Friday, August 8-9, 2014.
It was late afternoon as we crammed our bulging suitcases into the rented SUV along with the four of us and my parents (whom we will refer to as grandma & grandpa). We could see the heat wave rising off the pavement as we drove south leaving Vegas in the rear view mirror. The first destination was Bakersfield, CA to rest our weary eyes, after all I don't imagine there is much else to do there. The next morning we enjoyed breakfast while mapping out our strategy for the day. The plans were to discover the beauty of Sequoia National Park, then head west to the coast to explore the beach town of Santa Cruz. We did pass one little gem on the way out of Bakersfield, an old Fox Theatre building- it is a shame we are going to miss the Glenn Miller Orchestra. OK maybe not.....
Sequoia National Park, we had finally arrived but I was worried. I mean 'Sequoia' was in the name but as I looked around all I saw was high desert shrubs and a few trees. We drove in some more and nothing. I don't know about the others but I was quite excited to see these ginormous trees in real life and from my perspective. I was starting to get impatient, maybe complaining a smidgen and it didn't help that we were on an upward winding road following fellow tourists at a top speed of 15mph.
BLINK
Then there they were in all of their majesty!! Giant Sequoia trees everywhere!! And I was happy!!
We finally made it to the tram stop where there was a little gift shop and a giant tree named The Sentinel. We caught the next tram to the Moro Rock hike and saw a couple of bear cubs along the way. The hike was quite steep but the view was well worth it. It was amazing standing on a giant rock looking over the park and mountains. After that we needed a refuel, so we headed over to the Wuksachi Lodge for lunch. It was a cute little lodge and the food was great. It was now time to pay a visit to the General Sherman. This giant Sequoia is not the tallest or the widest tree, however, the overall volume of it's trunk makes it the biggest. So it has some junk in its trunk which makes it famous, kind of like a Kardashian, right?? Haha! We wandered down the trail, admiring the trees and the amazing moss that was freely growing on them. The General Sherman was indeed a beast of a tree. The pictures give it no justice, these trees are just something you have to see in real life to fathom their majesty and stature. We scarcely skimmed the list of "things to see" in Sequoia National Park, but our time here was running short and the teenagers were the ones complaining at this point, as they can only handle so much nature in one day. We knew it was time to get back on the road, we had a few hours of highway ahead of us to make it to Santa Cruz. In fact, by the time we got there most places had closed and we ended up with McDonalds as a late dinner. We checked into our hotel and called it a night. The day had been successful and we got to experience nature's beauty and majesty, and that was just the first day.......
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| The bridge entering into the park |
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| Finally!! Some Sequoia trees!! |
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| Beautiful view |
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| The Sentinel and I......... On top of Moro Rock |
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| Moro Rock from below. We were standing on the top of that. |
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| Grandma & Grandpa with Moro Rock |
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| Jason and I with the General Sherman |
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| The Twin trees |
