After a leisurely morning, we began our winery hopping at Van Ruiten Family Winery. The tasting included 8 wines most of which were very good. We purchased a double barrel Chardonnay which was delicious and again, unlike the usual Chardonnay in that it was crisp not buttery. Unfortunately, our winery hopping was interrupted by a trip to Walmart’s auto repair to replace 2 front tires on the Honda. Fortunately, the tires were under a road hazard warranty and did not cost us anything to replace. We continued onto Harmony Wynelands for another tasting of 8 wines. Rosemary got her choice and a Riesling was added to our collection. The tasting room was formerly a music studio and was built to house an old theater organ which is 99 years old. It was used originally when silent movies would play. I asked for a demonstration and was obliged. With numerous pipes built into the building including a xylophone panel, the sound filled the room. After our tasting, one of our servers, Louis, (our other server was the winemaker, Shaun), sang and played 2 songs to us on his guitar. We hurried back to Jessie’s Grove Winery hoping to catch a bit of Wanda’s story telling of the grove’s history but she had already gone home. We did taste 2 reds before deciding on the 2011 Fancy Quest, an old vine zin to take home. We did take an evening stroll through the vineyard to see the ancient vines section. Planted in 1889, the vines trunks are thick and gnarly. The vines produce less quantity of grapes than younger vines but better quality. Unfortunately, our refrigerator is at capacity otherwise we would have purchased more wine. Dinner at Thai Spices in Lodi was excellent and enough to take home for tomorrow’s dinner.
Day 33, May 4, 2019, Saturday. Lodi, CA (202 miles)
We departed Sequoia Resort RV Park for an adventurous 10 miles on Highway 245. Although I had driven the car on this road each way the last two days, it was a different experience in the coach. We took it slow and managed to complete the 10 miles in 30 minutes without falling off a mountain or losing the tow car. After a stop in Fresno for groceries and lunch, we arrived at 4:15 at Jessie’s Grove Winery in Lodi, CA. Lodi is the self proclaimed Zinfandel Capital of the World and Jessie’s has the oldest zinfandel vines in Lodi, some dating to the 1880's. Jessie’s is a Harvest Hosts host which invites RV members to visit and stay overnight. Jessie’s has allowed us to stay two nights. We were greeted promptly and invited to take a complimentary tasting. We sampled ten wines, 3 of which were Zins including an old vine Zin and an ancient vine Zin. The wines were very good. During the tasting, we met the owner, Suzanne, who invited us to join them that evening for a catered Italian dinner with wines, of course, to help celebrate their employee appreciation day. At dinner, we met Suzanne’s husband Greg, the great-grandson of Jessie and Greg’s mother, Wanda, the granddaughter of Jessie. Wanda told us several interesting stories of the history of the family. She also authored a book on the family’s history. The food and wine were very good but the warmth of our welcome by everyone made this our best Harvest Hosts experience ever.
A day spent at the Kings Canyon NP. The start is at an elevation of 6,500 feet and with temps in the 50's. As we descended into the canyon, temps in the 70's and the jackets came off. A 34 mile winding mountain road with many pull outs to view spectacular scenery. Several waterfalls and a roaring river from the melting snow along much of the road when in the canyon. The Grizzly Falls could not be seen without getting sprayed with the mist from the falls. We hiked the Zumwalt Meadow Trail an easy 1.5 mile path which required some balancing on rocks to avoid the flooded parts of the trail. On our return drive, we stopped to do one last trail. We hiked the North Grove Loop, supposedly an easy 1.5 mile sequoia forest walk on a paved path. Well, the path was littered with fallen trees and branches. At least a half dozen times we had to climb over a fallen tree. One fallen tree was so large we actually crawled under it as it was too big to climb over. The first part of the trail was all downhill which meant ending on an fairly steep uphill climb. Needless to say, when we completed the trail we were definitely done for the day.
An early start as we headed to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. We drove north on Highway 245 for about 10 miles which is the road we will take when we leave the campground. Well, I could not tell much difference between 245 and Dry Creek Road so lots of fun to look forward to driving the coach in a couple days. After a brief stop at the Kings Canyon Visitors Center we decided to wear our down jackets over another jacket, a decision made easy by all the snow on the ground. We hiked the Grant Tree Trail to view the General Grant Tree, the third largest tree by volume in the world. The tree is spectacular as are many other Sequoias in the Grant Grove. We then headed south on the Generals Highway through the Sequoia National Forest to the Sequoia NP. We stopped at several overlooks including a view above the Redwood Mountain Grove. We parked and hiked the Sherman Tree Trail, a paved trail descending about 300 feet to the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree in the world by volume at 275 feet tall and a circumference of 103 feet estimated to be 2,200 years old - spectacular. We then hiked the Congress Trail in the Giant Forest, a two mile trail through a sequoia forest that contains 2,161 sequoias of at least a ten foot width. The trail is paved and it was a good thing because a substantial portion of it was covered with snow and without locating the pavement we would surely have been lost. There were several waterfalls along the way due to the melting snow. This park is a must see, the trees are so incredible a description can’t do them justice and unfortunately, nor can a photo as it is nearly impossible to get an entire tree in a photo.
Day 30, May 1, 2019, Wednesday. Badger, CA (313 miles)
A travel day as we headed to our campground near the Sequoia National Park. The park is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and thus the campground is likewise pretty remote. Nearing the campground, Google Maps directed us to Dry Creek Road for about the last 21 miles. Dry Creek Road is a narrow, winding, mountain road with several instances of not much more than one lane and at least one 180 degree switchback which we made but with no extra room to spare. Fortunately, only 6 cars came in the opposite direction and each one moved out of our way. The 21 miles took us about 45 minutes but we were laughing most of the way, well at least I was laughing. We arrived at the Sequoia Resort RV campground (elevation about 4,000') about 4:30 and set up with full hook up and 50 amps. The campground owner said we should have come Highway 245 instead of Dry Creek Road, a little late on that advice.
A full day at Joshua Tree National Park to experience its hiking trails. We began with the Hidden Valley Trail which is a valley surrounded by huge mounds of rocks just begging to be climbed and we did some. The desert was in bloom and flowers of many different colors were everywhere. After a picnic lunch, we hiked the Barker Dam Trail, the Discovery Trail, stopped at Skull Rock and hiked the Oasis of Mara. We visited the Oasis Visitor Center which had exhibits explaining all about the deserts in the U.S. and about Joshua Tree N.P. which is the confluence of the Mojave Desert and the Colorado Desert portion of the Sonoran Desert. An exhausting day but much fun. I rate the park a must see.
After 11 days in the Campland by the Bay campground (the longest time we have ever spent in one campground) we hit the road northeast. We arrived in the Yucca Valley Walmart about 3:30 pm and detached the car and headed to the West Visitors Center of the Joshua Tree National Park. With the park map in hand, we headed on the Park Blvd. loop road about 4:00. There are numerous places to pull off the road and with the excitement of seeing Joshua trees everywhere among the rocky mountains we began by stopping at every pull off for photos. The scenery is spectacular and unfortunately the photos cannot capture it fully. The Keys View overlook was amazing. At over 5,000 feet, we could see the San Andreas fault between two mountain ranges. We could see a mountain on the border with Mexico 95 miles away. We could also see snow covered Mount San Gorgonio which at 11,503 feet is the tallest mountain in Southern CA. To the northeast was a huge thunderstorm but except for a light sprinkle at the north entrance where we exited the park, we had nothing but sunshine where we were. We lucked out with the weather as the week before temps reached 96 but a high of 69 today and with a very strong wind made for two jackets weather. Although the ranger had indicated the loop road takes about an hour, we did not get back to the coach until 7:30. After dinner, a little shopping at Walmart to pay our respects for its hospitality.
Day 27, April 28, 2019, Sunday. San Diego, CA
We visited the Flower Fields in Carlsbad, CA, about 40 minutes north of San Diego. Fields of Ranunculus bulb flowers grown from seed produced 50 acres of incredible colors. Dinner at Convoy Tofu House (Korean cuisine) was excellent. Dishes of hot pot bibimbap, dumpling and rice cake soup and mushroom soft tofu stew together with the usual Korean condiments resulted in no leftovers. Sadly, we had to say our goodbyes to Aaron but after 11 wonderful days we must hit the road. Hopefully, we did not overstay our welcome.
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