Day 80, Almost there

We are at a KOA in Visalia for our last evening. It seems a bit anticlimactic. Since it is a holiday weekend, campsites were hard to find along the coast and forest fires are still affecting the inland route. So we are coming home through some of California's less attractive scenery.

Visalia is the "Gateway to the Sequoia National Forest." This is the first time in a long while that we've smell smoke. 😟

We walked around their downtown area. There are murals.

Another example of the downtown art is "Art on Fire" hydrants.


We stopped at one of the local breweries. Brewbakers is a branch of the home location in San Luis Obispo. 


Earlier in the day, we took a short detour to visit California City. It was the subject of an NPR podcast series. It isn't far from Edwards Air Force Base so many of the people who live here work there. However, for the city with the third largest amount of land in California, there are few residents. Google maps shows roads, many are simply dirt roads with "plans to develop." For years real estate developers have promised buyers they will become rich if they buy in California City and for years, the developers have made millions and everyday people have lost their savings. 


To break up the drive, we stopped at Murray Family Farms. The farm has been in the family for five generations. Aside from fruit, they sell Cal-Okie pies, an homage to the many people who came to California during the dust bowl. Ours was chicken pot pie wrapped in pastry.

Luckily, we are in a campground that is in a neighborhood that gets good over the air TV reception. Go Bills!

Location: Visalia / Sequoia National Park KOA Journey, 7480 Avenue 308, Visalia, CA 93291, USA

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