Change of Perspective - KOAs

We just left Yosemite National Park and as I have been saying to anyone that will listen, it really was one of my favorite spots. The lush greenery all around, the multiple waterfalls throughout the park and the majestic views from every spot made it an amazing park to visit. I knew from the beginning I wanted to visit Yosemite on this trip, but we did not have very clear plans for the second half of the trip so we waited to make reservations. I knew it would be hard to find spots in the park, but I was hoping we would get lucky. When we finally made some plans for the tail end of our trip, we were about 2-3 weeks out and Andrew started searching spots to stay, everything in the park was booked, but what we did find was a lovely KOA on the West side of the park in Mariposa. It was about 30 miles from the park entrance, but the drive into the park followed the Merced River, as a passenger it was a lovely drive. As the driver, the road was narrow and curvy making it a little stressful. Even though the KOA was far from the park it was as close as we could get, with services. We could have found some BLM land to camp on, but we were also in need of showering and doing laundry, so for us, it worked perfectly. Because we drove in the first day, we got to meander around the park at our own pace, stop and take photos and explore crazy roads, like the journey up to Glacier Point. The second day we utilized the public transportation system. The YARTS (Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System) picked us up right in front of the KOA and dropped us off at the Visitor Center, then we were able to take the Yosemite Shuttle to get to the trail head for our hike up to Vernal Fall. Then, after a long day of hiking we were able to get back on the YARTS for the drive home and rest, read or just stare out the window, making the ride home very relaxing for everyone, which is one of the beauties of public transportation. 

KOA Midpines/Mariposa outside of Yosemite National Park

When we started this trip, I did not know much about KOAs, I had my narrow minded judgements about them, assuming it wasn’t really camping and it was a little cheesy. But this trip has changed my mind completely. When I can stay so close to amazing parks like Yosemite, and get great services, including public transportation, I became a fan. We have stayed at some really great KOAs on the this trip, Yosemite was beautiful, Healdsburg/Cloverdale, was another one of my favorites, with its lake and gorgeous trees and covered forest.

Lake at Healdsburg KOA 

Our camper nestled among the trees at the KOA in San Diego

We also really enjoyed the KOA in San Diego, just a 10 minute drive from the San Diego Zoo, the KOA had a huge pool, climbing wall, giant bouncy pillows and fun bikes for the girls to rent. The great thing that we have found about the KOAs is that they are very comfortable and consistent. On this trip, they have been a great place for us to stay when we want to explore a city as well (like the KOA in Vegas, next to a casino and a short Uber trip to the strip!), the spots are cheaper than a hotel room and in most cases they are centrally located, making it easy to get where we want to go.

KOA Las Vegas

I will always prefer nature and forest over city and concrete, but in most cases the KOA will usually provide a little piece of nature, close to a fun city. We have done our share of boon docking, national and state park camping and after being away from a real home for almost 9 months, as silly as it sounds, KOAs have started to feel like home. We know we can get clean showers and bathrooms, most have pools and fun playgrounds and we are able to plug in and refill water, it always feels like a little reboot after being away for a bit. Plus, they have a really easy to use app for the iPhone which makes it super easy to find a KOA near by and has tons of info to determine if it will work. The girls now ask if we get to go to a KOA, when we are heading out to a new place. Now that we are KOA members (or VIPs) we will likely renew our membership and explore KOAs closer to home. I don’t want to sound too cheesy or like a KOA ad (probably too late), but the bottom line with so many things on this trip, our perspective has definitely shifted on this subject and it's important to share that. Everything might not be exactly what you think and trying out something new might be a very rewarding experience. 

Nadia’s Blog – Seeing Family & Friends

A couple weeks ago we went to Las Vegas, it was SOOO cool! But, it was only one day. We drove down the strip in the camper when we got in town, I was like WOW – when I saw the Eiffel Tower! Then we went to our campground and we all took showers and then we headed back down the strip to  have some lunch and meet our friend Amber!!! After lunch we explored Amber’s hotel/mall – Caesars Palace. After we explored the hotel for awhile we went up to a restaurant and had sushi for dinner. It's was fun! Nice to see you Amber! 

Mommy & Amber at Caesars Palace

After we went to Las Vegas we went to Zion National Park and we got to see our friends The Goldsmith’s – yeah!!! We stayed in a nice hotel at the entrance of the park, with joining rooms with our friends. After we unloaded the camper we all went swimming and it was fun! 

Swimming with our friends! 

After swimming, we played football in the grass right outside of our rooms. The next day we went on a hike on the Riverwalk Trail. While we were hiking it started raining, then lightning and thunder and then it started hailing. AHHHHHH!!!!! I headed back early with Beth, William and Ella – while Sydney, Siena, James, Daddy and Mommy hiked to the end of the trail. The next day it was nice (and free to get in the park because it was the 100th Birthday of the National Parks). We hiked two super cool hikes, one to the watchtower (?) and the second to the emerald pools. Both were fun, and way better in the sunshine. It was so fun to see our friends!!! 

All the kids heading into Zion National Park 

Hiking in Zion 

After Zion, we headed to Palm Springs to see Nonni and Nonno!!!!! The first day we went shopping with Nonni, ate In and Out burger and hung out by the pool. The next day we went to Joshua Tree National Park, we didn’t see the actual Joshua Tree – we did see a lot of Joshua Trees but not the biggest one. We also took a tour of Keys Ranch, which is where people had built homes and lots of buildings and lived in the desert for a long time. After Joshua Tree, we went swimming when we got home. We loved Nonni & Nonno’s pool. The next day we went to The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. We got to ride a camel and we went to the butterfly house and a butterfly landed on me, but mommy didn’t get a picture :-(, a butterfly landed on Nonni too. I loved being at Nonni & Nonno’s house in Palm Springs. 

Our camel ride at the Living Desert

Butterfly on Nonni's wrist 

The one photo Mommy got with the butterfly close to me. 

We loved playing in the pool at Nonni & Nonno's!

On Friday, 4/22/16 we got to Sanya and Phil’s house. It was so cool, I had so much fun. When we got there, Ava was home, then Peyton got home. They have two cute dogs named Bristol and Molly. They have two cats named Fred and Wilma. Peyton has two guinea pigs, named Zeus and Snickers. After we got to see all the pets Ava took us on a bike and scooter ride to the park. When we got home we played Wipeout and it was funny. Then we went in the pool. Then Sanya and Phil made us cheeseburgers and the adults had steak. The next morning we had to wake up at 5am to go on the Pat Tillman run, it was 4.2 miles, I stayed with Mommy, Ava and Siena, then I lost them and then I got to run with Sanya, Phil and Peyton. I finished the run with Phil and we beat the zebra!

Early morning, but lots of fun running with our friends!

After the race we went out for breakfast, at a place called Snooze, it was so good. Ava and I played ping pong – Ava was way better than me. After breakfast we went back to their house and had some chill out time. After that we went in the pool for a long time and then we had dinner. On our last day, :(we went to World of Beer and I had crab cakes then we went back to their house. When we got home we got to swim for awhile and we did a swimming race. After that we all played Minecraft, then we had a light dinner, which was very good. Then we went to bed…In the morning, I got ready with Ava and we went downstairs, we had Lucky Charms for breakfast. It was busy morning for their family, everyone was getting ready for school and work. We had to say goodbye. I think Sanya & Phil’s house was one of my favorite spots.  Thank you for letting us stay at your house!              

We get to come home in 4 week's yay!!!!: )

Death Valley: The Low Point of Our Trip

   

     Welcome to Death Valley

As I write, I am sitting in my bed/office/living room in the camper, it's about 9pm and feels like it's about 90 degrees, which it might be in the camper, outside its only about 75.  There are tiny little bugs that are swarming around the light, they are so tiny that they can sneak into the camper through the screens and as I type, I tap on the screen of my iPad every so often to kill the little critters that are crawling around. I have to get that out before I can go on about Death Valley, because currently they are making me very distracted. (Note: this is being published the next day after a buggy night filled sleep. Bugs kept falling through our vent above our bed, making for a warm, restless night. I loved this area and the warm weather during the day but the bugs and a camper without AC was not ideal in the evening.) 

Other than the night time bugs, Death Valley has been a really wonderful National Park. Both Andrew and I had little, to no expectations for this park. We thought it would be cool to drive through, maybe stay one day on our way to Zion. When we checked in on Sunday after leaving Lake Isabella we stopped at the Visitors Center, as we generally do when visiting National Parks, it's the best way to get familiar with the park, collect maps and talk to the park rangers. When we checked in the girls each got Junior Ranger packets and we also got the instructions for the #hikedeathvalley program they were currently running. Junior Ranger programs are fun because it give the girls something to focus on (we also gave them a pass on school work when they fill out the booklet) and we all learn new things about the park. (For example, we learned the highest recorded temperature was 134 degrees Fahrenheit in 1913!)  The #hikedeathvalley program was a fun challenge to get people hiking different trails in the park, each hike was worth a certain amount of points. Once you earned 4 points you get a Death Valley decal. Although, the decal isn't super fancy it was fun to plan out our hikes for our visit based on how many points we got for each and we all loved having a goal for the few days we were here. 

                                           

    Wildflowers from Dante's View  

Camping at Death Valley is not like most other National Parks, there are no trees, very little shade and you are pretty much camping in a parking lot. But for the nights we were here we enjoyed our spots (despite the bugs), the first night was in Furnace Creek, very close to the Visitors Center, where we got to see a ranger talk in the evening. The next two nights we stayed in Stovepipe Wells which is close to a general store and another lodge which has a restaurant and bar and a pool, which for $4 dollars we were able to enjoy, along with a nice shower – after a long day of hiking, this was the best $4 dollars I have spent in awhile. The best thing about camping out here in this vast valley is the magnificent stars that we have been able to experience each night. Without all the lights of a city and so much open space you can see for miles and it is truly amazing. 

For our first full day we started off with an easy hike/walk on the Badwater Basin, although this wasn't on our list for points,  it is the lowest point in the park at -282 below sea level. There is a boardwalk that takes you out to the basin to the salt flats which looks like it could be a frozen lake or covered in snow, but it is evaporated water and salt crystals and other minerals. It was fun to walk out on the basin and feel like we were in the middle of nowhere or in a scene out of Star Wars (which by the way, many Star Wars movies were filmed in Death Valley).

 

     Girls in the middle of Badwater   Basin

After the Badwater Basin, we traveled down the road a bit to another trail called Natural Bridge. This was also a shorter hike, through a canyon and under a Natural Bridge (hence the name) which was created through differential erosion, along the path there are also dry waterfalls and huge boulders to climb over and under. When the path ends, there are more rocks and boulders to climb around on and explore deeper into the canyon. While we were hiking it started to rain, big raindrops. And because I am a bit anxious at times and had read enough about flash floods in this park, I frantically insisted that our hike was over and it was time head down the canyon. Although, I may have been a bit overly cautious, by the time we got to the truck it was pouring and I was happy to be safely driving away to our next stop. 

                                   

   Hiking under Natural Bridge (1 pt) 

After the Natural Bridge, we took a driving tour through Artist’s Drive and Artist’s Palette. One crazy thing about this park is the weather patterns, even though it was dumping rain at Natural Bridge, it was warm and sunny just down the road on Artist’s Drive. This drive is a 9- mile, one way road, only open to vehicles under 25 feet (another reason we love our compact camper). The drive was narrow and curvy with big rocks overhanging. Not to mention the amazing colors and features on the mountains along the route. It was a lovely detour and once again I love my husband for his awesome driving skills and abilities of maneuvering our rig through these super, cool tight spots. 

                  Artists Palette

After Artists Palette, we needed some more points for our challenge (we didn’t get any points for the drive or Badwater, and only 1 point for the Natural Bridge), so we headed over to the Mesquite Sand Dunes. This crazy hike, with no trail or path, takes you over hot, sandy dunes and our goal was to get to the highest dune, about 1 mile away (as the crow flies). Once again we felt like Star Wars characters in the middle of the desert, it was hot and sandy and our shoes were filled to the brim with sand, but we thoroughly enjoyed hiking the ridges on the various dunes and running down like crazy people once we finally reached the top point. 

       Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes (1 pt)

The second day, we started off our day with a beautiful hike at Mosaic Canyon. This was my favorite hike of the visit, it was a nice climb up through marble canyon walls. And again, like Natural Bridge, once the main trail ends there are cool boulders and marble shoots to climb in and over. This also made the hike way more enjoyable for the girls, they don't love hiking in the burning, hot  sun, but once they are climbing and sliding various shoot and canyons they forget about the heat and love the adventure. Bonus, there was no rain at all for this hike! 

                            Nadia climbing the boulders at Mosaic Canyon

    Hiking Mosaic Canyon (2 pts)

After the hike, we had lunch in the camper by the Salt Creek Interpretive trail and checked out pupfish and then drove to Dante’s View, at 5475ft we got to look down on all the hikes we had traveled over the last couple days, our main view was over the Badwater Salt Flats, which was really cool and we also got to enjoy some more greenery and the blooming wild flowers that were starting to show up.

      Badwater Basin from Dante's   View

          Wildflowers at Dante's View

Hiking in the park was lots of fun and of course, as usual, we didn’t even really scratch the surface for what the park has to offer, there were longer hikes, hikes to waterfalls and tons of areas to explore when we come back in a smaller/lighter 4x4 vehicle. In the end, we reached our goal of 4 points and we each got a fancy decal for our accomplishments! 

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