The Walkers' Trail: RV Exploring America

You know what is a tad frustrating when you have uploaded 204 pictures - twice? That regardless of how you enter them in to the "updated" blogger version from your phone, they end up in reverse order, both times? Awesome.... so, if you want to experience our trip sequentially with how we experienced it, start at the bottom. If you just want pictures, start here....

Bass Lake, CA - July 29 - August 1

We arrived on Wednesday evening and left Saturday morning. Thursday was our main lake day before heading to Yosemite on Friday. We did ride the boat all three nights and rented jet skis two of them! lots of fun with all ages at the lake! I just adore my two older cousins, Scott and Jeff, and both of their wives. Jason fits right in. The boys like the kids. Just like being with good friends!

Reid and his namesake - cousin Jeff!

Scott Cross crew

Jeff Cross crew

Jacob, Nate and Grant

Scott and Jeff on their lake kayak journey

cutie Kyle

cutie Reid

We may have had some fun - I like to go slow when riding, but I love to go fast when driving!

Kayaking!

Reid tried super duper hard to catch the ducks.
He did not succeed!

Heading out on Saturday morning in Mildred the Majestic!

We planned our return trip home around being at Four Corners at 8 am on Sunday. We got there! They just didn't want us there. This was really our only snafu on the trip - pretty great for 10 days in an RV!

Journey home - rainbow!

YOSEMITE - July 31, 2020

Yosemite, during the summer, averages 5,000-7,000 cars/day. Due to Covid, you had to have gained a pass for entry. We tried for weeks, but on Wednesday, Stacey got on at 7am (when tickets not used are returned) and got us one. YAY! Worked out great as the lake is only 30 minutes to the park and it would have stunk to have been this close with no access. It is currently limited to 1,000 cars/day. There were no lines. There was easy parking. It was such a glorious day!

Yosemite was my personal favorite stop. I just wish I had my tent and bike to spend a few days in the valley.

This is the sheer face Alex climbed in Disney's Free Solo. It is so huge. Jason and I both got out to stare at it and note 1. how incredibly dumb he was to try it and 2. how incredibly brave he was to have tried it.

We took a hike up Sentinel Dome to be able to view Yosemite Falls, Nevada Falls, Half Dome and El Capitan. The view was spectacular!

That's El Capitan on the right to give perspective on the height.

Nevada Falls - flows year round

Half Dome

El Capitan

We had some tired boys this day. We were able to use Jeannie's Expedition and they went to sleep hard, and quick!

Sequoia National Park - Wednesday, July 29th

We wore masks here in the one more heavily trafficked area and then at the Grand canyon area. Otherwise, we were nearly always by ourselves!

General Sherman tree - largest tree by volume of truck in the world.

The roots of one that had toppled over

This was as we were heading out to Sequoia on Wednesday, July 29th. We rented a car this day as Mildred was too long for most park access areas. We felt so speedy in it - Jason said it was like driving a Go Kart!

On Tuesday, we got to our KOA about 4 pm. This was a great place to stay! They had volleyball, a dog park, a store and shaded parking spots. It allowed for some free play and for a "quick" taco soup meal made in the rice cooker. At 9:30 pm, I finally took it out of the rice cooker and said "here, eat!" It was actually very cooked and very good!

Death Valley - Tuesday, July 28

We had spent the night "boondocked" in a Walmart parking lot during the night. We got there at 5:30 am to be able to watch the sunrise from the peak lookout spot. The boys went hiking to go touch old lava. I stayed to enjoy sitting in peace and to take pictures of the boys. Death Valley took us about 5 hours from beginning to end. Poor Mildred (reminder, our RV). This is the day she earned her name. It was very stressful for us this day. She was overheating (it seemed). Her RPMs would never shift. Jason had the pedal floored and she was going 26 mph going up the hills. On the way down, we had to stop a few times for her brakes to take a break. They were literally smoking. Then, as we turned in to the drive (unmarked, btw, thanks to TripAdvisor for us being able to find it!) to go to the only waterfall in the park, she died. On the road. Kaput. But, started back up. We creaked our way down the very bumpy gravel road to the parking lot. Hiked! Saw this! Hiked back and literally said a prayer to get us out of Death Valley as it is recommended to be finished with all hiking by 10a.m. b/c of heat. We got back to Mildred at 9:56a.m. and knew we didn't want to be stranded in 115 degrees. Jason drove slow and careful. We made it out and with a few good stories.

It was a long day. Oreos and beer were needed by us both that night.

This kid got overheated on the walk to lava. He crashed in my lap, which I loved.

Various stages of the sunrise...

You can see the boys walking on the peak to go touch the lava. It's about 5:45 am here.

Las Vegas - Monday, July 27th (Also my dad's birthday!!!)

Jason dropped us off for the boys to watch the Bellagio fountains. They were all surprised by how impressive it was! Kyle also noted that his mask smelled different in Vegas... I had to tell him that was weed being smoked nearby :) Meanwhile, JW was driving the strip in a huge RV! Thankfully, it wasn't very busy.

I love this one!

Zion National Park - Monday, July 27th

Due to COVID, only the main drive was open to cars. We did not want to get on a shuttle for the one stint out to the Narrows. So, we drove the main drive and stopped a few times to get out for pictures and quick hikes. It was pretty, but by this point, we were kind of tired of rocks. There were a lot of people, too. This was perhaps my least favorite destination.

Sunday, July 26th - Grand Canyon South Rim and Kaibab National Forest (behind the fence in the picture)

This was a great stop after hiking and driving a lot this day. We had a great spot with no one next to us. We make chicken breasts, veggie rice, baked beans and bread for dinner. pretty yummy.

Horseshoe Bend - Sunday, July 26th

I love this picture. Jason just stood like that for what seemed like 10 minutes taking it all in. This was his first "big thing" to see and was impressed.

Stopped at the Navajo bridge on our way to Horseshoe Bend.

First full night in the RV at Lake Powell RV site. We had chicken and broccoli in the rice cooker.

Hoover Dam was on our initial trip itinerary but was closed to Covid. So we stopped at the dam outside of Lake Powell instead.

Here's the RV. I took pics with blinds shut, apparently :)

Lake Powell - Saturday, July 25th

This was beautiful destination! After arriving to our RV in the wee hours of the morning, and getting the RV information, and then sleeping in the renters' driveway, we headed out about 10 am. This was my first time to Utah, and Jason's first to Arizona and Utah.

Go. Rent a kayak and explore. So fun and so pretty.

Lone Rock

Cliff jumping!

The very end of our exploring adventure... we came across mulch and mud so thick we couldn't paddle anymore. They had a big storm a few days before and the runoff settles in this one area.