Vacation in Kings Canyon

We spent Fourth of July week in Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Park.  It wasn't the long vacation we had hoped for but it was relaxing...which we really needed.  We had reservations but what we heard was true...there were spaces available in the busy season...even on a holiday.  That's amazing considering how hard it is to get reservations at many places at any time.  Even more amazing was how uncrowded, peaceful and quiet it was.  Our little home-away-from-home/trailer was the perfect little cabin in the woods/getaway.

We always like to go somewhere pretty and new places are always fun.  This was both.  But, another thing we really wanted on this trip was relaxation.  We got a lot of that.  We spent time everyday under the trees, enjoyed the tranquility of the woods, listened to the birds sing, read, knitted, crocheted, played cards, ate, and sipped on some yummy drinks.  We ate pretty healthy and never ate out once.  It helped that we were pretty far from even a small town.  In fact, we were so far out that we didn't have a phone signal...except under a tree, in a far corner of a parking lot at the entrance, if we faced the right way, and held our phones just right.  Actually, we would have had a full signal if we'd had Verizon instead of ATT.  That will be changing very soon because we've run into that problem a lot.  But, it did make for a more peaceful week.

I have a stash of dish cloths that I've made in a handy little tilt-out cupboard under the sink. They work great and I have fun to using them. I love the colors too...there were several others but I used them before I took a picture.

I had to get a little creative with cooking.  We had tamales one day but I realized that I didn't have a steamer. Hmmmm?  I started rummaging around in the drawers and came up with something that worked just fine...some rolled up aluminum foil and a few knives.  Ta da!

We had a marshmallow craving while we were there and bought some marshmallows and firewood at one of the little park stores.  But, the evening bugs were a little too irritating for evening fires.  So, we got creative with that too.  We had afternoon fires for roasted marshmallows.  Mmmmm....they were so good!

We figured out a way to take showers/baths as often as we wanted too...without using water from the trailer or filling the holding tanks.  And, without having to drive 12 miles to pay $1.50 for three minute showers that were only available from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.  The spigot across the road, water jugs, a big pot on the stove to warm the water, and wash tubs worked great.  We washed our hair over the sink and used another tub of warm water and a washcloth in our bathtub/shower and it worked great.  Ahhh...and it felt great!

Salsa enjoyed the trip too.  Especially, when we pulled out this chair that she has come to like and wait for whenever we go camping.  She likes it better than laying in the dirt.  Yeah...she's a little foofoo.  But, she did get plenty of napping time in the dirt too.  You should have seen the dirt wash off of her when we gave her a bath at home!

Such a cutie!

We have a handy little folding crate for Salsa that she likes to sleep in at night and that she stays in when we need to go somewhere.  I'm not sure why but it's starting to lean.  lol

The weather was perfect..in the 70's during the day and just slightly chilly at night...perfect for sleeping.  We slept pretty good most every night.  And, we slept later than normal just about every morning...something we've found happens whenever we stay in the Redwoods. 

There weren't quite as many giant redwood trees in the Kings Canyon side of the park that we stayed at as on the Sequoia side but there were some here and there amongst the many other kinds of trees.  There were also BIG stumps left from giant redwood trees that had been cut down many years ago.  My daughter thought it would be fun to take a picture on top of one with her camping harp.  It's HUGE!

There were still a lot of camping spaces available by the final weekend but there were more people than we had seen all week.  That meant there were more campfires.  But, that made for a pretty view of sunlight streaming through the trees and smoke as we packed up to leave.

We left on Saturday to avoid the rush of traffic from everyone going home on Sunday after the holiday.  The plan worked pretty well.  But, the drive home still took a little longer than we had planned because Salsa wasn't feeling well and we had to stop fairly often to let her get out to take care of business.  Luckily, she seems to be feeling a lot better. 

She must have nibbled on something she shouldn't have.

 I have more pictures to share.  Tomorrow...Wildflower Wednesday!