At Home in the Park of the Sierras

There are several RV clubs that we have found to be helpful in our full-time RV life. One of those is the Escapee (also abbreviated SKP) organization. It was started in 1978 by a couple that enjoyed the full-time RVing lifestyle, but found some services missing. They built the Rainbow's End RV Park in Texas, and one of the biggest mail-forwarding services in the United States. We are Escapees primarily for our mail, but some times we also stay in their member and cooperative RV parks as we travel. This time we are taking advantage of the SKP Park of the Sierras's weekly rate to enjoy some time near the Sierra Nevada mountains. They have a beautiful stained glass window in the recreation hall, with their trademark stagecoach on it. This window is about five feet square, and is the centerpiece of the rec hall where all the park activities take place

Part of the California stagecoach trail winds its way through the property. President Roosevelt rode a stagecoach on this trail in 1903 when he met with John Muir in what is now Yosemite National Park. The two men talked about the necessity of preserving this beautiful landscape. It must have been a good conservation conversation, as it became the nearby national park. 

This is a co-op park, where each of the 254 lots is "owned" by individuals. We were lucky to get a site during their high season, and we immediately liked the natural rolling hills of this park. There are plants and wildflowers everywhere, and of course Denisa loves those flowers.

She's never seen green flowers, so these large stalks of lime green really caught her eye. She found out these are called Bells of Ireland, and that certainly seems to fit.

We haven't found the name of this unusual bush, but Denisa loves the striking fuschia blooms that are covering it right now.

She discovered that the resident hummingbirds also love this bush, as she has seen at least one hanging out in its branches every time she walks by.

So she has made it a practice to walk beside her new favorite plant, often with a camera in her hand. She has taken way too many pictures of these guys in our new RV park.

Denisa has also been chasing the birds of blue in our new home. This Western Scrub Jay likes to hang out on the lower branches of some of our surrounding trees.

We also have seen plenty of these Western Bluebirds, whose blue color is best seen on their backs.

It was bath time at the North Fork bird bath. The bluebird was ruffling a few feathers in the name of personal hygiene, while his red-headed friend was waiting in line.

It was a kaleidoscope of color around the bird bath, as Denisa took a picture of the little yellow bird that landed next. With our very limited bird identification skills, we think this is a Western Tanager . . . or a Pine Warbler . .  or a gold finch. Maybe we should stick to our most accurate identification of "little yellow bird."

Another "little yellow bird" landed on the feeder nearby.

Denisa took all those pictures snooping around other parts of the campground. But we have our very own flock of birds that spend time in our yard. These California quail travel in pairs, and we've heard that it is sure cute when they escort their babies across the park.

This is the official state bird of California, so we are feeling very Californian hosting these birds. Denisa likes their awesome party hats. She's not as crazy about the way they can run so fast when she tries to sneak out of the motor home to take their picture. For fat little birds, they can sure run fast!

Our final bird neighbor has set up residence on a tree nearby. This is an Acorn woodpecker, who spends all day drilling holes in anything wood. They actually use trees to build granaries, where they stuff acorns in the holes for the winter.

This guy is giving a wide-eyed stare around the edge of a tree where he's been practicing his handiwork. 

Some of the park residents aren't too crazy about the work these guys have been doing on their wooden decks, and the park's mascot stage coach. After restoring this historic coach, they had to cover it with mesh when they started finding woodpecker holes in its 100-year-old wood.

After suffering through all those plant and bird pictures, you probably deserve some epic travel photos. But we ended up spending a couple days around the Park of the Sierras, just soaking in the nature and the RV ambience. Denisa went to line dancing class, and we attended the ice cream social (where they pride themselves on giving huge scoops of ice cream for 50 cents). They also have a freezer full of ice cream treats available at a low cost at the rec hall any time the urge for something sweet hits. We tried a San Franscisco traditional treat "It's-It."

We even signed up for a park tour, where a wonderful volunteer named Pat shared stories about her love for Park of the Sierra as she zipped us around in her golf cart.

Just like everywhere in California, there has been a record amount of rain at Park of the Sierra. This area might have been made into more RV sites if it wasn't for this low-water crossing. It would cost a million dollars to build a bridge that would be substantial enough for RVs to cross into this section of this park. Today there was enough water to convince a less-adventurous tour guide to turn around. But Pat drove right on through all that water.

This 40-acre park-like setting makes a great place to walk dogs and get some sun shine. It is filled with hiking trails that Pat's all-terrain golf cart can navigate.

In our tour we found that we could get on the list to become a member with our own RV site. When our name got to the top of the waiting list, we could buy in for $17,000. That amount is refundable when we would choose to sell our membership. There is an annual membership fee that seems pretty affordable.

They keep it so affordable by everyone pitching in to get the necessary work done. They make a party out of mopping the rec hall every week, and they have their own maintenance squad that enjoys fixing things. They have a propane committee that is certified to fill members' propane tanks at a much lower cost than having a third party propane supplier come into the park. This is an RV co-op, and this group seems very cooperative. The park members are very friendly and it would certainly be an affordable way to RV. (At this point we have to insert more wildflower pictures that Denisa keeps insisting on taking.)

But for now, we are still too busy traveling all over the United States. We don't want to settle down to one park, even if it is nice and very affordable. Even if there are lovely wildflowers and birds posing for pictures all over the park. We are still too busy wandering His wonders to stay in one place, but Park of the Sierra is certainly a nice place for a week!