Return to Red Rock

 

We took our Israeli friends to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. This place is so dear to us. We've had many adventures here and once upon a time, we were married on the north side of these mountains! 

Our first stop was the visitor center to get Jr Ranger books. There are a number of displays and info plus a sweeping view of the park.

This was early June and the weather was unseasonably hot- I believe it reached 110 while we were there. So we arrived in the morning and limited our hiking. We always stop along the 13 mile scenic drive at Calico for the views and to scramble around a bit. 

We even spotted a chuckwalla! I didn't know they lived in the area. Makes me wonder why I never noticed them before. Birding definitely increases your awareness of your surroundings and provides a much more rewarding outdoor experience. I found this Say's Phoebe with bluish-gray feathers. Seems unusual.

The view from the High Point Overlook. I climbed the rainbow mountain one New Year's Day.

We checked out a new hike, the Fire Ecology Loop in Pine Creek Canyon. 

Vegas Vacation

 We spent 10 years living in Vegas. We began fulltime RVing when the twins were just 3.5 years old. This is our third return visit, the last was four years ago, so sadly they don't have many memories of our time here and even the memory of our friends has grown hazy for them. It was fun to reconnect with some of them on this trip. It was a weird time, the worst of COVID and restrictions has passed, but a spike in cases when we arrived in June brought masks back and caused us to be a bit more cautious in meeting with people. One family had an exposure and another a much-awaited upcoming vacation, so we didn't get to see everyone we'd hoped to and didn't even reach out to many (so sorry friends!). Our sweet friends, Susan and Tom, let us park at their house. It was absolutely wonderful to reconnect after these years away. We met them in our church's small group 15 years ago. Asher and Journey absolutely loved playing and swimming with their grandchildren. We shared dinners and Oculus games, but my favorite memory was our last night together sharing travel stories and seeing their faces light up while sharing about the places they went and people Tom and Susan met during their time with the Thunderbirds. 

And we got to tortoise-sit this cutie! Ivan!

We had been traveling with our Israeli friends since mid-April, from Texas to New Mexico, Arizona, California and finally Nevada. We were able to celebrate their birthday with them and take them to some of our favorite places in Vegas before our paths went in different directions; theirs to the northwest and ours to Idaho and Montana. 

We were able to reconnect with our friend Sidney, who created and runs Horses For Heroes, a nationwide program providing low-cost riding and therapy programs for military, first responders and their families, plus those dealing with trauma. It's a fantastic program that had my kids riding just after their second birthday! Sidney has a heart for others, and holds a special place in mine.

Our friends introduced us to their new spiky family member, Miss Prickle Pants, the sweetest pygmy hedgehog ever! 

I spent a day birding the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve (first photo of this post) and birded Floyd Lamb a few times while Asher fished. I always love seeing the peacocks there!

Have you ever seen the backside of a peacock? It's kinda funny.

Ladder-backed Woodpecker (above)    The most mellow Black-crowned Night-heron ever. (below)

Before we left town, Tom and Susan hosted a dinner for us with Phil and Lansing. Tim and Dee Fisher had us over for dinner and our kids really enjoyed spending time with their teens. 

The Best View in Sequoia {Moro Rock}

This was our FAVORITE park of Sequoia National Park! Getting to the trailhead involved driving the winding Generals Highway thru the park to the visitor center where we were required to hop on a shuttle due to the road being too narrow for two vehicles to pass. Shuttle drivers use radios to coordinate so they don't have to pass each other. 

This is one of the only spots to pull over along the road in Sequoia to admire the view.

From this trailhead, it's a short .25 mile climb up 350 rock stairs to the top! 

From here you can see the spot along the road where we had stopped to admire the view.

At this point we saw a young man beginning to rappel from the top! Not sure if this was actually allowed.

From the top you have 360 views of the Sierra Nevada peaks, San Joaquin Valley, Kaweah River and the Sequoia- Kings Canyon Wilderness.

After soaking in the views, it was time to head back down.

From the shuttle we had a different view of Moro Rock.

We passed the Tunnel Log on our way to the Crescent Meadow. This is tall enough for a small car to drive beneath.