Sequoia National Park

On Friday, September 24th we visited Sequoia National Park (http://www.nps.gov/seki).  We invited Uncle Jack to go along, but he decided it would be too long of a day for him. It took a little over an hour to travel from Kingsburg to the park, and the girls really enjoyed the mountain roads with all their twists and turns. As you can see, Sophie went too.  She really seems to enjoy all the traveling and is just devastated when she has to stay behind at camp.





Hannah climbing back up after hiking down to this pretty spot on the King River.

 

Hannah and I went on a couple of short hikes in the park.  Katy hasn't been able to hike much lately.  Her right knee has been bothering her a lot.  She slipped and fell on some concrete back in May, just before school was out.  When it first happened, we iced it and she took Advil.  It improved after a few days, so we went on as usual.  Lately it's been bothering her more and more, to the point that we had it checked by an orthopedic physician in Carson City, Nevada.  After examining her and getting Xrays, he determined that the cartilage under her knee cap is still irritated from her fall back in May, and that she continues to strain it by keeping her knee bent during our long trips on the road.  So, Katy is keeping her leg elevated when we're in the truck and trying to avoid steep inclines and stairs as much as possible.  The doctor told Katy it could take a few more months for the injury to completely heal, but to be careful with it and patient and that all should be fine.

 The Sequoia Groves at Sequoia National Park are amazing.  I so wish I could take a photo that shows just how magnificent these trees truly are.  Here's Mickey and the girls trying to give you an idea of just how big the base of this tree is.  Notice how small our Jeep is in the background.

Below is a picture of Hannah and I at the base of the General Sherman Tree.  It's the largest tree by volume on earth.



The rest of the weekend was spent just relaxing and getting ready to move again.  Those little things like laundry and cleaning, they follow you no matter where you go.  Mickey and Uncle Jack went to the casino on Sunday.  When asked how they did, they just said they had made a deposit with the Indians and had had to eat hot dogs for lunch.

We shared a nice breakfast with Uncle Jack before leaving Kingsburg Monday morning.  We're now in Pacifica, California, a little south of San Francisco.  The RV resort where we're staying this week is on a cliff over looking the Pacific Ocean.  It's definitely one of the best views we're had.  The park has a pool and hot tub, so that pleases the girls.  They spent a couple of hours there last night.

When class is done today, we're going in to the city.  It will be an experience for us.  We're catching the train just down from where we're staying and using public transportation to get around San Francisco.  It will probably be a late night, so I'll post pictures from San Francisco later.