We were ready to go at 9am. We were only about 15 miles from the Ash Mountain entrance to Sequoia National Park. We stopped at the Foothills Visitor Center located just inside the park. This was a small facility just basically to answer questions.

We were back on the road. The road through Sequoia wound its way up to an elevation of approximately 6500 feet elevation where the Giant Sequoias thrive. We stopped at the Giant Forest Museum and were fortunate to be there to hear Ranger Dan's talk about the Giant Sequoias. He had us and about 20 other people captivated for 40 minutes as he talked about the life cycle of a Giant Sequoia. Ranger Dan pointed out that Sequoias are very much like humans as they age. Just like humans, they reach their maximum height, then start growing around the middle…..building their girth. Sound familiar? One of the trees that he is passionate about is General Sherman, the Earth's largest Tree, which was just down the road. We had to pay our respects.

The General Sherman Tree is located in a grove about half a mile at the end of a steep paved trail. There is a upper viewing platform about half way. We didn't think it looked any bigger than other Giant Sequoia tree that we saw. However, we thought differently when we got down to the base of the tree. This tree is huge. The circumference at the base is nearly 103 feet and it weighs an estimated 1385 tons. The estimated age of General Sherman is over 2,000 years. We all felt very insignificant and humble in the presence of Greatness.

After leaving Sequoia National Park, we drove to the Grant Grove section of Kings Canyon National Park. Grant Grove is just a small section of Kings Canyon National Park. The Kings Canyon Scenic Byway that connects Grant Grove to the larger section of Kings Canyon would take another day to drive, which we didn't have. The next best thing was to watch the film. It gave us a grand view of what we would miss seeing this time. We will be back.

It was getting late and we still had to wind our way back to camp. It was going to take us 2 hours. It took us a little over 2 hours, but we made it before it got dark.

It was our turn to cook. Because it was our last night and we got in late, we all decided a night out to celebrate was in order. We heard about this great restaurant that was right on the river and served trout, the Riverview Café. We didn't have cell coverage so we couldn't call to see if it was open, but the website stated it was. We had a good idea where it was, but it was now dark. We assumed that being such a great place to eat, it would be lit up. Well, after a couple of passes where we though it should be, we finally found it, but it was closed…no lights!

…On to Plan B…. We were getting pretty good of always having a Plan B and even a Plan C. This time it was, Sequoia Cider Mill Restaurant. Again, we knew somewhat where it was located. If we couldn't find it, Plan C, was going to be hot dogs back at camp. Luckily, we found it and it was open. We all ordered ribs, which were very good. We ate, which we do very well and we drank, which we also do very well. It was a good finish to an adventure we will not soon forget.

But first, we needed to find our way back to camp. There are no street lights in Three Rivers, which made it difficult to see the left turn onto N Fork Road. However, somehow we did. Next task was to find the entrance to the RV Park. I remember that the entrance was 2.4 miles from where we turned, but we were talking and didn't pay attention to the mileage. Hmmm. We started to see landmarks that none of us recognized. Uh oh…. Walt turned around and we all tried to focus on finding the entrance. We had driven about 2 miles with still no sign of the entrance. Several things were going through our minds….did we not go far enough? Will we have to sleep in the truck? Who gets the front seats?....Aha! We remembered that the park was across the road from a citrus grove. We started to look for a citrus grove. Found it! We crept along and found the sign. Whew…now….where are the RVs? The park is not lit. Fortunately, Walt and Barb always leave a light on inside. Found the RVs!

It really is time to head home.

Tomorrow, we make the final drive home.