Last Day in the Mountains
Since Wookie didn’t get to join us in Yosemite, we made it our goal to take him along on our next outing. We headed into Groveland and grabbed some Firefall coffee and had a look for a good place to walk him. It was a cute little town, but unfortunately not the most dog friendly. Luckily we already had a backup plan in the works, a waterfall was supposed to be close by. Wookie’s outing was saved by a nice walk around the Rainbow Pool day-use area admiring the waterfall.
From Altitude to Warmth
It was time for an excursion out of the mountains and back down into the valley. We hadn’t planned our stops and figured we could wing it. The drive up to Yosemite was nerve-wracking, and unfortunately, the drive back down was worse. It was a long winding descent and the brakes had to be used in addition to downshifting. We scared ourselves a bit and smoked the brakes but the tough part was over. We were rewarded for the descent into the San Joaquin Valley by temperatures over twenty degrees Celsius for the first time in our trip.
Another Great Harvest Host Stop
Our stop for the night was a Harvest Host winery in Merced called Vista Ranch. We parked our trailer in their little four space RV lot and went for a walk around the gorgeous property. Part of staying at a Harvest Host is supporting the business so of course, we went in for a wine tasting. Twist our rubber arms. Our (slightly stumbling) walk back to the trailer was illuminated by beautiful Christmas lights. We had a wonderful stay that was only mildly interrupted by the loudest train horns we had ever heard.
Final Leg of Winging It
It was time to continue driving so we said our goodbyes to Vista Ranch and headed for Walmart. We picked our spot at the Selma Walmart and popped in for some groceries. Lucky for us there was a Starbucks nearby so we had some Christmas drinks for breakfast. Onward to our next destination of Viking RV park 10 minutes from Selma. This was our stopping point for two nights so we could spend a full day in Sequoia National Park. The site was small and awkward but the 50% discount using Passport America made it worth the effort. At the end of our 3-day adventure, we had hit a nice cross-section of different ways to camp.