First off, mosquitos are the worst! For those of you that just read that sentence and thought, “Oh they don’t like me,” with a grin that screams “neener, neener,” please, I will give you $5 million dollars for your superpower!  I have five bites just on my face!

What a day [Yesterday]! We left Yosemite around 9am in route to somewhere by way of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. It was still up in the air whether we would stay at a campground within the park grounds or somewhere outside, which, because of Franklin, is what I prefer. So we took off, arriving at Kings Canyon to check out some big ass trees.  At our first stop for the bathroom and to see the General Grant Tree, I sat in my car, trying to figure out where to go next. A man and his friends asked about Franklin, spotting him in his usual co-pilot spot on the center console.  I opened the door and let Franklin out for a much needed car break at which time this man told me all about his golden retriever and soon all the people he was with surrounded Franklin, petting him and scratching his ears. Franklin, needless to say, was in heaven.  Apparently the group was on a 3 week assignment to scout locations and shoot video for a commercial. Our conversation was brief but he gave me a list of places to go and things to see which was awesome.  He recommended a place called Camp Nelson which was outside the National Park area.  He gave me his card and offered assistance anytime.  I said thanks and waved his team goodbye and set off.  We drove and drove and before I knew it, we had driven through both National Parks. We filled up the gas tank and continued to drive or wander in this case.

So now where?

We decided to head to our new friend’s suggestion and by 5 o’clock we had not traveled very far at the average speed of 25 mph and more curves than Kim Kardashian (sorry that was bad.)  We finally hit Camp Nelson, an adorable mountain town, where unfortunately all campgrounds were closed for the season.  We turned back the way we came and took a different road leading to another camp. The road took us high into the mountains and as the sun began to set, my stomach screamed and I made the executive decision to just pull over on this road and make it our home for the night.  It worked out pretty well, check out this view!