Vacation Update

Hey everyone,

Thanks for the emails and comments. We are enjoying hearing from everyone as we trek along on our journey. :)

Today was an amazing day. We started the day at 7am. Slowly making our way to a small bakery up the road. The temperature was supposed to climb pretty quickly so we thought we would get an early start. The bakery we stopped at, We Three Bakery, was amazing. We ate outside underneath two large water oaks since it was still in the upper 60's. The huge breakfast later proved to be of great value. It wasn't until later, that we would find out that there is nowhere to purchase refreshments of any kind (much less meals) within the parks we were visiting today.

We arrived at the park around 8am and stopped at the gift shop and information center first. We picked up some staff badges for my walking staff and a few postcards to send to some family members. After paying out $20 permit fee, we were on the road.

The narrow, winding road would take us over 20 miles and to over 4000ft altitude. You cannot fully grasp just how far that is until you are there experiencing it. The drive took about 45 minutes or so at an average speed of 15-20mph. The view were breathtaking from mile one. It was as though we were driving inside of the many postcards and photos we had seen. A river rushed by at the bottom of the valley and clouds gathered around the mountain tops over head.

We stopped along the way to take many, many photos. We drove higher and higher. With each round we could turn and look at the microscopic cars driving up the mountain where we just were. Signs along the way let us know each time we hit another 1k in altitude. Finally, we saw the sign which read 'Entering Giant Forest'. We had arrived in the land of the giants. Right away we began seeing the massive Redwoods and Sequoias. The Redwoods' bark is a very bright red compared to their surroundings of ferns and other greenery. After driving between two giants we came around the bend to the Giant Forest Museum. From here, we were on foot for a while. Several miles of trails wrapped around lots of very large specimens (live and fallen), a small marsh, several springs and more.

After several hours we decided to head further up the road to see General Sherman, the largest living thing on the planet. After driving 2 miles further north, we set foot on an insanely steep path. We descended 212ft in altitude in a matter of 20 minutes or so on a winding path. To say the least, I was scared that I was not going to make it back up. We came around the bend and walked out onto an outlook overlooking General Sherman. Wow! The sheer volume of it was more than you can fit in one view. You glance up and down, and up and down. All the time, remembering that you have already been told that the top had fallen out of the tree some time ago. This is only the bottom portion of the tree's former self. Simply amazing.

We made it back up the path. Slowly. I hung out on the many benches dotting the path with people from Sweden, Germany, Wisconsin and Austria. I felt much better when I realized even the super fit were taking breaks like me. Nearly everyone was wheezing. LOL I just have two words for the park rangers...motorized carts. I would have paid an ungodly amount of money at one point to just be zoomed up to the top of the hill. Alas, there were not carts or griffins to aid me in my ascension. After some time, we all made it to the top.

Several more hours of exploring the parks left us so tired the ride back out of the park was eerily quiet. Even Daniel was speechless for the remainder of the trip back to the lodge. LOL

We've been in and out of the pool several times (Crystal and Daniel are still down in the spa). I'm vegging out in the room and downloaded the masses of photos we took. I have uploaded some of the best shots both here to the blog and to Flickr. You can see every photo taken on our trip (some photos which were not posted here) here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/steventrotter/sets/72157605744600625/

Tomorrow morning we leave Three Rivers, CA and drive up through wine country to Eureka, CA. Along the way, we plan to stop at several small parks including the famous "Drive Through Tree" in Meyers, CA.

Stay tuned for more updates...