Trip Report Golden State of Mind: Our August 2017 California Adventure

bee · Aug 24, 2017

Day 4, cont.

As we continued we caught a glimpse of the sunset.

FINALLY we arrived at the Best Western Tulare. The next two photos were obviously taken the next morning but I wanted to put them here to show you our first impression (imagine darkness!).

Pretty cute, eh?

We'd been planning to do laundry this night, but the laundry room closed at 9:00 and it was already after 8:00. We had brought enough underwear and socks for every day and figured the rest of our stuff would be fine if we just aired it out after wearing so we didn't sweat it.

Mmmm, wine in plastic cups.

We went to sleep pretty soon. It had been a long day and we had an even longer day ahead!

Up next: Day 5. Lots of driving interrupted by trees (and Denny's).

Tuvalu · Aug 24, 2017

D9822C32-56A9-4C6D-9E8E-A026EBD3ADF6-857-000001301F06E3A0.jpeg

Why don't we just harvest a big ol' crop of wind?

bee · Aug 24, 2017

Tuvalu said:
View attachment 225057

Why don't we just harvest a big ol' crop of wind?

ETA: Did anyone see the video of the last ride of Ellen??

becca_ · Aug 24, 2017

Those sunset pictures are beautiful! :inlove:

MinnieM123 · Aug 25, 2017

bee said:
At some point we needed a potty stop, and we decided to make it a Starbucks stop as well.

Oh boy, iced caffeine!! Yum! :hungry:

By the way, I liked the photo of the skinny road for two-way traffic! :joyfull:

(Can you say, head-on collision?!

)

bee said:
ETA: Did anyone see the video of the last ride of Ellen??

Great video. I'm really sorry to see those awesome dinosaurs go . . .

bee · Aug 25, 2017

becca_ said:
Those sunset pictures are beautiful!

Thank you!

MinnieM123 said:
Oh boy, iced caffeine!! Yum!

By the way, I liked the photo of the skinny road for two-way traffic! (Can you say, head-on collision?! )

No kidding about the road!! And that was a relatively straight part of it. There were plenty of very tight turns. It would only take one person going a little too fast around a curve for a disaster to occur!

MinnieM123 said:
Great video. I'm really sorry to see those awesome dinosaurs go . . .

Me too. I understand the ride has seen better days (it's been around longer than Ellen has been out!!!) but I wish they would have kept with the theme and/or found a way to reuse those dinos! Maybe we'll see them again somewhere, a la the Three Caballeros AAs in the Mexico boat ride.

coachwnh · Aug 25, 2017

bee said:
ETA: Did anyone see the video of the last ride of Ellen??

Thats crazy! Looks like they allowed people to take it all in though.

bee · Aug 25, 2017

Day 5: Tuesday, August 8
Driving, Sequoias, Driving, Los Angeles

I am going to admit something here. After the previous day's scary tiny narrow windy road incident, I was very nervous about driving through the mountains all the way up to the Sequoia National Forest. Seeing big trees was one of the main reasons M wanted to go all the way to California and here I was moping about the thing she wanted to do more than anything else. (And, as my dear Pilot pointed out, I wasn't even the one who had to do the driving!)

So the night before, as I was freaking out, my sweet wife pulled up the route on Google maps and did street view at all of the curves in the road that looked scary to show me that the road was much wider and safer than I was envisioning. After that, how could I be so selfish as to make her doubt that we should go see the trees of her dreams??

Back to the present day!

The Best Western included free breakfast.

And we got to enjoy it...

Right by the bar. Tequila sunrise, please!*

(*Not really. It wasn't open.)

We packed everything up and began the drive!

I'll admit it was a little scary up to this point, but I held myself together!

Finally we arrived at the park entrance. It costs $30/vehicle to enter the park and admission is good for up to seven days.

From there we had another hour of driving until we reached the trees.

(Please ignore the dern receipt in the way. We were told to tape it like this to the windshield as proof of payment.)

At some point there was a sign for a rest area. There was some construction being done on the road up (more later) and this was the last restroom before the road work, so we stopped.

As we ascended there were several spots to pull over and take photos.

Up next: Construction! Driving! Will we ever get to the trees???

bee · Aug 25, 2017

Day 5, cont.

As I mentioned previously, construction was being performed on the highway up to the forest. It reduced the two-lane road into a one-lane road for two stretches, which meant we had to stop a couple of times to make way for traffic going the other way.

Now THAT'S what I like to see!!

6000 feet!

We FINALLY made it to the first parking lot, that of the park's museum! We decided to park here and take the free shuttle to the General Sherman Tree (world's largest tree by volume) area, instead of take our chances with the General Sherman parking lot. Our walk to the museum and shuttle stop was stunning.

It was SO quiet up here. There were no other people around and all we could hear were the sounds of the forest and our own footsteps.

Up next: More walking, the shuttle, and "Where is the General Sherman Tree?"

ajrwdwgirl · Aug 25, 2017

Sequoia looks very pretty so far. I'm glad you were able to handle the big curves.

bee · Aug 25, 2017

Day 5, cont.

We continued our walk.

Time to board the shuttle!

And here we are!

WHOA!

We followed the Sherman trail...or at least we thought we were following it. The maps were confusing and something just didn't seem right, so we finally asked a fellow tourist where the GS was, and she pointed us in the right direction!

Up next: Will we actually find it??

bee · Aug 25, 2017

Day 5, cont.

I felt like the baby bird in "Are You My Mother?"

Are you General Sherman?

No.

Are you General Sherman?

No.

Are YOU General Sherman?

No.

What's this??

Are YOU General Sherman??

That would be a YES!

As you can see there was quiet a crowd waiting to get a photo with the General. A nice man (the one in black and hat on the left) took a vertical panorama for us.

After we gaped and stared for a bit, it was time to hike back toward the shuttle.

Here we are!

Back near the museum:

There wasn't too much of interest in the museum. I did spin the wheel to see if I would make it as a sequoia seed.

In short, NO.

Soon it was time for the quiet walk back to the car.

If I had to sum this experience up in a single word, it would be "WOW." We'd never seen or done anything like this in our lives. Even now, weeks later, thinking of the beauty and majesty and peace of the forest brings tears to my eyes. I will never forget this and I'm so glad we got to experience it.

Up next: MORE trees, and we begin the drive back down.

bee · Aug 25, 2017

ajrwdwgirl said:
Sequoia looks very pretty so far. I'm glad you were able to handle the big curves.

I'm glad too!! It was an experience I will never forget.

MinnieM123 · Aug 26, 2017

Wow! That park was amazing!! And for some odd reason, I didn't realize how high the altitude was there. That looked like very exciting fun!! Sometimes, I think we all need a bit of prodding from our significant others to expose us to experiences, we might not have considered. Glad that you enjoyed it--you both can treasure those memories for years to come.

bee said:
The Best Western included free breakfast.

Just had to make a quick comment about this. I think that ALL hotels, etc. should include breakfast. My hubs went to Colorado a few months ago. He was staying at a similar type of hotel that you stayed at, and he was thrilled that they served hot breakfast there! :joyfull:

amjt660 · Aug 26, 2017

Amazing pictures of the trees and such

Enjoying the commentary too

Max

bee · Aug 26, 2017

MinnieM123 said:
Wow! That park was amazing!! And for some odd reason, I didn't realize how high the altitude was there. That looked like very exciting fun!! Sometimes, I think we all need a bit of prodding from our significant others to expose us to experiences, we might not have considered. Glad that you enjoyed it--you both can treasure those memories for years to come.

It was very exciting! I'll take a little prodding any day if it means I get to do something like this!

MinnieM123 said:
Just had to make a quick comment about this. I think that ALL hotels, etc. should include breakfast. My hubs went to Colorado a few months ago. He was staying at a similar type of hotel that you stayed at, and he was thrilled that they served hot breakfast there!

It would be very convenient if all hotels did serve breakfast! Out of the six we stayed at, four of them had free breakfast and it really made things easier in the mornings.

amjt660 said:
Amazing pictures of the trees and such

Enjoying the commentary too

Max

Thanks, Max!

bee · Aug 26, 2017

Day 5, cont.

Continuing our walk to the car...

(Sad attempt at a vertical pano, lol)

By this time we were quite hungry! The museum didn't have a cafe or any snacks for sale, which is understandable since most people are there to camp and would bring their own supplies. Luckily I had some Larabars in my backpack.

It was time to begin the drive back down.

Campers?

We got a little backed up from the construction but it didn't delay our drive down too much.

Being in the Jeep made the drive a lot easier for M. We were glad for the surprise upgrade back in Sacramento.

Bye bye, Sequoia National Forest!

We were glad we'd gone in the morning! Look at that line to get in!

It was time for more beautiful views!

Up next: More mountains, lakes, bridges, and driving!

bee · Aug 26, 2017

Day 5, cont.

Our path brought us around Lake Kaweah.

As we continued toward Los Angeles, we passed through more agricultural areas.

Look at all that farm land!

Up next: Lunch...and more driving!

bee · Aug 26, 2017

Day 5, cont.

Where does one go when one wants a simple, cheap lunch, and coffee?

DENNY'S!

Build Your Own Burger. Black bean burger, cheddar cheese, cheddar bun, caramelized onions, and pickles! Plus the usual lettuce, tomato, and red onion.

M had scrambled eggs and hash browns. We both had COFFEE.

Caffeinated and fed, we continued south toward LA.

"Oh! Oh! What is black gold? Texas tea. Swimmin’ pools. Movie stars. What is The Beverly Hillbillies? I mean—what is oil?" @Tuvalu

At some point we stopped for gas. We used the Disney Chase card (2% rewards on gas) and I immediately got a text from Chase about a suspicious charge. Luckily I was able to respond that it was really me, and they didn't just cancel my card on the spot! I was glad they were on top of things, but I wondered why they hadn't flagged our other gas purchases earlier in the trip.

What's that in the distance?

Getting closer!

Exiting the freeway into LA traffic. This reminded M and me of the end of I-95 where it turns into US-1 in Miami. @Tony the Tigger do you ever drive down to Miami?

Up next: Checking in, and dinner!

riverside · Aug 26, 2017

Your photos are stunning!! I'm enjoying your TR immensely!!
I'm with you on the windy, narrow roads. Scared to death of them plus I have a huge fear of heights. A few years ago
I was driving through the Finger Lakes in NY & let's just say it was one of the most tense rides of my life--& I wasn't the
one driving either!!

Trip Report Golden State of Mind: Our August 2017 California Adventure

bee

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