We are free! Free at last. And no, that's not in honor of black history month (that's a separate post). It is in honor of the fact that we are finely done at the mechanic shop. Those four days waiting around the Morongo Valley/ Joshua Tree area felt like a sentence and we were counting down the minutes.
I had barely handed over the check for a thousand dollars more than I was quoted before I was starting up the engine and shuffling kids inside the rig. We thanked everyone and off we went.
We made it to the next street before I was calling the shop for help again, because I was stuck in the mud. Two of the mechanics graciously brought the truck over and pulled us out. Embarrassed but not bruised I tried to leave again. This time was a success and we were really off. We only had one more stop to make before we officially left the area and that was back to the skate park so Nay could try out his new skateboard he got for his birthday.
We ended up reaching Santa Monica by 430p. It was an easy drive there and even easier to maneuver my big rig through the Santa Monica Pier parking area. We parked and spent the next four hours riding, playing , eating, and buying on the pier.
We all had a blast and I definitely look forward to our next visit.
We got on the road late. It was around 8p before we pulled out of the Santa Monica Pier parking lot. I got a couple hours of driving done before I had to find a place to park for the night. After a slow creep up a steep mountain we landed at a random truck stop for the night.
The next morning we were up and driving early. We spent five hours on the road, stopping at several little neat places along the route, before arriving at our next stop… Sequoia National Park.
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| A visit to the International Agriculture Museum and Learning Center |
I was so excited to experience this park but the more and more I read about getting there the more nervous I became. My nerves really spiked when I stopped at a tire shop about thirty miles away from the park. As I purchased tire chains for my rig, because that’s what the NPS website said to do, the gentleman who helped me also informed me how treacherous the route was, how I needed to drive really really slow, and how I could very well slide of the road. I wasn’t comforted when the park ranger at the ranger station several miles down the road informed me of the same. I heard this same message at each and every stop I made up until I began the treacherous journey up the mountain.
Why oh why did I think driving up the mountain to see the giant sequoia’s was a good idea? It was the worst terrifying, gut wrenching, death defying stunt I have ever pulled (and will never pull again). The drive up was slow and shaky but we made it to the top…6500 ft up… in our big ole RV.
The only word to describe the view from the top is ‘WOW’, just wow! It was spectacular. I have never see trees like those giant sequoia’s. There are very few words I could use to describe their awesomeness so I won’t even try. I’ll just let you see what I mean through pictures:
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| Yes! We are inside of a fallen tree |
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| Can you see me down there looking like an ant next to that giant tree? |
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| Uh-Oh SNOW!!!!! |
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| She's trying to get the perfect shot of the sun setting as we're coming back down the mtn |
It's been a whirlwind two days and we have seen and experienced so much. We made it to the end of our journey and now the only to go is east. Although I'm definitely not ready to be back on the east coast I'm determined make the drive east just as thrilling and exciting as the drive west.
So until we see you on the road or somewhere around the globe... Stay happy and healthy and keep chasing those dreams.
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