazing blessing for us and we are very grateful. 

Until next time...