6200 miles

We've been busy since our last post, and way out of wifi or cell phone range.

Where have we been these past days???

and...

Yosemite was as breathtakingly awe inspiring as people had told us.  The Yosemite Valley is beyond compare.  So much to visually take in...El Capitan, Half Dome, Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite Falls...so massive and so amazing.  To see the power and majesty of God's creation.  Wow.  Our trip up to Glacier Point was nerve racking, especially since our 31 foot RV was over the recommended length for the road and the turns would be tight to handle in our VW super beetle, but so worth it.  What a view...

We even had time for some swimming in the river that runs through the valley while we watched climbers heading up El Capitan directly behind us.

More amazing was leaving that night and seeing the lights of the climbers suspended halfway up the sheer vertical face of the cliff as they slept strapped into the side of the mountain!

Our next stop was King's Canyon and Sequoia National Parks...we knew we'd see some big trees, but oh my...

The General Sherman tree above is about 2500 years old and is the largest living thing on the earth by volume.  We felt like insects next to it.  At another section of the forest we even got to climb through a giant sequoia that had fallen and was hollow inside.  Look how small we look in it!

We saw three black bears in Sequoia in one day, the last one walking right in front of the RV.  Totally awesome!

While in King's Canyon we camped for 3 nights at a beautiful campground called Sunset.  We were high up on a rock ledge that looked westward out over the city of Fresno.  The sunsets were spectacular and the night so clear we could easily see the Milky Way, shooting stars and satellites.

Always wanting to help in some way at each place we go has led us into some interesting opportunities so far.  We've been able to directly help individuals in need, entire communities, and even people at random.  This time, our service wasn't very exciting or glamorous, but it was deeply appreciated by the park rangers when we offered...we picked up trash in every campsite in the campground.

Tonight we're experiencing quite a shock to our system as we moved from the chill of the mountains to temps well over 100 degrees here outside of Joshua Tree National Park.  We're looking forward to visiting with family in Phoenix tomorrow before we head northward to Sedona and the Grand Canyon.

Again, we deeply appreciate your prayers.  We were hit hard by a stomach bug, but have since recovered.  We've had moments of stress and are all a it overtired, but still overjoyed to journey forward.  It's hard to hear of friends back home going through hard times and not being there with them, but we trust our prayers are being felt.

Elsie reports that there seems to be a scarcity of DQ's in Cali.  Bummer.

After all the bears and deer, Tanner enjoyed watching a beautiful bald eagle soar above us as we swam in Hume Lake.

Tobi is rejoicing over electrical power tonight to recharge her kindle.

Lucy is in the lead for MVP of the trip...what a good helper she is.

Ann continues to be the glue holding all of this together.

Johnny is ready for a second career as a long haul driver.