Late Summer Road Trip 2019: Sequoia National Park

When I had just turned five, I went on a weekend trip to Sequoia National Park with my paternal grandparents. It was summer and baking hot. I remember eating orange flavored popsicles and feeding peanuts to the friendly squirrels that visited our cabin in the woods. For a souvinier, my grandparents bought me a wooden jewelry box that I still own. I also lost my first tooth on that trip, and much to my mom’s dismay, the “tooth-fairy” left twenty-dollars under my pillow.

Other than pictures, I don’t actually remember seeing the massive redwood trees, especially the impressive “General Sherman",” which has the distinction of being the largest single-stem tree on earth.

Dan had not visited Sequoia, and my memories of it were hazy, so we added a quick visit to our 2019 road trip itinerary.

The drive up into the mountains took us through beautiful farmland and winding curves.

We arrived at the entrance gate for park opening and paid our 35.00 car fee. The park was not crowded during our visit, which was on a Monday in early September.

Sequoia National Park has several warning signs to remind visitors to be respectful of plants and wildlife. We did not see any bears, but we did see deer!

We stopped at the Foothills Visitor’s Center to get our bearings and to make a plan for visiting the park, before heading off on the road to see General Sherman. Minutes into our drive we were surrounded by a canopy of enormous trees.

The walk to General Sherman was relatively short, taking us about fifteen minutes at a leisurely pace. There were many warnings, because the climb down is at a steep grade and the altitude is high. We had already spent a few years living at a high altitude in Big Bear Lake and did not feel affected by it, but we did see other visitors that were clearly struggling. There are many beautiful spots to rest and the path is wide, not intimidating at all, but I’d recommend bringing water and sturdy shoes.

That’s a tall tree!

and a massive trunk!

But not bigger than the star of Sequoia: General Sherman.

Here are my less than spectacular Sequoia pictures from the early 80’s, where I rock the Dorothy Hamill cut and my grandparents cut the tree out of the picture.

We briefly stopped at the Giant Forest Museum to see another enormous redwood named Sentinel, admire the cute stuffed animals for sale, and have a pee-break before driving back to Big Bear Lake.

I wish we had been able to spend more time at Sequoia National Park. I wish we had brought hiking shoes and had been better prepared to explore. I also wish that we had been able to see the tree with a hole that you can drive through the middle. How cool is that? I mostly wish that I had taken advantage of our proximity when we lived in California to visit this enchanting land of giants. Sequoia National Park is truly a magical place.

Book Review- Nora Zelevansky's Competitive Grieving

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing for providing me with a copy of Nora Zelevansky’s novel, Competitive Grieving, in exchange for an honest review.

Wren is devastated by the sudden loss of her childhood friend, Stewart. Wren and Stewart were neighbors, their friendship sealed since infancy, when both of their mother’s were pregnant at the same time. Their friendship endured, as Stewart’s family became wealthy and moved into a penthouse apartment in Manhattan, while Wren’s artsy parents struggled financially, creating a divide between Stewart and Wren’s families.

Stewart further changed, when his acting career began to take-off, soon, he was not simply Wren’s Stewart, but the famous Stewart Beasley. In the days following his death, it is revealed that Stewart left specific instructions to have Wren, along with Stewart’s lawyer (and friend) George, go through his apartment and help with the memorial plans. Wren is further devastated to have to contend with friends from other parts of Stewart’s life, who are also grieving. Wren sees them as vultures, desperate to grab pieces of the friend she loved, and sees their grief as “competitive,” each person trying to prove their connection to Stewart in a twisted game.

Wren is told that Stewart died of a brain aneurysm, but as she digs through his apartment and gains little pieces of information, such as a mysterious heartbroken woman at Stewart’s memorial service, she suspects that this is not the truth.

The premise of Competitive Grieving is strong. It made me reflect on the idea of how we have a special relationship with each person we know and that it is impossible to quantify the depth of those relationships. Just as Wren struggles with her identity of being Stewart’s “best friend,” I struggled with this when my mom passed away. It’s hard to see the grief of others, when you feel that your own grief is superior. Now, far removed from the situation, I have the perspective that grief is simply not like that. As Wren comes to realize, everyone is entitled to their own grieving and no one has a right to judge it. Just as my mom meant different things to different people, things that I have no way of understanding, Stewart had different relationships, different friendships, that did not concern Wren.

Wren is not an easy character. Through much of Competitive Grieving, she is reactionary and wallowing. The story only spans a few weeks, but it is hard to be in Wren’s shoes. It fits with the themes of the story and Wren’s character arc, but it’s not an easy place to be and as such, I did not find Competitive Grieving to be a quick read. I could only handle a few chapters at a time.

I don’t want to give anything away with this review, as the mystery of Stewart is a carefully crafted reveal to maximize an emotional punch. Zelevansky is masterful at handling a delicate topic with grace and humanity. This particular situation is a bit of a trigger for me and reading Competitive Grieving was one of the rare times that this subject made me feel less angry and more compassionate. I appreciate Zelevansky’s ability to change my perspective.

Late Summer Road Trip 2019: Kingsburg

On our drive back to our home in Big Bear Lake, we came across the small California town of Kingsburg.

Located in the Central Valley of California, Kingsburg has a population of just over eleven thousand. It is currently an agricultural town, and one of my favorite childhood snacks, Sun-Maid Raisins, is headquartered in Kingsburg.

All of this is interesting, but it is not the reason we stopped.

Kingsburg is famous for its Swedish heritage. My two step-children are Swedish, so pretty much anything Swedish, catches our eye. We had hoped to find something unique in Kingsburg that we could share with the kids.

Unfortunately, the town was mostly closed for the day. We arrived late on a Sunday afternoon to find the high street a dead zone. We made the most of our brief stop and took some pictures.

Such as, the Kingsburg Swedish teapot water tower…

And the traditional Swedish Dalecarlian Horse or Dala Horse. We have a Dala Horse magnet from our trip to Sweden!

Swedish immigrants moved to Kingsburg in the late 1800’s and some of their descendants still live in the area today. However, it seems like the “Swedish” parts of the town are mostly kept alive through decorations and events. It is definitely a good way of enticing people to visit, and we might have eaten here or purchased something, if anything had been open.

We saw a black cat that looked nearly identical to our black cat, Slinky!

And finally, I saw this sign that was a good reminder that our summer vacation was quickly coming to an end. I like autumn, but summer is my favorite season.

Our stop in Kingsburg was a nice break from being on the road and we took some fun pictures. Kingsburg is worth a stop, if you are passing through.