We have taken a brief vacation from our vacation, and boy, has it has been glorious.

We left Utah two weeks ago before making our way to the Pacific. In St. George, UT, we had a wonderful visit with Wisconsin church friends who let our dogs run in their yard, took us out to lunch, and sent us off with a full load of groceries – wow! We also got a few repairs done on Nic’s dirt bike in St. George.

Our brief stay by Lake Mead in Nevada taught us an important lesson: avoid sand in the RV. While reading reviews for camping spots in the desert between Utah and California, I came across a few people warning against driving on certain roads due to sand. They had gotten stuck enough to call for a tow. I asked Nic why we hadn’t had any issues with that yet, and if we ever would. Nic confidently replied that it would never be an issue for us because we were driving cautiously and were much too smart for that. Not even two days after that discussion, we arrived at the shore of Lake Mead at dusk. It had been a long, tiring day for us, and we were eager to find a campsite after driving down several miles of washboard gravel. We pulled off the road and began the typically quick task of levelling the RV and orienting ourselves appropriately to avoid as much direct sunlight as possible. As darkness fell, we managed to get our back wheels quite stuck in deep sand. We tried several quick solutions without success and decided to face our problem in the morning. We went to bed that night unable to think of anything other than how stuck we were.

Flat tires!

Letting out most of the air in our tires and building a path for the back tires

Taking everything off the back of the RV

Stuck in sand

The firepit we had to move

We worked for several hours in hot sun and blowing sand the next morning to break free. We were so thankful for cell service, because Nic found some clever solutions online. We cleared a path for the RV by moving a fire pit (and pushing aside a terrible amount of broken glass and metal debris), took everything off the back of the RV, built a path for the back tires in the sand, and lowered the tire pressure drastically in all six tires. Hearts pounding, we gingerly edged our way out of the sand and maneuvered the RV to a safer spot. Freedom! We spent another hour reloading the dirt bikes and very slowly inflating the tires with an electric pump while our generator stubbornly limped along. Our next online purchase included some tire traction strips and a shovel. Hopefully we will never have to use them!

Freedom!

Our drive into busy southern California was stressful. We still lumber along in the RV, and we did not enjoy watching maniacs speed around us in the narrow, bumpy California highway lanes. We were relieved to arrive in Corona del Mar in one piece. And our vacation began in beautiful Corona.

Good old Huntington Beach

Huntington Beach Pier

Lazy, spoiled dogs

Blue Chair Bakery – a must if you are ever on Balboa Island. The owner and her baked goods and coffee are delightful!

Boat dog

Trying to survive surrounded by so much water

We stayed with close family friends for a week. I’ve been referring to them as my aunt and uncle for years, and they are our family in every sense except for shared blood. We were in paradise in their beautiful home. They helped us troubleshoot and solve our generator issue and let us wash every single piece of fabric we have. They let us tag along for their peaceful morning walks along the Pacific, lattes in hand. We joined them for lunch most days, and they fed us way too much delicious food and homemade bread every evening. They genuinely loved our dogs and gave them the run of their house and tons of attention. Luna even got to take a dip in their pool! They graciously assimilated us into their lives for a week, providing us an amazing breed of hospitality. They encouraged us and loved us beyond belief, and we are so thankful to have people like them in our lives.

While in southern California we got to see a number of other wonderful people too. We cherish the time spent with family and old friends. We left the area feeling so full in so many senses. We certainly don’t look like we’re starving, but the common theme in our visits was people quite aggressively pushing large amounts of food on us. So with an overflowing pantry and slightly tighter (but very clean) clothes, we began our trip north.

We have spent the last three days basking in the beauty of the Sierra Nevada. We were blessed by even more hospitality at Hume Lake Christian Camp. Some Wisconsin friends of ours worked at Hume a few years back, and after hearing many stories about the camp, we felt we simply had to visit. Our friends arranged for an associate at Hume to show us around the other day, and she gave us the behind-the-scenes tour of the incredible camp. We were struck by the friendly and generous tightknit community of Hume. We have never seen such a harmonious little “village.” Everyone pitches in to help, which we saw firsthand when our new friends found a tool Nic needed for his dirt bike and then helped him unload the bikes, use the tool, and load everything back up.

The mighty Kings River

After leaving Hume we ventured deeper into Kings Canyon, staring up in awe at the sheer granite walls surrounding us. We spent a night not even fifteen feet from the powerful Kings River. The river is especially high right now, and the water appears angry as it churns its way through the rocky canyon. The roar is loud enough for us to keep our windows closed and for Nic to sleep with earplugs.

Grant Cove – a chance to see magnificent sequoias

Our next big goal is Alaska, so we will try to cover some serious mileage over the next few weeks.