Daily Archives: May 22, 2011
Fresno and Landon . . .
I got up a little early this morning, about 9:45, because we weren’t sure exactly what time we’d be Landon Skyping.
While we were waiting I fixed coffee and had a muffin for breakfast, then about 11:30 Nick and I went down to the office to re-up here at the park until the 31st.
I got back just in time to answer our Landon Skype call.
Landon was his usual rambunctious self, showing how he could pull himself upright with no problems. The way he’s going he’ll be walking soon.
Brandi said Landon said “Mama” yesterday, but this morning he mostly just squealed and laughed a lot. He always seemed to react to us on the screen when we talked to him, so hopefully he’ll know us when we see him in August at our family reunion in Illinois.
We spent about 20 minutes online with Landon, Brandi, and Lowell before setting up our next call in two weeks and saying our goodbyes.
A little later Jan fixed us a lunch of cheese toast using Miss Terry’s great bread, and Salt & Cracked Pepper potato chips. Really good.
About 2 pm we all headed down to Fresno about 35 miles away for some shopping. Our first stop was Sam’s Club for some staples. Next up was World Market where Jan and Terry did some shopping, before repeating the thing at a Bed, Bath, & Beyond right done the road.
By this time it was about 4:30 and everyone was getting hungry so we decided to try the New China Buffet, listed as one of the best Chinese buffets in Fresno. It turned out to be very good . . . and also very busy.
Leaving the buffet, our last stop was at a nearby Wal-Mart before heading back to the Park of the Sierras. But after Nick whined, we did stop off and get cappuccinos before getting home about 7:30.
Since we plan on visiting Sequoia National Park tomorrow, I thought I’d repost our visit there last year to give you a taste of what we’ll see.
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Thought for the Day:
"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." – Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Some Really Big Trees…
Originally posted on April 30, 2010
Today we headed out to visit Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park. Leaving about 9 am we drove 70 miles south thru Fresno to the entrance to Sequoia National Park.
But before we left we set the crockpot on a timer so that when we came home we’d have a big pot of Tuscan Chicken Spaghetti waiting for us. Then we hit the road, heading toward Fresno, about 30 miles south.
Leaving Fresno, which is at 300 ft. elevation, we starting the climb up into the Sierras, with some great views along the way. Click to enlarge the pictures!
And just like yesterday we ran into snow. We started encountering it about 4500 feet, and it just got deeper the further up we went.
When we got to the Ranger Station at Grants Grove at almost 7000 feet, we really saw the snow in deep drifts.
There was a lot more snow here in Sequoia than in Yosemite yesterday.
After checking in at the Ranger Station and checking out the Gift Shop, we had to change our travel plans. We had planned to drive the big 60 mile loop thru the park and come out down south near Visalia. But we found that loop was closed due to the heavy snowfall and would not be open anytime soon. That meant we would not be able to see the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree in the world. Bummer!
But we would be able to see the 2nd largest tree, the General Grant tree, so we headed over to Grant’s Grove a couple of miles away to take a look.
This is the first big tree we saw right in front of our truck when we parked. It’s hard to convey how really big these trees are. The pictures really don’t do them justice.
And across the parking lot were these twins.
And here is the General Grant tree. It’s 267 feet tall and about 35 feet in diameter. It is estimated to be over 1600 years old.
And here is an internet picture of the General Sherman that we didn’t get to see. It’s about 275 feet tall and about 40 feet in diameter at the base. That’s bigger than our RV ! It’s between 2300 and 2700 years old. The spread of the branches at the top is almost 110 feet wide.
After viewing the trees, we went back to the lodge for a really good lunch at the restaurant, much better than the one at Yosemite yesterday.
Then after lunch, we drove out into the forest for about 10 miles just taking in all great scenery along the way.
Then it was time to head home. Coming back down thru the mountains, we went thru several cloud layers, but by the time we got down to the bottom, it was clear and sunny again. And going from almost 7000 feet to 300 feet really makes the ears pop.
We got back about 3:30 to a coach filled with wonderful smell of our dinner cooking away.
We ate about 6 pm and it was great. It’s the first time Jan’s fixed this Tuscan Chicken Spaghetti, but we’ll definitely have it again.
Tomorrow is a take-it-easy day. We’re going to get together with some friends, George and Sandy, who we’ve corresponded with for awhile, but didn’t actually meet until the Nick Russell’s Gypsy Journal Rally in Yuma this past March. We discovered yesterday that we’re both in the same park here.
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