The Long and Winding Road – The Beatles

The Long and Winding Road – The Beatles

Time for a Stargazer shout out! We have traveled over 4,000 miles (lately MANY long and winding roads) and Stargazer has been a rock star. We did have to make a stop in Kingman, AZ to fix a leaking tire. Great West Tires was our savior and did not charge us anything. Three cheers for the Gazer!

From Pinnacles National Park we traveled to Mariposa, CA where we spent the night at a Fair Ground and had our best Mexican meal yet! From Mariposa we headed to Yosemite National Park where we were dazzled by mountains, waterfalls, bubbling brooks, and much more. Yosemite is the Big Papi of National Parks.

At Yosemite we found an open campground where we could spend the night. After checking in we headed to the Hetch Hetchey Dam. We thought we were not going to be able to travel the long and winding roads to HHD, but Otto batted his eyelashes and the Yosemite Ranger gave us the thumbs up. It is difficult wrapping your head around what it took to build the dam in the 1920’s.

That night we decided to take a second shot the next day at getting into Kings Canyon National Park and after a long drive – success! There was plenty of snow and after visiting General Grant Sequoia Tree (the second largest sequoia tree) we found a snowed in campground where we could stay and prior to dinner go for an amazing snowshoe.

From KCNP we headed to Grand Canyon National Park, but first we spent the night at the Calico Ghost Town. We explored the Ghost Town and then took showers for the first time in five days (Otto was complaining)!

The next morning we were up early and headed to the Grand Canyon. We arrived, checked out the Visitors Center, and got our first glimpse of the Canyon. Today I hiked 12 miles into and out of the Grand Canyon (spectacular). While hiking at least six younger folks addressed me as sir – good morning sir, looking good sir, nice job hiking sir, and god bless you sir. In the afternoon we rode bikes for 20+ miles along the South Rim. Melinda rocked!

Melinda and her bike!

We do get asked by some of our readers about the park facilities. Overall they have been great, but there was one night …

6 thoughts on “The Long and Winding Road – The Beatles”

  2. I hope you have your Passport to the National Parks! I’d be collecting a lot of stamps at those visitor centers. Not that I’m counting, but what’s your count so far?? Are you on your way back?

    1. Suzy. I believe by the time we get back in May we will be at 35 National Parks. No Passport, but this blog will serve as our record. This week we are visiting Susan and Jay in Boulder, UT and then begin the trip home. We are planning to arrive in Jackson on May 8th; the weekend prior we will be camping with Kim, Cory and Ralph!

  3. wow! wow! y’all are really doing it right! such beautiful pictures… i wanna see more!
    happy spring! come back soon💙

  4. Sir, you are an adventuresome spirit! Glad you’re enjoying Thursday Night Murder Club. I see Harrison Ford as Ron and Meryl Streep as Elizabeth. Maybe Helen Mirren as Joyce. Not sure about Ibrahim.
    If you want a calm way to end a long day, watch Harmen Hoek’s new video about three weeks on the JMT. He spends time in KCNP and SNP:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLZOWDF8lqQ&t=2s

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