Are those no parking signs on the dumpster??

Yosemite Falls (upper)

The whole thing!

Piece of cake!

Hmmmm

Lower Falls

El capitan

YOSEMITE VALLEY AND FALLS

We finally made it to Yosemite Valley. This year is not the year to come to this park in a RV. The long route via 140 is a two hour canyon ride that restricts vehicles over 45' in length. The south route via 41 is currently under construction for 10 miles with your stimulus money funding this construction. These 10 miles take an eternity to travel in a RV as it is an unpaved gravel road at this point. It is dusty, bumpy and inches from going over the side of a mountain. But once you complete this trek of 40 miles you arrive in Yosemite Valley. Let's just say my attitude upon arrival was less than desirable. It didn't improve much either when we ran into half of California and trying to find a parking space for the Magic Bus. I think this would be a really cool place if the people weren't here, LOL.

We parked the bus in the back of a parking lot next to a maintenance yard that had several no parking signs. "Detour, Oh these bitter things I find, Should have read that detour sign." We immediately hopped on the first bus we see, now that we are old pros at riding park shuttle buses. We jumped off at the visitor center to find only about 10,000 people meandering around with the same lost face that we had. We grabbed a 23 minute movie at the theatre on the Spirit of Yosemite.

From there we were told to go to Yosemite Falls and take any bus pointed that way (park ranger pointing in some direction) and get off stop 6. We were at stop 5 so how hard could this be for a veteran bus rider like myself. Well eagle eyes (that would be me) spots a bus headed in the proper direction. Does it get off at stop 6, no it goes to P1 which would be parking. Only about a 20 minute delay. But we finally got to stop 6 and Yosemite Falls. I'll post pictures separately since I have not figured out this whole blog thing yet.

Yosemite Falls is the highest waterfall in North America but the amount of water actually falling depends on snowfall melt and rain. The lower falls had all these boulders that Tonto thought would be cool to walk up to the falls on as did numerous others. On the way out we did capture sightings of El Capitan.

Our next stop was the San Jose area and San Francisco. I'll write on those adventures soon. God Bless, Art.

YOSEMITE

We made it to Yosemite late yesterday afternoon. It was about 330 miles from Huntington Beach and took about 6 hours or so to get here. Who thought you'd actually have to make reservations to park/camp inside the park? There is no recession at Yosemite. And there are no RV friendly roads leading to this place. We went up highway 41 for 15 curvy, slow miles to the entrance only to be told everything was full. So we came back down to Oakhurst and "dry camped" at the High Sierra Rv park. And yes I could not find the freaking Directv satellite again.

Today we ventured back up rt 41 to visit the huge Sequoia trees in Mariposa Grove. Now if you are going to be a tree, be a Sequoia. These trees are like the oldest living things on the face of the planet outside of me. They live like 2,500 to 3,000 YEARS. They are so big they are fire proof. Their bark can be up to 3 feet thick which prevents it from burning. They don't die do to old age, but from tumbling over. My point is simply these trees are huge and of course the pictures do no justice to these mammoths.

We started out with lunch at the Wawona Hotel restaurant. Then had to catch a shuttle bus to Mariposa Grove.

Saw this first one as we exited the bus.

This giant fell over 300 years ago and has never decayed.

Just to put it in perspective, that's Matt standing next to this monster.

Same tree, laying down over the road.

Matt showing some love to this giant.

This is "The Bachelor and Three Graces".

Same group of trees.

You just have to get creative some times when trying to park the Magic Bus, especially when all the cars take the RV parking spaces. So whats a little walking? God Bless, Art

THE WEDGE

We stayed in the Hunting Beach area one more day as someone told Tonto the waves were going to be big at The Wedge today. Well that person was not lying. These waves were easily 15-20ft tall. It sounded like thunder up and down the beach. The pictures really don't show the size but here are several anyway.

These dark spots are either body surfers or boogie board surfers.

This guy was easily over 65 and fearless.

You wouldn't think you'd need a sign.

This is one TALL wall of water!!

Are you nuts?

I'm pretty sure all these guys survived.

Look at the wave action on this one.

A lifeguard boat just in case.

I hope you get the picture of just how big this stuff was today. The dangerous part is these waves break right on shore so there is no room for error. If you are ever on the west coast you need to check this place out. It is on the very south end of Newport at the end of Balboa Street. Check it out you'll be glad you did!! God Bless, Art

Quick Update

Matt found a RV park in Corona, California which was about 50 miles away and yes it was the desert climate again. But it was also the closest Victory dealership around so it was just meant to be. The RV park was a bit on the older side and actually had trees and some grass which was nice. The dealership was only 5 miles away which meant I only had to drive up I-5 (or as the locals say "the 5", there is no I out here) a couple times in 100 degree weather. The dealership actually masqueraded itself as a pool installer and chopper builder without any sign of Victory since they were dropping that business in a couple of weeks. They did have a great mechanic who was also a motorcycle stunt driver. He stated that he doubted there was anything wrong with the bike as he had seen this bike do 4 foot jumps without any damage. Said it was probably just the throttle positioning sensor which the computer would reset automatically. He took it on a test ride up and down "the five" and said it was ok. Yes I was relieved and over time I hope his words prove true.

Sunday we packed the bus up and headed back to the coast to Huntington Beach(HB) and home to "The Wedge". This place, due to the beach contour ,produces waves like in Hawaii ,otherwise known as sick. With the right wind the waves can be 25-30 feet high and extremely dangerous. I guess people have broken necks or worse died here. Hence the attraction for surfers and skimmers, but only pro's should be in the water.

Well as Tonto was checking out the wedge, I checked out the pacific coast highway on the Victory. I discovered pretty quick that Sunday is not a good time to be on the PCH. I'm not sure why they call it a highway because it resembles more of a parking lot. I eventually got up to Long Beach about 20 miles north and figured that was far enough. I headed back to Huntington Beach, found a parking space close to downtown and gave my clutch hand a rest.

After checking out downtown, Tonto texted me and said I should check out the Wedge, which was about 4 miles south of HB towards Newport. Well I figured 4 miles shouldn't take too long. Wrong. The only place more crowded than HB on a Sunday is Newport. It took over an hour to get to the Wedge, but it was worth it. Their "small" waves are bigger than anything I've seen.

Spent the night at Wally's again and headed back to the beach in the bus this morning. For a Monday this place is pretty crowded, but not as bad as Sunday. Does anybody work in California?

So we survived the cable debacle and are pressing forward on the journey. I was going to blog about the metaphor when the cable breaks in your life but it might have to wait for awhile. Just want to give a shout out and thanks to the Shield in Rock Hill for thinking of us yesterday! I know you all enjoy pictures and as soon as I take some I'll get them posted. In the words of Leonard Knight, "God is Love". God Bless, Art

JUST WHEN THINGS WERE GOING GOOD.......

I was looking forward to writing about the great day Tonto and I had at Laguna Beach, but then disaster struck again. This was our second day at the beach here and our routine of late has been to camp at a Walmart at night and ride the Victory to the beach during the day. I was going to tell you how much I enjoyed the sights at Laguna (including the ocean) and lunch at Nicks today, but I guess I just did. I digress.

So wonderful day at the beach, magic bus parked at Costco's all day (I'm sure wal mart appreciated that), load the victory on the lift, lift it to the top and bam. The winch cable snaps and 900lbs smashes to the parking lot. I wanted to cry and also cuss out Overbuilt Lifts and Superwinch all in the same breath. I was very thankful that neither one of us was hurt. We could have had an arm, finger, leg or toe sliced off or smashed in less than a second. The Victory was not so lucky. It is really taking a beating this trip. The clutch lever broke and when we rode to Home Depot the engine was not idling right and was making some funky noises. There are also some new scratches in the body now.

So Home Depot for $2.98 had a fix, maybe temporary who knows, in a steel rope clamp. It didn't look like it would work, but we got the bike back on the lift. It's hard to believe a $2.98 part is lifting a $20,000 bike ( well it's probably worth $10,000 now). That hydraulic lift is looking better and better. Actually a tow bar and car is looking like the long term solution. I'm pretty drained right now. I'm so glad neither one of us got hurt, but I'm so frustrated with this lift. It's been a pain since day one. Well the adventure continues. God Bless, Art

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

We arrived in San Diego yesterday and FINALLY got out of the desert. We traveled I-8 which has a long, long 10-mile incline before you get into San Diego. The magic bus did pretty well, I had her pinned to the floor and was doing 35. I’m beginning to like the word diesel more and more. But once we pulled into Mission Bay RV Park (the world’s most expensive parking lot) got out, and felt the 70-degree weather with a great breeze blowing, that $60 felt wonderful. Then Tonto reminded me about that wal mart overnight free thing. I told him from here on out in California, wal mart it would be, at least until Eureka where I want to check out Shoreline RV Park.

We had a wonderful time last night with some new friends, Kim and Jim. They made us a great homemade meal, took us on a super tour of SD and showed us some great hospitality. After being in the desert for six years with a horse with no name, it felt good to be out of the rain, oops, I mean the night was relaxing and fun.

Tonto awoke this morning with a desire to skim board and went over to Pacific Beach, I think. Since checkout wasn’t until noon, I decided to milk every last minute, every ounce of water and every kilowatt of electricity, of my sixty bucks. So yes I used the washing machine and dryer twice!! After checking out, I parked across the street at Mission Bay Park (I think) and waited for Tonto’s return.

Well upon his arrival he informs me the locals said La Jolla (pronounce La Hoya, not Lajolla like my gps systems says) is the best skim boarding. Well we have no place to be today so we make the decision to check it out, considering it was only 5 miles down the road. I have learned in 24 hours that any road that is not an interstate in California, is NOT RV friendly. I think in 5 miles I ran over 6 curbs and 3 old ladies. And c’mon folks lighten up on the horns; this thing is 36 feet long.

And another thing, I thought only San Francisco had those steep up and down hills? Wrong. I now have to send Tonto out on his bike to scout, which roads we can enter without leaving our bike lift to the Governor. Needless to say, the locals are correct about La Jolla. Tonto was so excited about the beach we are sitting in the wal mart parking lot in La Jolla for another day of skimming. I’m thinking he can ride the Victory down to the beach and I’ll just check out the clientele at the local wally world or try to find a RV friendly gas station in this state. God Bless, Art

LEONARD KNIGHT

Every now and then you cross paths with someone special. And even though it might just be for a minute or so, and if you are lucky it might last longer, but in the depths of your soul there is a connection. Your spirit leaps and your heart feels the love of God. Matt and I were honored yesterday morning to have such a special time.

On our way out of Slab City we decided to stop at Salvation Mountain one last time. As we approached the “God is Love” mountain we were greeted by a thin, older man with both of his arms raised to the sky booming out, “Welcome, come here let me show you something”. We commenced to spend the next hour and half with the creator of Salvation Mountain, Leonard Knight on a personal tour of his creation. I’m not sure I’ve ever met a more gracious and humble host. At 78 Leonard’s passion for God has not subsided one bit. He was so honored that we stopped to see the Mountain, but we were ones who were so honored to be with him.

Leonard is simply a simple man with a simple message that he has been trying to get out to the world for over 30 years, which is simply “God is Love”. There’s no theology, no religion, no ulterior motives, no preaching, just the simple thought of Love. If you are ever out this way it is well worth a trip to the desert to meet this man of God. Your heart and soul will thank you. God Bless, Art

PICTURES FROM SLAB CITY