There is one thing that Judy and I agree on completely. We really enjoy camping in the State and National Parks around the country. Today we are camped on ONeil Forebay, a Lake at San Louis Reservoir just off I-5 near Los Banos, California. You can read our blog about the California Aqueduct from March 15, 2006 on (under construction, link to come), we are camped in that same campground.

We have been riding our tandem around the park and observing the wild life. The autumn migration is in full swing and the lake is peppered with flocks of Coots, Green-winged Teal, Double Crested Cormorants, Western Grebes and a couple more species of ducks that we couldn’t identify. We saw Great Egrets, Great Blue Heron, Hawks and California Quail. We also saw several deer, ground squirrels and three separate sightings of tarantula. One of these marched boldly through our campsite as if he or she owned it. (Perhaps he does, and we are the interlopers.) I got a nice portrait of that one and you can check that photo out while you are on our web site too. What a treasure we have in our State and National parks.

Yes it is often more difficult to park in these parks. The roads are twisting and convoluted. We have learned to call ahead and/or allow time to reach an alternate campground because many of the older California Parks have a 27 foot length limit. At this park we must drop the trailer and then back in beside it. Some parks are strictly dry camp, (this park has water and electricity plus a dump station.) State and National Campgrounds are often in remote locations. That means we get two fuzzy TV stations, (one in Spanish), the cell phone works, but my Verizon internet is dead. It also means you will get this a couple days late. What we are missing are the convenient pull through sites with full hook up plus cable TV and a rec. room. You often get either a railroad track or freeway just over the fence from these RV Resorts. There also has to be a full page of no-no’s that has been copied so many times you can barely read it.

Tonight as we were putting the bicycle away we heard the chimes floating on the wind from the National Veteran’s Cemetery about a mile away. We have visited this memorial, and it is a fitting tribute to those who have fought and died in our several foreign wars. It is 16 miles around by the closest highway route. By walking down the California Aqueduct the round trip was just over five miles.

So for “The Wild Life” sprinkled with blazing stars, quiet solitude and often a good dose of heritage why not make your next outing a state or national park.

With love, Gary and Judy Dinsmore