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🚐 On the website: JDLtravel.com
Hey there JDLX Travel fans!
This week in real time:We were fortunate to stay on the property of a lovely couple who also own an RV, thanks to a program called "Boondocker's Welcome". Hosts list their homes on the platform so travelers like us can request a stay. We enjoyed our neighbors! 
We chose this spot due to its relative proximity to Yosemite National Park. Although we were only an hour from the entrance, curvy mountain roads slowed us down as did the long drive from the entrance to Yosemite Valley. We had a great day in Yosemite, we started driving around 5am and were able to watch the sun rising over the park as we drove in. There were a surprising number of dog friendly trails in Yosemite, so we brought the pups along! 
Our first stop in the park was Yosemite Valley which turns out to be quite confusing to navigate, especially by car! We were able to enjoy Lower Yosemite Falls, a nice view of Half Dome, and Mirror Lake. The early morning arrival meant very chilly temperatures, but we were also just in time to see a rainbow in the falls! 
After a busy morning hitting the popular attractions, we were off to find some big trees! Although we are no longer in Redwood territory, the Sierra Nevadas are home to their cousins - the Giant Sequoia. Redwoods grow to be taller, but Sequoias can have much wider trunks (AKA greater mass). The Mariposa Grove is a very popular grove of Sequoias in Yosemite but it is not dog friendly. We opted to drive to the Tuolomne Grove which was a dog friendly hike, and in a much less busy area of the park! If you look closely you can see Dylan posing for scale next to this giant named "Big Red." 
When we left the Boondocker's Welcome spot we went to the nearby Millerton Lake State Recreation Area. We were able to relax and enjoy full hook ups to do lots of cooking, and bathe the dogs! This was helpful as we prepared to move to another Boondocker's Welcome spot! 
Now we are slightly closer to King's Canyon and Sequoia National Parks - which we have learned are two parks that are managed together because their borders touch. Today we left the dogs home so we could start to explore Sequoia National Park, which does not have many dog friendly trails. The views were amazing as soon as we entered the park and began climbing about 6,000 feet of elevation in 16 miles of switchbacks in the truck. Our first stop was to see the world's largest tree (and largest known living thing in the universe), General Sherman. We hiked the Congress trail to see a ton of other amazing Sequoias in the Giant Forest as well! 
After wandering around the Giant Forest and taking in the monstrous trees we were ready to get some more views of the surrounding landscape. We drove to Moro Rock and completed a short but steep hike to the top of the rock where we were surrrounded by amazing views. We were surprised by how sunny and warm it was today in Sequoia National Park after we froze in Yosemite! 
So far we have not encountered much snow/ice and zero bears between Yosemite and Sequoia. It would probably be beautiful to see the parks covered in snow, but driving has been much less stressful without having to use our tire chains! As for bears, I'm glad for no close encounters, but wouldn't mind a bear sighting from the truck on a scenic drive! We are hoping to explore some of King's Canyon and/or Sequoia National Forest while we are in this spot, but have to figure out our plans still! We have been planning on the fly since we do not have to be anywhere by any point. We are however looking forward to getting further South for warmer weather, and maybe some extra daylight! Thank you all for joining our newsletter email list! Feel free to reach out, we love hearing from you! — Jessie, Dylan, Luna and Xirco BIGGEST LIVING THING... We also touched the 3rd largest. crazy |