Hey now, It is 10 PM, 12 July. I write from the bed in the back of the bus, a wonderful day of memories and spectacular veiws behind me. Arcturus shines brightly overhead, along with a multitude of stars not visible from the city, and the King river flows noisily by just a few hundred yards away. We are at Sentinal campground, Kings Canyon National Park. The food is in the bear locker, and it's nearly bedtime, but first I have a trip report to write, and about 3 days worth of email to answer. Our bus perfomed well, driving from the desert up to Sequoia National Park, and up to about 7000 feet. It was somewhat unhappy though, and it let me know by losing the nut on the distributor clamp. Took a look this morning, replaced it, and did a valve adjustment, and she's back to running like a champ, albeit a noisy one. I really need to find a quieter exaust. We got a late start out of Victorville on the afternoon of the 11th, finally left at about 1:30 pm, and did a little shopping in Bakersfield. Got food for 2 days of camping and headed on up to Sequoia. Finally got there about 7:30 or so, and started looking for a campground. Drove on up to Lodgepole campground, and started looking for a campsite. Wrote down all the open tent sites at the front, and started looking for them. The numbering system at Lodgepole was done by a serious dislexic. The Rangers started following us after about half an hour, probably thought they had a carload of lost stoned hippies. 1 out of 2 isn't bad... (lost, that is, not stoned) So we asked them where the heck these sites were and they basically said the the system was screwey and we'd have to keep circleing. I asked about Dorst campground, and they said it would likely be less crowded, so we dicided to head that way. Got to Dorst, and it cost 12 bucks a night, and Sam saw the bear warning signs, and the plauge warning signs (from fleas off of squirrels), and it was decided that we would go back to Lodgepole and try harder. This time I wrote down the RV sites, and lo and behold, one was very nearby and empty. We took it. So, it's now 9:30, and it's time to cook dinner. We dilligently loaded all the food into the bear locker and Sam commenced to cook whilst I unloaded the bus into the tent. So I'm unloading when I suddenly see this large black shape make a tracks for the open food locker, not 5 feet away from Sam. Not good. I got Sam's attention and she made a beeline to the bus. I was not far behind. I had camped in bear country before, but never actually had one approach a lighted campsite with people moving about. So, we sat in the bus, wondering what to do. Our dinner is still cooking on the stove, and mister bear is eating up the rest of our food. Fortunately for us, a fellow a few campsites over heard the commotion and had a bit more experience with bears. He and a buddy moseyed on over with a big flashlight and some sticks, and commenced to throw rocks at our visitor. The bear didn't like this very much, and charged the 3 of us. We scattered like feathers in a hurricane-fast and in all directions. I guess none of us knew that you're supposed to bluff out the bears. Mr. bear went back to eating, so we went back to name calling and rock throwing. Finally Ted (the fellow from next door) popped him in the neck with a rock, and he decided to bail. We took the obligitry pictures of the locker, and closed it up, and I started to try and clean some of our mess up. At this point our hamburger dinner is pretty much burnt, and Sam refuses to get out of the bus for any reason. Doesn't want the food in the bus either. I guess I can't blame her for that. So I'm trying to clean up, when who should return but our uninvited dinner guest. He really liked the 10 or so Rice Crispy Treats he got and wanted more. Since the locker was now closed, he decided our $90 12 volt cooler would suffice, never mind that all it had was a couple of Coors Light at this point. He took off with the dang thing, and Ted says we'll get fined if the bear gets away with it, so we take off after the bear and cooler. Our other neighbor stays back and provides flashlight support, he didn't like being charged. So Ted and I take off with my MiniMagLite, and a bunch of rocks, and catch up with the bear about 300 feet away. We get him to abandon the Coors with a hail of rocks, then beat a hasty retreat with the cooler back to camp. While on this adventure, Sam and the other neighbors threw away the food on the stove, so we stuffed everything into the extra food locker, while Mr. Bear prowled the perimiter, thinking about rice crispy treats. Of course we all talked about it for a while, becase of the adrenalin, then told it all to the Ranger when he dropped by. He talked bear stories for a while too. The end result was that the only one who got dinner was the bear. 10 rice crispy treats, 3 granola bars, a taste of the milk and dried potatoes, some carrots and grapes for a balanced meal, and some Coors Light to wash it down. Good dinner. Lots better than mine. Sam doesn't want to camp at Lodgepole for a while. So we packed up this morning and headed for Kings Canyon. Good choice. The scenery is truly spectacular. The drive in featured a drop from around 8000 ft. to about 3-4000 feet, providing exquisite panoramic veiws and no less than 4 waterfalls. Gorgeous. And the smell-the scent of pines, mixed with the sweet oder of the river. We shot a roll and a half of film in about 2 hours, maybe less. Just absolutely breathtaking scenery, all with the King River flowing through it. I wish I'd discovered this place a few years ago, but from LA I always figured it was too far to drive and went to Sequoia Nat. Forest instead. We will remain here through Saturday night, then head for the coast to stay with friends in the bay area, before heading north on PCH toward Vancouver. Through the redwood forests. In a '70 VW bus. Perhaps we have not yet passed on, but this truly is an incarnation of heaven. Bears and all. Peace, Eddie