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| Driving out of the mountains early morning |
By We found a KOA in Lake Isabella that we thought sounded really nice. Although Yosemite is beautiful we were quite pleased to leave the campsite behind. The rain had flooded the mens toilet so there was ONE toilet seat and ONE shower for the whole campground. No thanks. Heading back down to the lowlands meant the temperature increased which was nice. It was a great drive out of the mountains though, lovely scenery. We wanted to take the road down past Kings Park and Sequoia National Park but the snow put an end to that, they closed the pass we would have taken.
Once we turned off the highway for Lake Isabella we drove straight into craggy mountains again, although this time the incline was slow and the views spectacular. Huge rocky hills on either side of Louie with a massive thundering river on the one side. The temperature started to drop again and we were wondering what we had got ourselves into when the mountains opened up and there was Lake Isabella. Beautiful and blue against the hills and a lovely sight. We were back at 3000 feet so it was a bit cold but nothing compared to Yosemite.
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| Lake Isabella |
This KOA had a great playground for the kids which was brilliant so we wore them out and turned them in for the night to enjoy a nice movie on the laptop and no rain…phew.
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| Doing Daddy's hair (we have no TV) |
We wondered what we were going to do the next day but talking to the other campers we heard about Kernville which is a great little town further up the lake. It’s a very scenic little alpine town with a river (the LA Aquaduct) running through it and lots of trout fishing again. We stopped at their trout hatchery for a look and were a bit bemused to find notices up everywhere to beware of the New Zealand mudsnails! Apparently they wreak havoc over here. We had a great time feeding the trout, they were huge and the kids were a little scared but liked it all the same. When you threw food in there were so many trout fighting over it, it reminded you of Piranhas.
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| 2 seconds later the F22 screamed through here |
We were driving one of the canyons and spotted some snow on a mountain top so had stopped to snap a photo. Suddenly we heard a huge roar coming up behind us (just when we were in a rockfall area) and were so surprised to see a F22 Raptor stealth jet scream through the valley hugging the canyon walls. It must have been about 100 metres above us (150 is legal) so the noise was unbelievable. It was excellent and made our morning!
When we got to Kernville we had a chat with some of the locals. The whole area is surrounded by weapons development facilities and training areas so the locals are used to the jets using the canyons for practise. One woman told us that the locals complain because the jet noise often breaks windows. They play “war games” day and night in the canyons and once or twice there have been accidents killing the pilots. We hoped to see some more but weren’t that lucky.
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| These guys sell great organic coffee |
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| Pretty Kernville |
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| The lake |
We were also very lucky that they were holding a car fair there that day and not just any car fair, it was one of the old car ones so hot rods, cadillacs, mustangs, lincolns, and some beautiful old racecars. Leo thought it was great, especially when we saw one exactly like his favourite toy Doc Hudson. We meandered through the car fair and ended up having a great picnic down by the river which had ANOTHER wonderful playground for the kids to have a blast on. Leo is getting very confident in his climbing and Spencer is not far behind him. It must be a second child thing but she is absolutely fearless and often bites off more than she can chew but always seems to bounce up again and want more.
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| Sunday Drive Old Chap? |
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| Perfect size |
Back at the camp they had set up a pumpkin patch for the kids and it felt like half a school had moved in, there was pumpkin painting….go-karts….popcorn….juice….kids everywhere so of course our kids joined in with gusto. We had a great family come and camp next to us in their tent. Of course kids think tents are way cooler than campers so our kids immediately “moved in” and were bouncing all over the place. Luckily the family contained a 5 year old Nick who became Leo’s bestie. We didn’t see Leo for the rest of the day and Spencer came and went. Brian (the dad) is a Navy Jet mechanic so was only back for 7 days leave after 3 months away and they were taking a family camping trip.
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| More Halloween fun |
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| Sunset |
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| Leo and his mates |
Rudy (another 5 yr old) soon joined the mix and Leo did his best to keep up with them which really tired him out but he was in 7th heaven. He is talking more and more about his daycare friends (who would have thought he would remember them, I mean he left almost 8 months ago and was 2!) and of course his best buddies Charlie and Ashlee (cousins) and Nana. I think we are all a little bit ready to go home but Leo is adamant that it has to happen soon.
Two tired kids and a great BBQ later and we were watching another one of Debbie’s movies on the laptop. A great day all in all.
Once we turned off the highway for Lake Isabella we drove straight into craggy mountains again, although this time the incline was slow and the views spectacular. Huge rocky hills on either side of Louie with a massive thundering river on the one side. The temperature started to drop again and we were wondering what we had got ourselves into when the mountains opened up and there was Lake Isabella. Beautiful and blue against the hills and a lovely sight. We were back at 3000 feet so it was a bit cold but nothing compared to Yosemite.
Back at the camp they had set up a pumpkin patch for the kids and it felt like half a school had moved in, there was pumpkin painting….go-karts….popcorn….juice….kids everywhere so of course our kids joined in with gusto. We had a great family come and camp next to us in their tent. Of course kids think tents are way cooler than campers so our kids immediately “moved in” and were bouncing all over the place. Luckily the family contained a 5 year old Nick who became Leo’s bestie. We didn’t see Leo for the rest of the day and Spencer came and went. Brian (the dad) is a Navy Jet mechanic so was only back for 7 days leave after 3 months away and they were taking a family camping trip.
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