Back in civilization -- more or less.

We finally have reasonable access to the internet. I say reasonable as we have the Verizon wireless card which is faster than what we had at the campground in Columbia but at this location not as fast as I would like it. We are back at the Petrified Forest and are loving it. We had a great trip back with the weather behaving and the traffic was not bad. What a beautiful part of the state of California we drove through. The scenery was changing often and making it very pleasant to drive through. The first night we stayed at the Orange Grove RV resort in Bakersfield, California and we could definitely recommend it. The spaces are very big and every space had at least one orange tree. And the price was definitely right. The second night we stayed for free at the Avi Resort/Casino in Laughlin, Nevada. We had stayed there before and liked it well enough to go back there.

We are glad to be out of the Columbia area as the weather was terrible and we are just not liking it when we can't see the sky and it was so damp.  We would wake up in the morning with dripping windows making the bed covers wet.  We were there for 1 month and I bet we didn't have more than 6 days of no rain. Anyway, we did get to do some sightseeing. Went to the Big Trees one day and almost missed it as we didn't see any big trees at the entry of the park. We went back to a winery we had passed and told them how disappointed we were about the big trees. They set us straight and so we went back and were happy we did.

Another day we were able to to go Yosemite National Park and after having spent part of 1 day we decided that we needed to come back there for at least several more days. So, we now have some plans for future trips. If you want to tent camp in "luxury" you can spend $138.00 per night in one of these tents. You can share it with 5 of your friends and split the cost. No bathroom or shower inside -- just the bare essentials.

On our last day in Columbia we saw a volunteer firefighter's parade. It was quite spectacular. They lucked out as it was not raining that day and the sun was even shining.

Anyway, we are glad to be back in Arizona and will be here for a couple more months. On our days off we will go to our property near here and enjoy our time there and have some campfire with our friends. We do miss our friends we made in Columbia, CA!!!