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.

Late Summer Road Trip 2019: Yosemite National Park

After our morning spent visiting Mono Lake, we decided to cut through Yosemite National Park on our continued road trip to Portland, Oregon. Neither Dan nor I had visited Yosemite National Park previously, yet we were familiar with pictures of the famous El Capitan, an enormous granite cliff that attracts rock climbers from around the world. Yosemite National Park seemed too iconic to miss.

Prior to officially entering the park, we saw dramatic mountains and a beautiful lake.

We entered at Tioga Pass, paying a 30.00 fee. The fee is per vehicle. I think that we must have entered on the quiet side of the park, as the deeper we went, the more traffic we encountered. We visited the day after Labor Day, and many visitors had extended their three day weekends.

After entering the park, the landscape included extensive fields, tall pines, and more mountains.

We pulled over for some dramatic mountain shots.

And another stop at another lake. This one was vast, much larger than the lake near the entrance to the park. To be honest, it could have been a very large river, rather than a lake. I’m not sure. The water was crystal clear, and I felt envious of the people having a lazy day in lounge chairs on the shore. I wish we had both more time to stay in Yosemite and the forethought to have packed a few chairs and a picnic. The weather was crisp, but sunny. A perfect way to cap off the end of summer.

As we continued our drive, the rocks became even more dramatic.

We drove up into the mountains with amazing views of the valley below.

Finally, we reached Yosemite National Park’s star attraction, El Capitan. It was crowded, as if the entire population of park visitors converged into this one area. It was so jammed, that we spent an hour driving around a loop in an attempt to find parking and decided to bail on the idea. We did get to see the magnificent El Capitan, and stand in its shadow, but since Yosemite was an unplanned stop, we had to keep moving. it’s hard to see it in these pictures, but there were plenty of climbers on the mountain, which was incredible.

Our drive through Yosemite National Park took a few hours, longer because of the traffic near El Capitan. We thought that it was stunning, but it Yosemite didn’t pack the same punch as some of the other national parks that we have visited, such as Bryce and Zion.

I am happy that I finally visited Yosemite National Park. It had been on my “California Bucket List,” and visiting was especially sweet, as I moved to Colorado a few months later. I always think of the things that I should make a point to see now, things somewhat close to Colorado, for example, the Black Hills of South Dakota or Yellowstone National Park. In her early 20’s, my mom lived in Virginia for two years, and one of her biggest life regrets was not visiting Washington DC. I want to make sure that I see it all!

We drove through the Stanislaus National Forest and into the charming town of Groveland for lunch. in Groveland, we went to Dog Gone Good, a hot dog stand set up in the front yard of a person’s home. It was odd and delightful. The hot dogs were delicious and a good value. We would definitely eat here again, if we ever found ourselves in the area. I highly recommend it.

I’ll end this post with a beautiful sunflower that was in the garden of Dog Gone Good. I can’t think of a better symbol for the last days of summer.

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Late Summer Road Trip 2019- Death Valley National Park

Growing up in Southern California, Death Valley National Park always seemed like a place that was so close, yet so far away. I’ve driven past the turn off a million times while on the road to Las Vegas. I was always curious about Death Valley National Park, but the siren call of the Vegas Strip was always too strong and I kept driving.

Knowing that we were likely moving out of state ( which happened just a few months later), Dan and I decided to combine a business trip with a vacation by taking a road trip from Big Bear Lake, California to Portland, Oregon. This time, we would skip Vegas and enjoy nature centric attractions.

Our trip started on Labor Day weekend, which we underestimated how much crowds would impact our trip. Luckily, crowds were not an issue in Death Valley, likely because of the intense heat. Although it might be exciting for some tourists to experience incredible heat, I don’t think it is the peak time of the year for the park. The heat made it difficult to truly enjoy Death Valley.

On the drive to Death Valley, we marveled at the straight, empty roads.

Meet our beloved Ram truck, which we affectionately named Buttercup. Sadly, Buttercup didn’t fit with our suburban Colorado lifestyle and we swapped her for a Subaru a few months later. She did have the opportunity to go on some epic trips with us! We miss her!

We stopped at Dumont Dunes to experience the incredible sand dunes. It was early morning and the light was bouncing off of the soft sand. The pictures do not do justice to the beautiful shapes and textures of the dunes.

Nearly to Death Valley and more straight road pictures. We can’t get enough of these!

And we arrived!

We paid thirty dollars for a vehicle day pass and entered the park. It was really, really hot. I can’t remember the exact temperature, but somewhere in the 115-120 Fahrenheit range. We actually like the intense heat, but we prefer it when we are in a swimming pool. The Death Valley heat really dictated our visit, as we only jumped out of the car for a few pictures and scenic spots. You can hike and camp, but I can’t imagine too many people do those activities during the summer.

We parked at Dantes View to see the basin and learn about the geography of the area.

Most of Death Valley National Park felt like other parts of the California and Nevada desert. I’m not disappointed that we visited, but I also didn’t feel that we saw anything truly spectacular, leaving me to believe that we may have missed some key areas of the park or perhaps that the magic happens when you visit during the cooler months and can get outside.

We stopped at the Furnace Creek Visitors Center, which had some nice displays, adorable stuffed animals, and most important, clean toilets. The toilets were outside and did not have air-conditioning. They were sweltering. I had a difficult time even touching the door handle.

We stocked up on Death Valley branded water. It is absolutely vital that you come to Death Valley with water in your vehicle. It can be dangerous if you don’t come prepared and every single park ranger asked us about water and suggested that we not attempt hiking.

At the general store we bought enormous milk shakes to fortify ourselves until lunch.

Our final stop was Padre Crowley Point. This is a scenic overlook of a canyon where fighter jets often practice and apparently Star Wars was filmed. I’m not a big enough fan to recognize anything from Star Wars, but it was a beautiful view.

Death Valley National Park is worth the visit if you have never been. I think it would be a unique experience for visitors who don’t live in the desert, however, Joshua Tree National Park is only a few hours south and it is a far more interesting. Death Valley has all of the other parks beat for sheer audacity of extreme weather conditions, but it is lacking in the “wow” factor that many other National Parks offer. That said, I appreciate the National Park service and think that the parks are the treasurers that should be supported.