So we met our very large 25 foot RV on the outskirts of Los Angeles, christening him Tom Harvey. Then off will headed very nervously in Tom on the long drive to the national park Sequoia, along a very bumpy, ugly LA freeway. After a very exhausting trip to Walmart to stock up with food for the trip, we finally started to arrive in National Park land as night fell, so passed out in a RV camp just outside Sequoia. The next morning we awoke to blue skies and sunshine and drove the beautiful Generals Highway into the entrance of the park, only to be told our 25 foot vehicle could not go any further and we would need to reroute by going in via Kings Canyon 2 and a half hours north! After a bit of sulking from Laura we actually got on with it, and managed to get to Kings Canyon in good time, to enjoy a peaceful afternoon playing with giant Redwood Trees, and meeting the General Giant the 3rd largest tree in the World. We then drove all the way down to the canyon, passing gushing waterfalls, river beds, and steep canyons. When we reached the end we hiked through a meadow, covered in the beautiful fall coloured leaves, towered by steep granite cliffs. We then passed out at the very quiet Sheeps Creek campsite, as most of the national park was already closed for season. After dinner, we headed out star gazing and bumped into a couple whom we thought were a bear, and who then informed us off the massive bear problem in Yosemite, and from then on in we were too scared to leave our RV after dark!! So many nights locked up in the RV, playing Monopoly and watching movies followed! The next morning we drove back through the canyon, visiting lakes, and more waterfalls, and then headed off to a national park we have wanted to go to for years - Yosemite.

Yosemite was as we imagined - stunning! We arrived at sunset, witnessing the sky turn all sorts of orange as we drove down into Yosemite Valley. Unfortunately then we waited 2 hours for a ranger to find our reservation in the pines campground, as oppose to Kings Canyon, Yosemite was still pretty busy, and when we did finally find our spot someone else was in it! but hey ho we were in Yosemite - yey!! The first day we explored the valley, discovering the very small Mirror lake, wandered through thick orange leaves, and embraced the beautiful fall in Yosemite, endless blue skies and hot temperatures. Then we planned our 4 days in the park, and decided the best way to start would be to wake up at sunrise the next morning and do a 13 mile trek. So that we did, well not quite sunrise, was a little cold outside! But at 8:30 we started on the 4 mile trek, literally straight up 3,500 feet, with more and more of the beautiful Yosemite valley appearing with every step we took. We finally reached the top 2 and a half hours later at Glacier Point and took in more outstanding views, of waterfalls and half dome. Then we headed down the panorama trail, wandering through meadows, with the sun shining, and parked up a a very quaint waterfall for lunch. After another 1.5 miles uphill, we then reached the first of 3 waterfalls, Nevada falls, which even for this time of year with low water levels, was spectacular! We then trekked down what must have been hundreds of thousands of steps, on the mist trail taking in the mist of 3 separate waterfalls, and witnessing the rainbows in the mist… was the perfect end to a perfect hike. The next morning we could not move… we had aches in places we didn't know exsisted, so had a 'chilled' day so to speak, and then watched the sunset over tunnel view in the evening. The next day we went for a slightly less ambitious 7 mile trek, up the first thus the oldest trek in Yosemite, to the highest waterfalls in America Yosemite Falls. And it did feel like an old trek, we were walking with vertical drops on our side, and just a tiny pole there to support us… and again A LOT of uphill! When we reached the top we found sheer cliff edges, and was all very scary but phenomenal all at the same time, again a very worthwile trek. On the way down though we witnessed something spectacular, whilst looking back at the falls, we heard a noise that sounded like thunder, and a pile of rocks from the top of the waterfall where we had just been standing came crashing down, breaking on route, and smashing into the valley floor below, where people were standing, all very surreal and luckily no one was hurt… only wish I had been quicker on my camera! Anyho to finish off our amazing stay in Yosemite we headed to the Awanhee hotel, a very historic and famous property full of giant fireplaces - to have one well deserved drink, though in true laura and will style, one drink turned into 2 and we sat at the bar for ours drinking and eatingi, and then wandered back through the valley looking up at the 1000's of stars in the sky - it was the perfect end!!

But it wasn't quite the end the next day we drove out the park, via the Tioga Pass, the highest pass in California, through the Tuolemene Meadows, and felt very privalleged as this road is closed for about 9 months a year due to snow fall - again we were still being blessed with the weather blue skys and sunshine J Here we witnessed giant domes, and 100's of lakes surrounded in forests of pine trees and saw our first snow!… and then we kept driving until we came across one giant lake, Lake Tahoe.