16-August 2019 to 18-August 2019: Oh well, in any case, after seeing another attractive water slide that seemed inaccessible from this side of Willow Creek, I ultimately caught up to the rest of the family at a different attractive cascade.

Julie thought this was the Angel Falls, but I had a feeling that it wasn’t. Regardless, they decided that this was going to be their chill-out spot while I’d continue to pursue the Angel Falls (assuming this one wasn’t it) and the Devil’s Slide Falls further on.

And while I was busy taking pictures before heading out, we noticed that Sophia slipped and fell into a shallow part of Willow Creek.

Dad aggressively went into the creek after her when he, too, slipped and fell into the shallow part of the creek…

• Day 1 (August 16, 2019 – Bass Lake, California): “Limits of Darkness”
• Day 2 (August 17, 2019 – Bass Lake, California): “Near Misses and Near Hits”
• Day 3 (August 18, 2019 – Los Angeles, California): “Crane Valley Detour”

Day 1 (August 16, 2019 – Bass Lake, California): “Limits of Darkness”

It was about 7:15am when I awoke. With last night being somewhat of a failure in terms of trying to pack and facilitate today’s chores before driving up to Bass Lake for a make-up camping trip, we were now faced with a long morning of getting ready to go.

Not helping matters was that my jaw was hurting all night and it continued this morning. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I was worried that perhaps I was clenching my teeth while asleep and perhaps it might have caused a fracture or strain or something.

That was on my mind, but it wasn’t debilitating to the point that we had to cancel this trip.

Speaking of cancellations, my Mom was also ailing from a bad back, which seemed to be a recurrence of a herniated disk issue that she had a while ago. But she didn’t want to disappoint Joshua and Sophia so she was the trooper and kept up her end of the bargain to go on this trip.

Julie and I were concerned that her back would hold up considering even car camping wasn’t exactly the greatest thing for back problems.

Anyways, we pretty much spent all morning getting our stuff together and trying to get out the door as soon as we could.

I intended to fit in a hike right after we check in so it was paramount that we had to be out the door as soon as possible (preferably no later than 10am just to avoid the bulk of the rush hour but not show up to Bass Lake so late that it would be too dark to hike).

I thought about doing two hikes tomorrow, but I knew that it wasn’t practical to do that, especially if the kids wanted to swim in the lake. So I had to at least get the easier of the two hikes in today.

Indeed, with a totally full vehicle, Tahia bugging the heck out of Julie and I about showing off her discovery of nail polish (the smell of which was giving me a headache), we were finally out the door by 10:45am, which was not helpful in our cause to fit in today’s hike.

Regardless, it took us some time to get out of the LA traffic. At first, Julie wanted to stop for a lunch at a Chipotle in Bakersfield, but when we saw how much traffic there was when we got off, we decided to abort that effort and go back on the road.

That was another ten minutes or so wasted as we resumed the drive on the CA-99.

We wound up stopping at a Chipotle in Tulare at around 2:30pm. It was a late lunch, but Julie and Tahia had to eat and skipping lunch was non-negotiable. I was still worried about running out of time, but when you’re sharing experiences with loved ones, you have to make compromises, and this was one of them.

By about 2:50pm, our quick Chipotle lunch was over, and we then continued with the drive on the CA-99.

The drive north beyond Tulare was a little smoother thanks to the third lane (it was only two lanes somewhere between Delano and Tulare). However, there seemed to be quite a bit of road construction going on where a lane would be closed and traffic would be diverted briefly.

Anyways, we would eventually arrive at the Bass Lake Ranger Station at around 4:30pm. It was scorching hot when we got there as we guessed that the temperatures were easily in the low 90s. The forecast called for highs to be 94F today, so this was probably par for the course.

Once we secured our permits after checking in with our reservations (it was $37/night, which wasn’t cheap for a campsite, but the important thing about this trip was for the kids to play with each other and play in the water), we then drove up to the Forks Campground.

After finding our site at 4:45pm, which had a view of Bass Lake, we saw that there were probably more premium spots (like site 22, which was close to the restroom and had ambple shade), we eventually took an hour to pitch our tent and get our stuff out of the car.

My parents let us know that they were going to eat dinner in Fresno so they wouldn’t be at camp until it got dark.

Thus, by 6:05pm, I couldn’t wait any longer and had to go solo towards the Lewis Creek Trailhead to pursue the Corlieu and Red Rock Falls. Julie and Tahia stayed behind at camp, especially since Julie just decided to cook her own dinner considering that it was both expensive and time consuming to eat out, especially since compliant foods were very hard to come by for her.

I was very concerned about the onset of darkness considering that my hike was at least 4 miles round trip. But I was determined to fit in this hike, especially since I wasn’t sure when would be the next time I’d be out this way.

By about 6:25pm, I arrived at the Lewis Creek Trailhead. I was surprised that I was all alone at this fairly spacious pullout, especially when you consider how much traffic passes through this stretch of Hwy 41 between Oakhurst and Yosemite National Park.

As I was gearing up and getting ready for the hike, there was one other car that pulled up. They looked like they were looking to go into the water and less so for a hike.

One of the kids echoed what was stated on a sign warning of hiking alone in mountain lion territory (probably in reference to me since I was by myself), but I knew that I was taking a chance.

Anyways, it didn’t take long before I reached a signposted trail junction shortly after getting past a road closure gate. I veered right at the fork to go to Corlieu Falls.

The trail descended along a single-track path before going down a few wide switchbacks. It seemed like there were both false paths leading to the banks of Lewis Creek as well as hard-to-see aspects of Corlieu Falls as it was nestled behind a lot of foliage.

It was actually quite easy to be led astray by these alternate or false paths, but from my research, I knew that there was supposed to be a viewing platform after a bit of a descent.

Sure enough, by about 6:45pm, I found the platform for Corlieu Falls. While there were more tiers of the falls further upstream, and I’m sure there were probably more tiers further downstream, I was content to experience the falls from the platform as well as from the base of the falls below the platform.

Viewing the falls even from the platform yielded a bit of obstructions which meant that I would never really get a fully satisfying view of the entirety of this main part of the falls.

But it was still a nice and somewhat easy waterfall to experience. Plus, I had this place all to myself as the family that I saw at the trailhead earlier must have continued towards Red Rock Falls or something like that.

The shadows were definitely long by this point, and I was concerned that I might not make it to Red Rock Falls before it got dark. So after hastily documenting the Corlieu Falls, I started heading back up by 7pm.

About ten minutes later, I returned to the trail junction, and this time, I continued straight towards Red Rock Falls. On the way up, I saw three dudes with a dog checking something out at one of the switchbacks so apparently, I wasn’t alone on the Corlieu Falls part of the trail after all.

Anyways, it also didn’t take long after the trail junction when I reached an unbridge crossing of Lewis Creek.

The family that I saw at the trailhead was actually playing in the water here at the Lewis Creek Crossing. But when I showed up, most of the people here heading back up to the trailhead. There were two other girls that waded to the other side of the creek and continued on.

The water looked a bit on the deep side for just plowing through in hiking boots without ruining them. However, I did notice that there was a fallen log with a rope (for a false sense of balance) just further downstream.

I wound up taking that path to get across the creek, and then I resumed the hike further to Red Rock Falls.

After passing the girls further along the trail, I was now truly alone on the trail as darkness was continuing to descent upon the gorge containing Lewis Creek.

I could see and hear cars whizzing by on Hwy 41 on the other side of the ravine as I was continuing the hike, but then the trail started descending deeper into the thickness of the forest (which also showed signs of being burnt not too long ago).

Further along the trail, I noticed a deer that was holding still as it was keeping a watchful eye out on me.

I managed to get a snap of it through the low lighting conditions, but with the wildlife apparently being out, the thought of a mountain lion waiting to pounce or pursue me was definitely on my mind.

Still, I knew that I was pretty far along in the hike, and the Red Rock Falls couldn’t be that much further so I persisted on.

Eventually, I encountered a signed trail junction with a sign for Red Rock Falls pointing left. By about 7:55pm, I found myself at the top of Red Rock Falls.

However, I couldn’t find an obvious way straight down to its base so I followed one of the more overgrown and fainter trails to reach the base of the falls.

Once I got down there, it was getting so dark that bats were flying around the waterfall. I also had to crank the ISO up a bit to let in whatever fading light was left in the day to at least get a satisfactory shot of the falls (though I’m sure it would be a bit grainy and noisy).

With no time left to spare, I got my videos and shots, and then proceeded to get out of the area some time at around 8:05am.

I was going as fast as I could as I was following the trail and trying not to turn an ankle on the odd rock or root. Every so often, I’d turn around to see if a mountain lion might be pursuing me.

Eventually after getting past the semi-open area with the sounds of Hwy 41 across the ravine, I then paused to take out the headlamp so I could at least see where I was going.

I still had to get past a fallen log obstacle, a minor stream crossing, and the deeper one of Lewis Creek with the log bridge crossing.

After getting through all that, I finally arrived back at the trailhead at 8:35pm. By this time, it was pretty much well past twilight as darkness definitely came on quicker than I had anticipated.

Regardless, with no cell service, I had no way to informing Julie and the gang where I was until I got back to camp. So I wasted no time in getting in the car (not even changing shoes), and just driving back to the Forks Campground.

It wouldn’t be until about 8:55pm when I finally returned to camp, where everyone by myself were already there.

The kids were busy having smores, Julie’s hot dog dinner was already eaten and more had to be made, and both Julie and my Mom gave me a hug since they were worried sick about me.

I did tell Julie that I expected to be back at around 8:30pm, but I guess my underestimating of how quickly darkness fell and the lack of cell coverage didn’t help matters.

Regardless, I at least had my hike of the day accomplished, and now we could resume the camping trip as intended.

By 11pm, after having my dinner and the odd smore by myself (that’s no fun since the kids were already done with theirs), I was finally in the tent trying to sleep.

No one showered on this night, but I did change out of my sweaty clothes into thermals and something a little more appropriate for sleeping.

I managed to get melted chocolate on my hiking pants during my smores session, and with that being my only outdoor pants on this trip, I guess I had to just live with it tomorrow and possibly on Sunday when we drive home.

Anyways, with the full moon rising, the kids were once again sharing the big tent with my parents while Julie and I were sharing my two-person backpacking tent.

With the seam seal cracking and shedding, and the tent material starting to stick to each other, I wondered if it might be time to start investing in a car camping tent so Tahia could stay with us if her cousins couldn’t come.

Well, that’s something we can worry about on a future trip. But for now, I was simply trying to catch my Zs amidst the commotion from neighboring campsites as well as the relative lack of comfort of trying to stay somewhat comfortable and relaxed on the Thermarest with mummy bags…

Day 2 (August 17, 2019 – Bass Lake, California): “Near Misses and Near Hits”

It was about 5:45am when I awoke. I was aroused by a baby making noises from a neighboring camp so I guess at this point, there was no going back to sleep.

Even though the sleep wasn’t exactly the most comfortable because Julie kept rolling in my direction as apparently we were sleeping on a slight slope, I was surprised that I never had to go to the restroom in the middle of the night last night.

Regardless, I was already a sticky and oily mess, and my mindset was to take a much needed shower later this afternoon provided that we could get there before the recommended place at Miller’s Landing would close.

At this time of the pre-dawn hours, I could see the full moon about to set. Mom also got up at this time of day, which she tended to do out of habit anyways.

Her back seemed to be holding up despite sleeping outdoors, and perhaps that had to do with the air mattress that they brought on this trip. By comparison, Julie and I (as well as Tahia) were sleeping on Thermarests, which were way thinner than the mechanically-inflatable air mattresses.

Regardless, the kids ended up being awake at around 6:10am, and as much as we tried to shush them to stay quiet during quiet hours, they still had plenty of moments that I’m sure would frustrate neighbors trying to sleep.

We wound up spending a good deal of time preparing breakfast as well as setting up the above-the-table tent, which we didn’t need to do last night. But in this instance, not long after the sun went up, it definitely started to feel warm.

We all ate hot dogs, kimchi, and some greens for our brekkie. Julie and I also tried to consume some of the self-made kefir that we had brought on this trip.

So far, it seemed like the coolers full with ice were doing a respectable job in keeping the meats and other vital produce relatively cool. But we’d probably have to return to the Forks Store to pick up some more ice as well as a couple of towels that Mom forgot to bring for Joshua and Sophia.

While we were preparing for breakfast, I took some time to enjoy the views towards Bass Lake as the morning sun was shining in the right direction.

Right at 8am, we started to hear motorcycle-like noises from the water, and sure enough, there were people already boating as soon as the quiet hours have elapsed.

As much as I wanted to get an early start to ensure we’d have a parking spot for the Willow Creek Trailhead (the target of today’s hike for both Angel Falls and Devils Slide Falls), it wouldn’t be until about 9:20am when we were finally heading out for the day.

I wasn’t sure if we were giving ourselves enough time to hike to at least Angel Falls, which was said to be about a mile from the nearest trailhead by the Road 274 bridge (according to the Ann Marie Brown directions), and the fallback was supposed to be at the Willow Creek and Forks Day Use areas, which would have extended the hike a bit more.

Anyways, by about 9:30am, we found the parking area for Willow Creek, which already had quite a few vehicles here. However, there seemed to be plenty more space for parking. I’m sure it would be totally full when it would get hot later in the day.

Regardless, it took some time for everyone to get geared up. And when we finally did get ready, I saw that it wasn’t the best thing to walk along the Road 274 shoulder (of which there was none) towards the bridge.

So we spent some time going past an ominous sign saying Willow Creek was beautiful but dangerous before looking for a more sanctioned and straightforward path (especially since I saw some people pull up and yet none of them walked the 274 Road to the trailhead by the bridge.

After several minutes of looking around and not finding what we were looking for, we ultimately decided to follow the Ann Marie Brown instructions and head back to the Road 274 then walk the shoulder (or lack thereof) towards the trailhead on the far side of the bridge over Willow Creek.

We ultimately got there at around 10:10am, and now we were back in business as we were following a pretty rutted road.

It turned out that there were a couple of cars parked at some informal spots around here, and this gave Dad the idea that perhaps he could have parked here instead of the other spot that we were at.

Shortly thereafter, we noticed that there was a small bridge leading to some kind of narrow trail, which at first was fairly straightforward to follow as it followed along the east side of Willow Creek.

Eventually, the trail degenerated into something where there was a bit of a climb, which concerned me regarding Dad’s gimpy knee and Mom’s tight back.

Julie and the kids were up the furthest ahead, while I straggled behind as I kept getting distracted by side trails leading to some interesting cascades along the way.

In one instance, I noticed a rope swing by a cool water slide. I also noticed some people walking on the other side of the creek, which made me think that we must have missed the sanctioned trail leading from our car park.

Oh well, in any case, after seeing another attractive water slide that seemed inaccessible from this side of Willow Creek, I ultimately caught up to the rest of the family at a different attractive cascade.

Julie thought this was the Angel Falls, but I had a feeling that it wasn’t. Regardless, they decided that this was going to be their chill-out spot while I’d continue to pursue the Angel Falls (assuming this one wasn’t it) and the Devil’s Slide Falls further on.

And while I was busy taking pictures before heading out, we noticed that Sophia slipped and fell into a shallow part of Willow Creek.

Dad aggressively went into the creek after her when he, too, slipped and fell into the shallow part of the creek.

Fortunately, there wasn’t a dropoff in the immediate area, and we eventually got Sophia out of the creek though not without a bit of a struggle.

Julie was somewhat panicking though I didn’t see much of a reason to panic.

Dad was a little stuck in the creek because he had trouble getting up against the weak current of the creek as well as the slippery terrain. But I eventually helped Dad up.

As I looked around, I saw that there might be a spot a little further downstream where it might be a little safer to play for the kids though the descent to get down there was somewhat dicey and slippery.

The leaves covering parts of the granite surface were concealing a wet streak that make the footing all but uncertain at that point.

So given all that, Julie decided that it was time for the rest of the family to head back. It was simply too dangerous for the kids to be playing here.

I guess upon reflecting upon the sign we saw at the car park on Road 274, they did mention that since 1989 there had been at least one fatality on Willow Creek every year since. And with this experience, I could now appreciate why that is the case.

We ultimately decided that while I pursued the waterfalls on Willow Creek by myself, they’d head back to camp to perhaps play in the lake or at least prepare lunch. After all, it was already 10:50am.

We agreed that we’d meet at the trailhead (Dad mentioned the one by the bridge) at around 1pm, which I estimated would be the latest that I’d arrive.

So with that, I took off and continued on the non-trivial trail as it skirted a narrow and steep path alongside Willow Creek.

I had doubts about whether I was on the right path to Angel Falls or not, but eventually I started to notice water pipes, and I used that as the clue to follow along the faint trails there to get to the waterfalls.

At around 11:05am, I ultimately made it to Angel Falls, which was a beautiful and large slide waterfall with some kind of dam or weir near its top.

I guess that contraption must have been related to the water pipes that I had been seeing to this point.

Anyways, I could see now that there were a few chill out spots down below in the sun (one person apparently claimed such a spot as there was a towel placed there on the hot granite surface).

Meanwhile, I was checking out the views from the trail before I saw that the trail actually continued either along the pipes or made a steep climb up an informal path to the right of it.

Regardless, I took some time checking out the falls from the bottom as well as the side view from the trail. There was even a nice view back in the direction of Bass Lake way in the distance from the trail.

As I was busy documenting the falls, there were a group of four guys that showed up. Plus, the guy downstream who had his towel set up was back. And he was apparently free to change clothes and just sunbathe in the nude.

After having my fill of the impressive Angel Falls, I then had to decide whether to follow the pipes to get to the top of Angel Falls or to take the narrow and steep informal path to the right of it.

None of this resembled nor came close to the ease by which the Ann Marie Brown book had suggested this trail should be. However, I did notice some people in the distance seemingly walk uphill from the top of the falls, and perhaps they figured out the official Willow Creek Trail that we should have taken in the first place.

Speaking of which, there didn’t seem to be any signage throughout the hike, and that perhaps made for an awfully confusing experience. Still, the family missed out on this waterfall (that’s what happens when your mindset is such that you’re ready to leave and give up more so than pushing forward and seeing what’s around the next corner).

And I guess they probably felt it was a waste of time for them for missing out on at least Angel Falls, which was the target waterfall for the family.

Anyways, I ultimately decided to follow the pipes to get up to the top of Angel Falls. Meanwhile, the guys took the high road and we ultimately got up to the falls at the same time.

When I asked them whether that path was easier or not, the first person replied, “Not really.”

And so by 11:30am, we were all enjoying the top of the falls. There were a few dozen people already up here basking in the sun or looking for calmer parts to bathe in further upstream from the sliding part of Angel Falls.

There was also what appeared to be some kind of rope-assisted crossing (or at least that’s what it looked like from my vantage point).

Regardless, after having my fill of this top of Angel Falls, I then decided to keep pushing on towards the Devil’s Slide Falls. By this time, it was getting late as I had promised to be back by 1pm, and I knew I still had about 1.5 miles each way to go.

Beyond Angel Falls, the trail was definitely more obvious and so I was making quick progress.

Along the way, I spotted some intermediate cascades, including one with some interesting eddies carving notches into the bedrock besides Willow Creek.

Beyond that, Willow Creek calmed down as the trail skirted by some wide pools as well as a well forested area providing enough shade to allow me to make the hike without needing to wear the hat in the Summer heat of the day.

Eventually, after a bit of an uphill stretch with a teasing glimpse of the front of Devil’s Slide Falls in the distance (if not for the damned trees in the way, this would have been an awesome spot to see the entirety of the falls), I finally made it to the safety fences preventing sanctioned access to various sections of the long cascade of Devil’s Slide Falls.

By about 12:10pm, I finally arrived at the very top of the Devil’s Slide, and that was where the safety fencing stopped.

There were a few seemingly calmer sections of Willow Creek upstream from the long cascade of Devil’s Falls, but it was a rather unsatisfactory experience.

Since Willow Creek was in a Summertime flow, and the footing seemed to be a bit more secure, I actually went to the other side of the fence and carefully scrambled alongside the sloping surface trying to get the maximum experience out of this waterfall.

There was one section where I was looking down at what appeared to be the main slide of Devil’s Slide Falls (probably earning it its name), but its viewing spot was perched precariously down a steep slope where it was a little dicey to pursue a better view.

I could totally foresee that a spot like that would be why they erected safety fences along the trail to keep people from being tempted to coming here.

As I was about to have my fill of this precarious viewing spot for Devil’s Slide Falls, I did notice that there was a continuation of a trail of use going further downhill around and away from the slippery granite dropoffs and slopes.

As I took this steep path, I encountered what appeared to be a rope set up to help with maintaining grip on the slippery granite surface towards the bottom of the Devil’s Slide Falls. Without that rope, I wasn’t sure if it would be possible to do a rappeling-like maneuver to maintain contact and friction on the way down to the bottom.

Eventually by about 12:25pm, I finally arrived at the bottom of the falls, where I got a frontal look at the main sliding part of the Devil’s Slide Falls.

There was enough water coming down the falls to produce a light mist that threatened to put waterspots on my camera lens as I was taking pictures and videos against the falls in half shadow.

At least with getting to check out the falls from this spot, I finally felt like the added effort to continue beyond Angel Falls was worth it. And I managed to get as much as I could out of this spot before heading back up the ropes and back onto the trail by 12:35pm.

I opted to not continue downstream to see what other parts of the falls was worth seeing. Again, with a 1pm rendez-vous time with the family at the trailhead, I couldn’t linger any longer.

On the way back to the trailhead, it was mostly downhill and I was going at a quick pace.

Now I noticed more people swimming in some of the calmer parts of Willow Creek that was previously empty on my way up to Devil’s Slide Falls. I even noticed some older people doing jumps into a deeper part of Willow Creek.

By about 1pm, I finally made it back to Angel Falls, where I then promptly crossed the creek beneath the wire rope traversing it.

The wire rope was quite high, and when I got to the other side, I realized that this rope actually supported a contraption where one would sit in it and pull themselves across the creek.

Anyways, by this point, I decided to return to the car park from the other side of Willow Creek instead of following the official Willow Creek Trail on the east side of the creek (just to see where we should have gone in the first place).

And so I began my descent and quickly made my way down while vacillating between ignoring detours going to intermediate cascades on Willow Creek as well as stopping for some of the more obvious or convenient ones.

In hindsight, we probably should have tried harder to find the trail on this side of the creek because there seemed to be many more opportunities for the family to enjoy the water. However, towards the top of Angel Falls, it didn’t appear that the trail was that obvious to pursue either.

Regardless, after making a few more stops alongside Willow Creek and watching other visitors enjoying the cooler waters to offset the hot Summer sun, I finally made it back to the Road 274 car park at 1:20pm.

The cascade with the rope swing turned out to be barely a few minutes from the Road 274 car park, which further confirmed that we messed up by not coming here first.

Well, back at the car park, I didn’t see anyone here to pick me up. But I did notice that there was hardly any more parking space in the area. Indeed, any opportunity to play in the water was a recipe for a busy spot in the Summer.

Recalling that I should meet up with whoever is picking me up by the bridge on Road 274, I then promptly walked back along the road to get back to the familiar car park.

And when I saw that no one was parked at the trailhead (not that you could park there anyways), I then walked back along the rutted road before I finally saw Mom and Dad chilling out by the white car that was and still is parked there from this morning.

I got there at 1:25pm, which was a little less than a half-hour later than anticipated, but Mom and Dad said that they only got there about 6 minutes or so ago.

So all things considered, it pretty much worked out. Still, I had to break them the news that they didn’t see Angel Falls, and when Mom saw my iPhone footage of it, she immediately wished she could come back here to do it. Maybe another time when her back feels better and there’s still water in the creek…

At about 1:40pm, we were all back at camp again. Apparently, everyone had eaten lunch except me, and we had to prepare some more hamburger buns and an additional burger with some salad to make it a lunch for myself.

The kids were busy trying to rush me to finish eating so they could play in the pool or in the lake. They simply couldn’t wait to get to play as apparently they didn’t get to play in the water the whole time I was busy doing my hike.

Little did the kids (especially Joshua) realize that they were slowing me down by pestering me like that, and thus they were delaying when we might get to a water play area around Bass Lake.

It wouldn’t be until about 2:45pm when we were finally leaving camp again.

The initial thought was that we’d go to Recreation Point for day use swimming, but we saw that the area was actually for groups only, and it costed like $213 for one group site and $107 for the other two spots. And this was the cost per night!

When we went back to the Bass Lake Ranger Station, they pretty much confirmed that we couldn’t go to Recreation Point for water play.

However, they did mention that the Falls Day Use Area as well as Denver Church were good places for kids to play in the water at. Then, they also said that they were full or very likely to be full.

So with that bit of disappointing news (not that it was surprising to me), we ultimately decided to just drive out to the north shore of the lake in pursuit of the Falls Day Use Area.

When we eventually got there, it turned out that we got lucky scoring a parking spot. And so the kids finally got to have their play time in the water!

It was some time after 3:15pm or so when we parked, and we ultimately spent the next 90 minutes or so floating on the blow-up floaties in the shallows of Bass Lake.

The water seemed to have a little bit of a soapy consistency or film to it, and I wondered if that had to do with all the motorized boating going on in the lake. It kind of reminded me of the filthiness of Lake Elsinore.

Regardless, we looked past the filth and just enjoyed cooling off from the Summer heat.

The kids were busy trying to play “Chase Uncle Johnny” and we were having a blast splashing each other as well as getting some good exercise in the water.

Even Julie got into the act as she was relaxing on one of the blow-up floaties.

All in all, it was good fun, and it was the long-awaited water play that left all the kids pretty satisfied by the time we got out of the water and back into the car at 5pm.

On the way back to camp, we even stopped by the Forks Resort store so they could pick up an ice cream of their choosing.

Then, we continued driving towards Miller’s Landing, where we all had ourselves a much-needed shower though I didn’t think it was cheap as we wound up spending nearly $45 for the shower tokens as well as for a couple of backup towels for Joshua and Sophia.

Finally at 6:45pm, we were back at the camp. We knew that they were going to sleep very well tonight.

With the tent cover up protecting the table, I used it to hang dry our towels, clothes, and bathing suits.

Aside from an unfortunate discovery of dog poop left by our campsite without the owner picking it up (kind of a dick move, if you ask me) and learning the hard way that making spaghetti was probably not the best choice of camp foods (too long to prepare and even harder to clean up), we ultimately had ourselves a nice family dinner as well as a shared moment of having campfire smores.

Indeed, this was what I had envisioned for the family when we organized this camping trip. And it took 7-8 months after the cancelled trip due to bad weather (going to Joshua Tree instead) to finally get there.

But as Mom pointed out, now the kids have yet another priceless moment with Uncle Johnny as we took pleasure in the simple things in life as well as quality time as a family. It’s too bad Joshua and Sophia’s parents weren’t into this stuff (they’re more into resorts, snowboarding, golfing, etc.), and so it’s pretty much up to Julie and I to bring the Nature into that side of the family.

We all went to sleep at some time around 11pm, and the kids definitely slept soundly as the afternoon couldn’t have gone any more their way than it did on this day…

Day 3 (August 18, 2019 – Los Angeles, California): “Crane Valley Detour”

It was about 5:30am when I awoke. Mom was already up at this hour, and it was still dark outside. Indeed, I had to still come to grips with the fact that we’re no longer in Scandinavia where early sunrises and late sunsets were the norm all Summer long.

It took quite a while to prepare the remaining hot dogs and eggs for breakfast.

Then, we had to clean up the cookware as well as breaking camp.

So it wouldn’t be until about 9:20am when we finally left Bass Lake. And it was none too soon as it was already getting hot. Plus, we wanted to beat out the inevitable traffic along the 99 and especially on the 5 as we’d return to the LA basin later in the day.

The original plan was to go to Oakhurst to pick up some more ice for the cooler to preserve the unopened meats and veggies still yet to be consumed. We could still cook those at home.

Plus, we thought we could fill up gas for cheap in Oakhurst after seeing how cheap the gas prices were compared to the rest of Central Valley as well as Los Angeles.

But the GPS had us take one of the back roads in Crane Valley, and it eventually brought us to the 41 somewhere south of Coarsegold.

Thus, we ultimately ditched the idea of going to Oakhurst, and we wound up picking up ice before returning to the 41.

We then filled up at a cheap gas stop in Tulare, which was where I noticed that station earlier on in the trip when we were driving up.

And finally, we made a spontaneous lunch stop at this place called Raffi’s Place in Glendale, which was apparently the place to be for Persian food.

Initially, Julie floated the idea about having Ethiopian food in the Fairfax District, but knowing that parking would be very difficult to find, we eventually decided to go to Glendale instead.

We got to Raffi’s at 1:40pm, but we didn’t leave the place until about 3:40pm. We had to wait to get seated, then we had to wait quite a while for our food.

Indeed, that place was quite busy and so the slow service was not unexpected.

We ultimately got a ghormehsabzzi (a staple that I always go with when going to any Persian Restaurant), as well as a Fesenjan, and a couple of different kebab-like dishes (I think they called it Soltani).

We had way too much food for a single sitting, but we sampled the good stuff, took the rest of it home, and that would be my leftovers for lunch at work tomorrow and possibly later on this week.

Eventually at 4:30pm, we finally made it home. And with that, now we had to get through the chores of unpacking, cleaning up, doing laundry, and getting ready for the week.

It’s times like these that I wish I didn’t have to work, but we all know that can’t happen in reality. Indeed, you have to take the good with the bad as it’s like the yin and yang that has to occur in life…