BAKERSFIELD, SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK

We enjoyed our time in Bakersfield, we ate out, went to a movie and used the hot tub daily, and sometimes, twice a day.  We weren't too far from Sequoia National Park, so we took a day and visited it.

We were surprised there was a line to get in!

After about a twenty minute wait, we were at the entrance booth.

I guess they were busy....the campgrounds are full!

We stopped just a little ways in the park to potty Maggie and Marlee.

Took them for a short walk down this little trail that led to the river.

We walked down to the river where I slipped on these rocks, we all slid a bit and  fell into a pile.

We all got up and decided nothing was broken, Maggie and Marlee were OK, we considered ourselves very lucky!!

Finished our walk to the river, the girls got a drink.

Made it back to the top and continued on our way.

Snow on those mountains!

Beautiful scenery!

The Sierras.

Oh! And the bears!

Further up the road there  was road contruction where we had to wait for twenty minutes. By the time we stopped at the Giant Forest Museum, my knee had swollen and was hurting. This place was busy too, we looked for a parking place close to the museum, but there were none. I hobbled over to the museum, it was hard to walk on that knee! 

 The Sentinel Tree stands right outside the Giant Forest Museum. It provides an example of an "average sequoia" at seven hundred tons!  It is 2,200 years old!

We were heading into the Giant Forest, the most famous giant sequoia grove in Sequoia National Park.

 It is home to half of the Earth's largest and longest-living trees. It is only three square miles with over 2,100 giant sequoias with diameters of over 10 feet.

 The General Sherman tree is the  largest tree in the forest, but it was a bit of a walk and I couldn't make the walk, so sadly, didn't get to see that tree. We were running out of daylight in this forest, it was time to head home.

LEAVING JMP, BAKERSFIELD VACATION

It was getting time to leave Riverbank and Jacob Myers Park, for the first time since hitting the road, six years ago, I wanted to stay longer.  Darrell not so much. We had contacted Bennett's Best Pumpkins and Christmas Trees and asked if he had a lot available for us to manage......his answer............ Definitely!  He said Roadside was available, we said yes! A few days later he called back saying, that our lot in Saugus was available, Darrell had a big grin on his face when he told me this. I started cleaning out my flower bed. I wanted it nice for the new Back Park Hosts.

I decided to leave my "homemade birdbath", the birds love it!

We scrubbed the RV top to bottom, said goodbye to my church family and friends, closed the gate for the last time.

I will miss my church family, my friends, and I will miss living in this beautiful City Park.

We were headed to Bakersfield RV Resort for a few days of rest and relaxation.

KNIGHT'S FERRY COVERED BRIDGE, DAY WITH THE GIRLS

Knights Ferry Bridge, is the longest covered bridge west of the Mississippi at 330 feet, it is  just a few miles from Riverbank.

We walked across the bridge and at the end of the trail were  the park hosts....we visited with them for awhile. We wouldn't want their job.....they work 30 to 40 hours per week. We counted our blessings, we have such a great job!
These gals and I became friends this summer, Denise and Irene,  they walk the trail everyday with their dogs.

They know this area well and kept asking me....."have you been to.....they asked if we had been up in "gold" country, where gold was first discovered in California. I hadn't. They wanted to take me to see the largest piece of gold mined  in California.  On the way, Denise stopped at Columbia State Historic Park .

Columbia is a living gold rush town, located in the heart of the California Mother Lode.

You can ride the Stagecoach or pan for gold.

There are a variety of shops and boutiques, ice cream parlors, saloons, and this candy store!

The gold was panned and pretty much extracted any way they could.

This sign says they were armed with pickaxes, shovels and powerful jets of water. Long after the mining in this area stopped, the devastation remains.

It will be many more years before  anything substantial grows again in the boulder-strewn  fields that surround the town.

Back in the car and having a few snacks....we continued on our journey.

We were going to Ironstone Winery, where in the Heritage Museum is kept the largest piece of gold mined in California......and maybe some lunch!

Beautiful scenery.
We reached Ironstone Winery near the quaint little town of Murphys, in the heart of the Sierra Foothills

They have concerts here every weekend in the summer.

When the girls told me they wanted to show me the largest piece of gold mined in California, I was NOT sure what to expect.....but this wasn't it!

This is the largest Crystalline Gold Leaf specimen in the world. Weighing 44 pounds it was discovered on Christmas Day in 1992 by the Sonora Mining Company; just twenty miles from it's current home at Ironstone Vineyards.

The room that it is on display  in ....is actually a vault.

This piece of gold was far larger than what I had imagined!

Time for lunch......

We had a delicious lunch and a little wine tasting...... great day with friends.