Another Great Day 12-26-08

We got up at 6 am this morning so that we could be at the entrance to Sequoia by 7:30. We had a good breakfast of waffles and cereal in the hotel lobby and loaded up to go. It was sunny outside and we were excited that we would not have to drive in bad weather.
About 6 miles into the park we had to put on our tire chains. We were the only people going up at that time of the morning and there was a lot of ice. We really are pros at the tire chains now and I had mine on before Scott did. There were a few clouds as we passed through the upper elevations but the views of the valleys were nice. Our goal was the Giant Forest Museum and the General Sherman tree. As we entered the Giant Forest, we were struck by so many big trees it was breathtaking. To see the trees in the summer would really be something but Scott and I both thought that to see them covered in snow has to be way better. We got to the Giant Forest Museum parking lot before the museum opened. The parking lot had been plowed to about 4 inches of snow but the walkways were covered. The kids were excited to play despite the fact that it was 11 degrees outside. We bundled them up and they played in the drifts. I had to rescue Lorelei from a snowball to the face and when I stepped to where they were, I sunk to the middle of my thigh. It had to have been at least three feet in some places and where there were drifts along the roadway, the snow was over the kids heads. The rangers finally arrived at the museum at 9 and they found out that they had no power. It was 37 degrees inside the building. They allowed me in long enough to stamps our passports. They can't open the museum without power because the bathroom pumps won't work. But they were still plowing sidewalks as we jumped back in the car to head to the General Sherman tree. Lorelei had somehow managed to get snow in her boot and as soon as she was in the car every article of snow clothing came off.
We drove to the General Sherman tree. This is the tree that everyone sees pictures of when they see a Sequoia. 103 feet in diameter, 36 feet across and over 250 feet tall. There was a little hike up to the tree. Lorelei refused to go no matter what and Scott did not have boots. I took a look at the trail and there were others who had been before us so I knew I could step in their footprints and not sink to my knees. I told Scott I was going to take the hike and Luke wanted to come too. So he and I trudged up the path to the tree. It was amazing to be next to the largest living thing on the planet. A guy at the tree took our picture and we hiked back down the path. My jeans were frozen up to the middle of my calf so I grabbed a warm pair of pants for the drive back down the mountain. We took bathroom breaks and stopped for a few more pictures of the big trees. Since it still seemd like we were the only ones in the park, it was really like being close to God when you stopped and there was no sound among all those Giants. My favorite park so far! On the way down, we rounded the corner and there was a Coyote! We stopped and it came around my side. I took a few pictures and it went around the back of the car. Lorelei and Scott watched as it went down the drivers side. We realized it was begging for food and was not at all afraid of people as it came back across the front of the car to the passenger side. None of us has ever seen a Coyote and to see it so close was awesome. When he realized he wasn't getting any food from these people he disappeared up the road behind our car. We continued down the curvy roads of the park. These were also some very tight turns like the 245 from the day before. The sun had been shining for hours now and all of the ice we had on the way up was melting. We were also starting to see traffic coming up the mountains. It was completely worth being up early to have the park to ourselves. We also commented on how awful it would be to share the park in the summer with the crowds that must come. As we rounded another corner, Scott yelled out deer. There was a deer headed across the road and straight up the mountain. We stopped as another deer came across the road and as I turned to look down the mountain two more were looking up to see if it was ok to cross. We stopped and another 2 joined the herd as they headed up the mountain face. They stopped and we got a few shots of them as well. We have been that close before when we were in Shenandoah but to see them charge up the hill was lovely. A short time later, we removed our tire chains for the last time and drove out of the park. There was a line coming in and we were glad that we had the quiet serene experience of the park to ourselves.
We stopped for lunch and gas in Visalia and made the trek across California. Once again we were in the land of orange groves which strikes us as so odd given that the mountains and feet of snow are so close. Shortly after we joined CA 48 from CA 198, we passed the California Aquaduct. We had noticed we were driving towards mountains again whic seemed so odd. We are so used to NC with is coast, piedmont and mountains that it seems strnage to think of mountains, dessert/plains and then mountains again. Of course these were not the rocky sierras. The were more like rolling hills. They were covered in cattle ranches and grapevines and looked more like wrinkled sheets. We were contniually surprised and wondered what it must have been like for those first settlers who crossed the Sierras and thought yes, we are back on flat land to run into the rolling mountains. And once they crested the first one, viewed another set just beyond the valley. Over and over and over again we were surprised by those hills. Although there were no trees on most of them, there was a sort of beauty to those hills. The tapestry of California really is beautful.
We were aiming for Pismo State Beach and the Monarch Butterfly Grove. Every winter these moarchs migrate from Canada and come to rest in the trees as Pismo. As we rolled into Pismo, we finally saw what we had been hoping for. The Pacific. The first time we had laid eyes on the other side of the United States. We had not made it far enough on our short first days in San Francisco. The coastline was more like cliffs and not a beach which is a hard concept to grasp and the rocks just off the shore in the water were a sight to see. We reached the grove around 3:45 and saw a few of the butterflies. Unfortunately they are most active when the sun warms them around 11 am. It was really cool to look up into the trees and see what look like leaves but are really butterflies. Some of them were still hanging around on the ground and we watched them flutter. There were a few dead ones and the kids enjoyed feeling their soft wings and investigating their shapes.
We headed back out on Hwy 101 for dinner and our hotel. We had a nice private dinner at an IHOP. We were literally the only people in there. We then checked in to our hotel for a little down time and LAUNDRY. There is only one set of washers and dryers so I will be downstaris a while washing a weeks worth of 4 people's clothes. But at least I had plenty of time to write this entry and can check the weather and a few other internet things. Tomorrow we head up the Big Sur Coast on Hwy 1 with our first stop at Hearst Castle. Final destination is Monterey.