When it is time to leave my wife gets the jitters and she usually start to pack and secure everything, retract the slides and chase me out of bed so no chance for a little late sleep when we have to move. It is my task to disconnect the water, electricity and to drain the grey and black water tanks and to lift the jacks. The Ignition lights don’t come on, jacks don’t operate and engine cannot start. That is when I realized the dead 12 volt sockets on the dash actually are just a symptom of a much bigger problem. So I go through the check fuses and circuit breaker routine again without any success. We were stuck and no amount of wisdom from my side could diagnose the problem. But in the back of my mind something kept on telling me it is a simple thing but what? Luckily I have an “All repair warranty” where I need to pay the first $100 for a roadside callout but if the repair shop has different rates then I need to pay that as well, the fine print says. I could only find one RV repair shop in the vicinity and they charge 3 hours minimum which equates to $300. After the shock was over I had no choice but to agree to their terms. The Mechanic arrived checked the battery, the fuses, relays and circuit breakers, he called a RV friend who told him to check the switches, he asked me where all the switches are and I replied “I have shown you what I know” and after which I explained I believe this is simple and that we should start with the very basics first. By now he is tracing wires under the RV and for some reason I got to the entrance door and saw 2 switches which I decided to just switch over, and wolla the ignition and wipers start working. The problem was indeed simple. What happened was that we probably knocked these switches over with our shoes or feet when we enter the RV. Problem solved. The mechanic felt sorry for doing noting but the rules require me to pay $300. He convinced the office that $200 is acceptable. What an expensive Lessons Learned for me with R 2000 down the drain for a problem I fixed.
By this time it is 1pm so we left on our way to Lancaster via Santa Clarita. Just past Palmdale we drove into strong wind and a sand storm so we decided to stop at a Wal-Mart for the night. Lancaster is close to the Edwards Air force base, and it is just north of the San Gabriel Mountains and LA. It is in the Mojave Desert environment and with the sand blowing across town looking very dismal, hence the big tarmac and the big buildings of Wal-Mart sheltering the wind, it was the best place in town to stay for the night. It is considered one of the best places to stay in the US. Lancaster is known for test flights, breaking the sound barrier and the landing of the space shuttle.
We hate to travel the freeways but sometimes it does save time and when there is not a lot of sightseeing in the vicinity. At Tehachapi we turned north via Caliente, literally a one horse town, on a back road towards Isabella Lake.
It was not long before we found ourselves in the Sequoia National Forrest in the southern Sierra Mountains and a back road tuning into a very narrow pass. We came to a T junction and as it goes it is a matter of deciding to go left or right in a split second. My wife won and we turned left onto a road that is even narrower and steeper. My wife said “NO turn back”, but it was too late and it was her choice. This pass with its narrow switchbacks, gasping canyons and no safety rails was in the Greenhorn Mountains. Not much water in this area with the vegetation suited for this harsh environment. 
Descending on the other side toward Bodfish, the Isabella Lake started to reflect in the distance. 
We chose a National Parks campground on the east side of the lake and stayed for 2 nights. The eastern side is dry and hot with dessert vegetation and the only green grass in the dams flood area where cattle were grazing. The reservoir is half full as this is the first reservoir in the flood control system and that is why it cannot be kept full. The camp host told us of the excellent Golden trout fishing in this dam but for non residents the fishing permit cost $16 per day. You really have love fishing and catch a lot to justify this fee. The town of Kern lies on the other side of the lake and it had to be relocated when the lake was build. When the water is low some of the old ghost town is visible in the water.
The road from Isabella Lake to Visalia runs around the western side of the lake and it is much more interesting with many beautiful campgrounds along the creek with water from the northern part of the Sequoia National forest, indicating that we enter a different world. Up in the Sierra Mountain towards Visalia we saw our first Sequoia trees in the most beautiful forest I have ever seen The Sequoia trees are maybe not as big as the ones in the Sequoia & Kings National park, but I think this part of the forest is a must see.
Descending the Sierra Mountain towards Visalia opened into the 2nd largest agricultural community and one of the most fertile areas in the USA. 
This is the first productive food producing area we have seen in our travels thus far. A ranger told us that this area was once a river delta / march land which one could canoe from San Francisco to the foothills of the Sierra. Since man build reservoirs and controlled the floods from the melting snow cap, this area developed into what it is to day
Visalia also has this very interesting story. During the civil war many of the citizens could not agree whether Visalia should support the north or the south, so they ended up in having their own mini civil war in the main street. No one knows the outcome but every one was satisfied and life was back to normal.
The Sequoia & Kings Canyon NP was our destination and we stayed over for 2 nights in the Potwisha campsite. The ranger at the entrance warned us that the pass up the mountain to Giants Forrest is not recommended for RVs and that we should stay in the first campsite as we enter. A memo on the notice board draws attention to a missing man the day before. Here we also got to know a Bear Box. Bears are known to break into cars for the food people store in their cars By law you now have to store any food in these safe like Bear Boxes provided at each campsite.
The pass is long and steep and winding, but in comparison to the passes we have traveled this was like a dual carriage highway figuratively speaking. The pass is beautiful and the stone work and walls along the route is nothing less than artwork. On top of the mountain there is a shuttle bus service to the various sights and it is the preferred way to travel in an effort to cut down on the pollution an impact on the environment.
Moro rock is a large granite dome in the giant forest area. Taking the .25 mile trail with its 400 steps I climbed to the top for an unparalleled view of the western divide and the canyons below as well as the pass we just traveled.
The large Sequoia trees are interesting as it is considered the largest tree by volume. Some trees are taller and wider but this Sequoia adds more volume per year than most of the largest trees total weight. It has no enemies and can grow 3000 old. Due to its weight and shallow root system it tends to fall over. It has a small cone which can remain in the tree and closed for 20 years. The cone only opens after a fire and the seed germinate in the right sandy conditions, and when young it will grow quickly to outgrow other trees like pines, for its space in the forest sunlight. When the trees are more old and larger the grow focus change to put on more bark which is and excellent protection against fire. Although fire may scourge the bark and seldom burn into the actual wood of the trunk but when it does the tree still survive. The bark can be up to 3 feet thick. 
The Sherman tree is such a large tree weighing 2.7 million ponds, aged 2100 years, 275 feet high and circumference equals 103 feet.
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Coming down the mountain there was a traffic jam. It is like seeing a lion in South Africa when everybody scrambles for the best view, except here they get out the car and run up and down the road to take pictures. No wonder tourists get eaten alive by lions in Africa as they are accustomed to get out the car for a better view.
Further down we noticed a helicopter hovering above tree tops in the canyon below clearly searching and scanning the thickets. Later that night a ranger told us that they found the missing man, still alive after 2 days. He apparently drove his car over the cliff by accident.
Outside of Oakhurst on the way to Yosemite we went for a ride on the Logger train route. As far as the eye can see these trees were all logged early in the previous century to nothing more than barren mountain slopes. One cannot imagine how the environment was destroyed for human development. Luckily the area recovered and trees are now +- 100 old again. The Sugar Pine with its huge pine cones is indigenous in this forest.
Ever seen a steam loco that has crank and drive shafts and it burns old motor oil
Oakhurst is also the birthplace of computer gaming and home of Sierra online.
Some of the wooden sculptures in Oakhurst
We met a tour guide and he suggested we travel through Mariposa to Yosemite. It is the longer route but absolutely the most scenic form the south western side with the trout stocked Merced River running alongside the narrow road fighting for space in this narrow canyon. I have read and heard about Yosemite but for some reason I was unprepared for the stunning beauty of this National Park. There are only 4 routes into this park 3 from the south and west and the Tioga pass from the east.
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