And…a Check Engine Light!
Camped just 2 nights in Bakersfield before driving north on 99 to Visalia, where we spent 8 nights. That is 3 more days than originally planned, due to that Check Engine Light on Friday afternoon. At least it didn’t happen on a long drive, or towing, or when we were MILES from a Chevy Dealer! Mark and The Beast spent half of Friday afternoon and all day yesterday “in the shop”! BUT, with our extra time in Visalia (not at the Chevy dealer), we went to a Minor League baseball game and spent an extra day visiting Sequoia & Kings Canyon NP.
Visits to 3 new National Park Sites:
César E. Chávez National Monument (#291), at Nuestra Señora Reina De La Paz, in the foothills outside of Bakersfield, was the home and workplace of César E. Chávez and the farmworker movement, most significantly, from 1970 to 1984. Here we learned more about the man who led farm workers and supporters in the establishment of the UFW, the country’s first permanent agricultural union.
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (#292 & #293), a Land of Giants…huge mountains, rugged foothills, deep canyons, vast caverns, and the world’s largest trees. Sequoia National Park is America’s 2nd National Park (1890), created to protect ancient giant sequoia trees from logging. A week later, four more square miles became nearby General Grant National Park. In 1940, Kings Canyon National Park was established to include the glacially formed Kings Canyon, and absorbed General Grant NP. Since then, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks have been operated as one (counted as two).
We ended up visiting 4 days, mostly Sequoia, as most of Kings Canyon is only accessible in the summer. In fact, the high elevation portion of Generals Highway, which runs from the southern entrance in Sequoia, thru the Giant Forest, to the northern entrance in Kings Canyon, only opened a week or so ago. We actually hiked up the 350 steps of Mora Rock twice, once in 95% clouds, once in 95% clear skies. We went in and out the south end twice, the north end once, and drove the entire Generals Highway from south to north on the last, sunny day.
Hiking up the 350 stairs of Mora Rock, built, you guessed it, by the CCC
View of the Sierra Nevada Mountains from Mora Rock
Historical Foothills Entrance Sign, with very innacurate “picture” of Chief Sequoyah (who created a written form of the Cherokee language and was NOT a Plains Indian.) 
Tunnel Rock, dug out by the CCC…NOT a thing “done” anymore 
Pictographs at Hospital Rock 
Where Generals Highway splits around Sequoia trees 
View of Moro Rock from overlook on Generals Highway 
At top of Moro Rock 
View of the Middle Fork of the Keweah River valley, Generals Highway, and LA Smog from Moro Rock 
Under the Tunnel Tree (another CCC “thing”) 
Just on a hike through the Giant Forest…loved the colors 
Just on a hike through the Giant Forest, between 2 average sized Giant Sequias 
General Grant (2nd largest tree in world), Sentinal (average size Sequoia), General Sherman (largest tree in the world). Note, sizes are by volume of the trunk, not height. 
Stump of Mark Twain, who gave his life to “prove” to easterners the size of Giant Sequoias. They still thought it was a “California Hoax” 
At the Kings Canyon Overlook on Generals Highway, in Sequoia National Forest
Some other points of interest
We saw lots of Agriculture in the Valley on our drives, mostly Citrus and Vineyards. We stopped at the Keweah Lake Visitor Center and learned about the dam on the lake. We went to a Visalia Rawhide baseball game, on Max Scherzer Bobblehead night!
View of Keweah Marina and Dam from the Visitor Center 
San Joaquin Valley Agriculture 
San Joaquin Valley Agriculture…we learned that Citrus trees are netted to prevent cross pollination 
San Joaquin Valley Agriculture 
Valley Strong Ballpark, home of the Visalia Rawhide, a Single A Minor League baseball team in the Arizona Diamondback organization 
Easy to get good seats at a minor league game!!!
Off for Half Moon Bay
Only 3 days late. Oh Well. Good thing we planned 8 nights, so we’ll still have 5. We will be high-tailing it home, per original plan, to arrive April 30!
For more pictures, see (in-work) Adventure Album: California MLB Home
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