California Day 3: King's Canyon & Sequoia National Parks
I’m just going to be brutally honest.
Day 3 was rough.
Going into King’s Canyon Emma and I became horribly, horribly carsick. However, it was worth it because King’s Canyon was gorgeous! We arrived first thing in the morning, I mean, the Visitor’s Center wasn’t even open yet. So we were able to walk through a loop that showed us the General Grant tree. It was magnificent. The air was cold and crisp and invigorating. It was an amazing sparkling day. It’s hard to describe the dazzle that was in the day there.
There were hardly any people around the walking loop and it was so nice to be able to take our time. We were able to study the bark, the foliage of the sequoias, and just really take in all of the details of God’s creation.
Part way around the walking loop we came to a hollowed out felled sequoia that had even been used as a worker cabin back in the day! Nick and Cal enjoyed exploring and walking through it while Emma and I continued walking and taking photos with our cameras. Emma is turning into quite the shutterbug which is so fun to watch and encourage.
I should clarify that we walked and skated around the walking loop because half of the thing was downhill and complete ice. That’s always fun. Not. It was so icy we literally walked down it with Nick going before us and then saying “okay not put your foot there, now over there, now on top of that pile of snow and pivot to over there.” I’m sure years from now we’ll laugh at this. We made memories for sure.
After our near death experience on the ice (not really) we went to the visitor’s center where, you guys! The whole entire building was covered in snow. COVERED! It was a lot of snow. It made me feel like a wimp when I was back home complaining about 6 inches of snow back in Indiana. Yeesh.
Day 3 was slated for King’s Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. They are connected and you can go from one park to another.
Except the road was closed due to snow.
This caused us to have to drive and hour and a half out of the way to get to Sequoia.
Then when we got to Sequoia we weren’t really AT Sequoia. Meaning that the Foothills Visitors Center is just that, in the foothills and then you drive for about an hour to the Giant Forest.
Once we hit about 4000 ft elevation it started to get foggy. Then about 5000 ft it got really foggy. And about 6000 ft it was scary foggy. We were driving on a one lane road around the mountain, winding and steeply rising. But we couldn’t see. Like at all. At all, at all. Zero visibility. It was the scariest thing ever. Couldn’t even see the hood of the car. Thankfully we crept on and saw a parking lot sign and dove into that area to wait out the fog. Or so I thought. Nick parked the car and said he thought it would be best if we just went back down the mountain since we couldn’t see the sequoias anyway.
I got out of that car.
There was no way I was going to be strapped back into that metal death trap to be dragged back down the mountain in zero visibility fog. Friends, your girl had a major anxiety attack. It was bad. I at one point told him he was going to have to just go back down without me, I would stay there and live on the mountain and wash my hair with rain water or something. I didn’t have a solid plan but at that moment I was legit serious, just leave me here, I am not going back down with y’all. Lord have mercy!
The trees looked so eerie and cool all at the same time with the fog.
I love this girl. This is her look when you tell her to touch the tree and to be in awe of nature. So funny!
Thankfully there was a museum right there. I felt like Bilbo Baggins walking along the mountain and stumbling upon a door. We were able to go check it out and while we were talking to a park ranger the fog lifted a teeny bit. Enough that we decided that since we were that close we should continue to drive higher to go see General Sherman, the World’s Biggest Tree. Sure enough by the time we got up to it the fog had lifted completely and it was a gorgeous crystal clear blue sky. It was so much fun to walk through the trees.
And then it was back down the mountain. It was getting lateish and we had to get going since Nick was to start working the next day…our fun days with him are done but it was so fun to have a little bit of time with him.
Side note here, the kids just love hanging out with him. I’m so proud of my guy. He works so hard to provide for his family and has the most integrity I’ve ever seen in, anyone! I just love him so much.
I did remember that on the way down the mountain we made a stop at Hospital Rock and saw the petroglyphs on the rocks. I barely remember this because I took a dramamine and felt like a tranquilized bear when we got to the rocks, ha.
On the way we came across a town called “Lindsay” and I was so excited that I made Nick get out and take a photo of me with the sign. My whole life I have had my name misspelled so it was so great to find a town with my name!!!
We headed back to LA and then to Ranch Cucamongo where we are to stay for the rest of the trip. After we unloaded the car (or minivan rather, the kids think it is the coolest thing ever to be driving around in a van) we went to eat at Lazy Dog Restaurant which was just what the doctor ordered after a long day of driving and hiking and exploring and freaking out! I had a margherita pizza, everyone had fish. WHICH by the way is the weirdest thing ever that our kids now all eat fish. God is good, y’all! I never thought that would ever happen but here we are.
Our last stop of the night was to the grocery store to pick up some food for lunch the next day. Do you know what our kids love to eat more than anything? Rice and Beans!
It was a bad day. It was a great day. I guess it’s all about perspective…and not getting stuck on the top of a mountain.
Onto Day 4 and whatever exploring we are able to do!
You can read all about our trip to Yosemite and you can read all about our first day in California! I hope you’re enjoying reading about our journey. Travel with family is one of the most rewarding things we can do in life!
