Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Sequoia

We woke up on the surface of the sun. No really, it was 108 degrees in the valley by like 9 a.m. I'd never experienced anything like it. After spending the morning getting caught up on work stuff (Jackson) and blogging (Jenna) we slathered on the sunscreen and headed to Sequoia. It was, in a word, magnificent. 

The parks are so weird out here. You get to the entrance and then have 30+ miles to go before you're at the desired destination. They're just that massive.
The view during the drive to the park
We are mildly obsessed with the blue, blue sky
Handsome boy
Soaking in the view.
I've wanted to see Sequoia for as long as I can remember so when we got to the entrance with the trees surrounding the road I actually clapped my hands and exclaimed with glee.
I've dreamed of this entrance. 
Important note: I LOVE trees. Trees are some of my favorite things. Another important note? I'm severely allergic to trees. I know. Nature is so cruel in that manner. More on the allergies later...
General Sherman...the world's largest tree (by volume)
You park at the top of the tree and descend the mountain to get to General Sherman. It was so, so steep. I was amazed at how difficult it was to get to this tree! 
Now THOSE are pine cones! 
It is hard to get a feel for just how large these trees are when you're standing in front of them because everything around is so large. It isn't until you stand in one and snap a photo that you realize, "WHOA!"
A tree dwarfing Jackson
A tree dwarfing me!
There were right at 300 people surrounding General Sherman at any given time so I kept trying to keep my distance to get good photos of it.
The General again.
Mildly obsessed. It was 275 feet tall.
I mentioned that I have dreamed about seeing this park for a long time. I was just SO excited about it that I could not even pretend not to be. Jackson took the opportunity to mock my joy because he's a jerk buzzkill little boy meanie.
My joy! Jackson's mocking. Jenna's anger.
I don't care. I was so happy. I love trees!
Still joyful despite Jackson's attempts to calm me.
A triple trunk tree!!
I eventually got close enough to General Sherman to get a good look at his top. It was amazing.
The General. AGAIN.
Bask in its beauty.
Some of the surrounding forest
Remember those allergies? Yeah...we intended to hike at Sequoia but by the time I'd finished basking in the General Sherman's shadows I could hardly breathe and couldn't even dream of setting out on a hike without some medicine to stop my windpipe from restricting so much air. It was terrible. We got back in the car and cranked the air conditioning which helped but my chances of hiking that day were shot. Bummer. :( 
The view on the way down...amazing!
We drove from Sequoia to a casino resort hotel just outside of Fresno, CA that evening. We stopped for some awesome Mexican food before trying out our luck at the casino. The hotel gave us $40 to spend upon check-in and we were able to turn that into $6.75. That is why we don't gamble. The casino was still fun, though they allowed smoking which also upset my allergies so we didn't stick around too long. We took a walk that evening around the property and enjoyed a lovely starry night. I like California. I don't see a need to return home at this point...

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