Sylvia's RV Journey

So, it took more than a few days to finally accept my retreat back home. At times I felt like a belligerent child, scolded by a parent, telling me to stop, dont do that, go home! So I felt like I had to abandon my plans to continue on towards Yosemite. And after spending several days at home in enough discomfort…not only discomfort… really, it was pain, I am glad that I made the decision to go home. Its true that when you are not feeling right, for whatever reason, You just are not motivated to be on the move, and do the “tourist" thing. You just want to sleep, and cocoon. Now this will make the next trip to Yosemite even more determined. You know what they say “third time's a charm?" So looking over this season’s road trip, all went really well, except for some hiccups. But hiccups will happen, no matter how you plan. In the end Jo Jo is super fine, I will be super fine, and the Sylver Gypsy is awesome. And my mind is already focused on what is next!

Another beautiful night in the BLM lands in Keyesville, CA. It was near the Kern River. It was an easy drive on a paved road with several pull outs, and I selected a pull through that was nice and level. And, Finally I got to see some wild life, even though it was just a brown cow. And a couple of crows. I spent a few more hours with my leg elevated and made the painful decision to turn around and go home over the next day or two. I normally don't give up this easily, but I'm concerned about my injury and just need a proper place to rest up and get well. I have to wonder if the idea of getting to Yosemite, Sequoia National Park, and Kings Canyon was really meant to be. As it seems like my second recent try has failed. Fortunately, I have already been to those areas, though it's been almost 20 years, and I was really looking forward to going back again. But this will just give me new found motivation to make it happen at some point soon, down the road. I'm taking vitamin...

Other than some light traffic across the river, it was a very quiet and very dark night with the brightest stars. I didn't get too far today but wound up at a museum and antique location called Silver City Ghost Town, in Bodfish, CA.  I toured the museum which is actually a collection of homes and small buildings that were collected and moved from within a 7 mile radius of this area. The actual jail house is here along with a post office, Wells Fargo, doctor's office, church, and more. The buildings are all from the mid-to-late 1800's and unfortunately look like they have been in complete neglect ever since they were moved here from the 1970s through the 1990s. I don't think anyone does a bit of cleaning or pick up as there is dust and cobwebs everywhere. But you certainly get a taste of the life that the pioneers lead along with rusted artifacts of items that make you wonder what they may have been used for. There were small rooms with antiques for sale, and I was in t...

After a comfortable yet somewhat noisy night at Camping World in Bakersfield, I found an Aldi's grocery store right around the corner. Even though I really didn't need many groceries, I took the opportunity for some great deals, as well as that awesome chocolate assortment. I've been waiting for the opportunity to stock up on chocolate, and this was it. I seriously believe that newly formed mega bruises deserves good chocolate. I am doing ok, but it hurts. Even though Miss Google told me it was going to be an hour and 8 minutes, it was more like an hour and a half to get to the Sequoia National Forest. I used my "free camping" app to direct me to a hot springs along the Kern River. There were mixed reviews on the amount of people and some nudity that could be found in this area. By the time I got here there were many cars in the parking lot and from my vantage point it looked like quite a climb down from the cliff's edge to the river below. Either way, I wasn...

I made it to Ernst Quarries for a day of shark teeth hunting at Shark Hill. After a brief orientation about all the teeth that we could find, along with many fossilized bone, about 18 of us went ahead and started digging and sifting through this very silty, not sandy, but silty fine soil, which is basically the bottom of the ocean floor, at 14.6 to 16.2 million years.  It took a while to get the hang of things, trying to find the pieces, but after meeting Scott and his son Oakley, I learned to use the screen sifter technique, which is when then I found my larger shark's teeth. We all signed a one-page waiver against any possible liability, and I wound up in an area where people dig below the silt line, and like so many quarries, and fossil, or rock digging locations people tend to dig out underneath that top ledge creating a cavelike overhang. I have dug in many areas like this. This particular soil is clay-like sand stone.  I shared this 20+ foot long x 3 foot high horseshoe ...