California-Lake Isabella-15 of 49 on our RV Adventure

If you are a first-time reader, welcome to Lora and Erics RV Adventure Blog. You can read about us at http://www.LoraandEricsRVAdventure.com. We started in December 2017 with a goal to complete 49 states before heading home to North Carolina.

Today we are headed to Lake Isabella, CA. We got up early, washed up, and set off by 8:30 am. The travel time from Stagecoach Trails RV Park in Julian CA to Lake Isabella RV Park in Lake Isabella is 5 h 13 min (277 miles) via US-395 N.

The trip from Julian to Lake Isabella was along some windy roads mostly in the valley for the first 1hr 1/2. After which we drove highways toward signs pointing us toward Los Angeles. We stopped at a Walmart for supplies: Beer, Wine, 5-gal Diesel Fuel Tank, 2-5 gal buckets, and 2-smaller buckets for Lora’s feet washing and other supplies. We topped off on diesel fuel and headed through Dessert along a long straight road. There were passing lanes every so many miles, but cars wanted to fly by. At one point we were heading up an incline and a car 2 behind us started to pass the car behind us. As it accelerates to pass us we were almost to the top of the incline. I maintained my speed. As I reached the top a car was coming up fast. The car on my side now had to hit the breaks to move behind me. The oncoming car swerved as close to the edge, almost going into the dirt. The car behind me just made it by seconds. They stayed behind me until we reach a 2-lane passing zone to pass.

Our reservation at Lake Isabella RV Park is for 8 nights (5/20 – 5/28). The reservation is 2 nights longer than the original reservation. Lake Isabella RV Park is a small outdated RV Park off CA-178. The campground is not on the lake, but across the street from a National Forest Service day use area on the lake. The park is over 50% permanent residents. The campers are a mix of old mobile homes and old RV’s. The owner is an older woman that does it all. It appears she does not appear to have much help because when she is not if the office there is a sign to go to Site 87 or be back by a certain time. The couple on Site 87 did not exact do anything other than answer questions or direct new campers to a site until the owner came back. Some days she was gone for half the day. The bathrooms are outdated, the toilets do not work the greatest. You need to flush at least twice. As a result, mostly in the ladies’ bathroom, the toilets have partially flushed crap left in the toilet. The owner cleans the bathroom in the morning and occasionally walks down when she is onsite probably to check the toilets. We had a decent site with no one in front of us.

The sun rises over Lake Isabella each morning. I was able to capture the sunrise on our first morning. We noticed Bella was doing much better. She was wanting to go outside and walk around the park. I also took her across the street to the day use area and let her off the leach to walk down the dirt road.

Today we are headed to Sequoia National Forest. It seems like every attraction is far away with respect to seeing Sequoia’s which is one of Lora’s most notable bucket list items for as long as I have known her. Not knowing anything about sequoia our expectation was we would see giant sequoia trees everywhere. That is far from the truth. The sequoia trees are in groves and mixed in with more ponderosa pines and other trees. The giants are rare, but when you see one it is an amazing site. Sequoia trees are only found in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. A ranger said people have tried to grow them elsewhere successfully, but do not see new growth. The trees are high altitude growers.

We drove through Kernville to enter Sequoia National Forest on CA-99 and began a long twisty mountainous road with beautiful raging rapids along the road. There were so many National Forest dry camping areas along the road. To bring our camper would be too difficult and extremely scary. We did we some tent campers, Class C motorhomes under 30 ft and Class B Vans.

We drove along the river for some time before we started to climb. We eventually came across a waterfall just off the road. The after the falls water was calm for a bit then became raging rapids once again. We eventfully started to head up more and away from the river. The temperature had dropped to nearly 50°F.

We started to see what we thought was sequoia trees, but nothing like we had heard about. We see a sign for Trail of 100 Giants. We followed the signs to the parking area just off CA-107. We had to pay $5.00 to park. A $5.00 per vehicle fee is charged to help maintain and improve these facilities according to the National Forest website.

According to the National Forest website, on April 15, 2000, President William J. Clinton proclaimed the establishment of the Giant Sequoia National Monument and made his announcement beneath one of the giant trees at the Trail of 100 Giants. The grove contains approximately 125 giant sequoias greater than 10 feet in diameter and more than 700 giant sequoias less than 10 feet in diameter. The largest tree in the grove has a diameter of 20 feet and is 220 feet in height. The grove defined by the outermost giant sequoia trees covers 341 acres. It is estimated that the ages of larger giant sequoia trees in the grove are up to 1,500 years old.

We took a different route back to Lake Isabell. CA-M50 goes toward California Hot Springs. It took us out of the Sequoia National Forests through small windy roads with no cell coverage what so ever.

We always see caution signs for cattle. On one of our descents we seen an object in the road downhill. As we approached, it was a large bull. As we drove by very slowly, for Lora to take a picture, the bull turned toward the truck as to charge. We took off quickly. Further down we encountered 3 smaller cows wandering on the road. We now are more care when we see the signs.

We came upon an intersection and town Ducor. We see Stagecoach Rd which I assumed was the old stagecoach trail. The road was headed to Posey, CA ~23 miles away. We drove in the direction through windy narrow roads with no barriors. Luckily there was virtually no traffic coming our way. We see a coyote in a field scouting a herd of cows. When we stopped the coyote took off up the hill. Lora captured the coyote on film.

Before we made it to the town of Poesy we seen a sign and turn off for Lake Isabella on CA-155. We traveled in and out of the Sequoia National Forest for some time. The roads were slightly better, but still full of turns and steep drops. We started to see more vehicles. There was a rental Class C motor home cruising up the hill rather fast. We reached an elevation of over 6,000 ft before heading back down. The Class C motor home was not using any caution going down. We reached a point where there was a sign for a 13% grade. The RV kept speeding down the mountain. After 2 13% grade drops the RV started to use the breaks more frequent and noticeably was slowing down to a crawl. We figured the breaks were giving way. We never seen smoke but could smell breaks. The RV eventually pulled off about a mile from reaching Lake Isabella. We stopped to get fuel and headed back to the campground. On the way back, we seen the camper come off the mountain safe.

We ended the day as normal. We started to watch the new season of “13 Reasons Why” on Netflix. It is a amazing series on a suicide showing how the people and town impacted the death. We truly recommend the series if you have Netflix.

In the morning I did 2 loads of laundry. The weather is chilly in the AM and windy most of the day. We decided to make this a relaxing phase of our trip. After driving through Sequoia National Forest and seeing all the dry camping and all the dry camping sites along Lake Isabella we got the itch to research generators. I have done this in the past, but now we are close to the Alaska adventure and need to prepare. I am in favor of Honda Inverters for their reliability and sound decibals. The inverters come in 1000, 2000, 2200, 3000 watts. I want something to power the AC if needed. The 3000 watt is just over $2299.00. The 2000, 2200 watts are around $999.00 - $1199. Lora asked her RV Facebook people the question of what is best. We were suggested 2-2000 watts in parallel. It is less expensive, and you get a total of 4000 watts when used together. We planned to head to Bakersfield tomorrow.

Today we are headed to Bakersfield. I found a Camping World in Bakersfield, 1 hr across the mountain. We also have the option of Home Depot. An advantage of buying from Camping World, I have a Good Sam’s discount, so I can get it cheaper. The drive to Bakersfield on CA-178 W was worse than CA-155 we took getting out of Sequoia National Forest the other day. CA-178 W was mainly in the valley with some ups and downs of lower grades. The scenery was amazing with the Kern River roaring on the side of us most of the way. The twists and turns are sometimes narrow and there are always cars driving east. Whenever we reach a 2-lane passing zone we move to the right to let cars pass. They also have many turn offs to allow cars to pass. The stone walls on the inside lane are sticking out more than normal. We only seen box trucks and one rock truck on the route. Lora was not at all comfortable looking down into the river each time I had to get close to the edge in narrow sections.

When we reached Bakersfield, we decided to get a bite to eat. Lora searched for buffets and found Hodel’s Country Dining. The outside looked nice and the parking lot was full. We seated ourselves and checked out the buffet. Not impressive at all. I stuck to the fried chicken, mash potato’s, salad, and fruit. I will give it a 3 on TripAdvisor.

After lunch we headed to Camping World. We waited a bit to get help, but eventually purchase 2-2200 watt Honda Inverters with a Parallel kit. We had a discount of $999.00 for each. We renewed our Good Sam’s membership, so we got another $30.00 off and free toilet paper.

From Camping World, we headed to Walmart. We stocked up on wine, food, beer, and a 5-gal gas tank for the new generators. We headed back through Hwy 178E. This time we were on the mountain side, so Lora was more comfortable. I recalled this is the path we need to take to go to our next destination. The other option is CA-155 with the 13% grades. Both are not very good for us.

After we got back I further researched google for people’s experience driving CA-178 E with an RV. Anyone larger than 30 ft were apprehensive. Some said they would not do it again. I seen a gentleman who wrote with came from Bakersfield to Lake Isabella. His concern was the rocks sticking out and it may hit the camper if the turn is not correctly made. We mentioned on his return he went CA-178 E to CA-14 S to CA-58 W to CA-99 N. This route is about 50 miles out of the way but has no issues at all driving with a camper. I mapped the route and saved it on messenger. It adds one hour to our trip next week, but well worth it.

Last night Bella woke us up around 3:30am. I stepped out of bed and into water. I walked towards the bathroom and there was clear water flowing from the toilet. Somehow the toilet petal did not shut the water off completely and the seal was good enough to hold the water and not mix with the black water. The water flowed from the bathroom to one corner of the camper in the front, drained through the wall into the front cubby and out the camper. Lora got up and we quickly used towels to remove the water. I got the floor fan (a good item to have in case of these kind of emergencies) and started to dry the area. There were no water stains on the walls and the cubby section was plastic so no soaking there. In all we did well for the circumstance. We cleaned the seal and agreed to step and use the top of our foot to push up from under the petal each time we use the toilet. It seems to work well, and we are holding water now much better.

We will let the Dealer know we had an issue and hope they can fix it when we get the camper inspected before going to Alaska.

At daylight I did another load of laundry. I need to get some items for the new generators so we decided to head into Lake Isabella. We stopped at a True Value and bought chain, locks, and mosquito nets for Alaska. The chain and locks are so I can secure the generators in the bed of the truck and keep them locked on the eyelets on either side of the bed.

We drove a little further and I asked Lora to check where a Ghost Town is located near us. I recall seeing a sign on the road. Lora googled and seen it was 3 minutes away. We headed to historic Silver City Ghost Town located in Bodfish California, home to over 20 structures dating as early as 1858. The story goes in 1988 the J. Paul Corlew family purchased the first half of historic Silver City Ghost Town in Bodfish from Dave and Arvilla Mills. In 1990 they purchased the second half. The Mills family purchased the property from “Wormie” Annie Sullivan and moved in most of the historic buildings in the late 1960’s. Mills trucked in some 20 buildings to the site from throughout the Kern River Valley’s mining camps and early settlements. Many of the buildings were saved just days before being scheduled to be torn down. The attraction closed 2 year later when Hwy 178 was completed due to lack of visitors. Site was re-opened to the public Memorial Weekend 1992. The buildings and the stories posting on each one is interesting to read. The Mills Family seen the significance of preserving these buildings and the custodians today have the same passion.

We headed back home for the day relaxing and later watched some more of “13 Reasons Why” on Netflix.

We rested today. I grilled the quail boudin from Louisiana and stuffed potatoes we had in the freezer. All were very good.

The next day we ventured back into Lake Isabell. We stopped at the Swap n Shop flea market, then headed to Kernville for Lunch. We stopped at the local square and walked around the tents setup for sales. Everything was expensive. We headed to Ewings on the Kern. The restaurant looked packed when we drove up. We turned around and found a parking spot near the entrance. We walked in and seen there were a lot of openings. The parking lot is way to small to accommodate the seating space. We asked for a seat with a view of the Kern River. We waited 5 minutes to clear a table and we were seated. The view was fantastic. We watched the rafters go down the river. We both order a Fried Zucchini appetizer and different burgers. The fried zucchini was very good. The burgers were thick and sloppy, but filling. The experience was very pleasant and the staff were great. Very attentive to our drinks and satisfaction.

After lunch we drove back to Lake Isabella, visited Voy’s Grocery and picked up food items and wine. Lora’s White Zinfandel is $11.00 cheaper than Food Lion in North Carolina. The price here was $11.99. Even Walmart in North Carolina is $17.99.

We filled up the two generators and headed back to the camper. I hook them up and started the motors. I plugged the 30 amp receptacle into the camper and ran the A/C, TV, Microwave, and TV with the generator nice and quiet.

We ended the day once again watching a couple series of “13 Reasons Why”. Tomorrow we will finish Season 2.

The next day we ventured back into Sequoia National Forest to visit the George H.W. Bush Tree. The route was almost the same as before. We past The Trail of 100 Giants and drove for another 30 minutes. After a bit we realized we missed a turn and headed back to a dirt road down the mountain. After reaching the bottom we made a left and headed to the George H.W. Bush Tree and Grove.

Our final full day we cleaned up the camper and prepared for an early rise and departure tomorrow. I topped off the fuel in Lake Isabella and stayed at the campground for the remainder of the day. We are headed to Bass Lake, California near the southern end of the Yosemite National Park.

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