From Forest To Dust To An Oasis Showered In Lights

We got up early to get to Sequoia National Park.  This plan had more to do with knowing we had a very long day of travel ahead than anything else.  But, it did work to our advantage.  As with Yosemite, Sequoia was very busy, but this time we were there early enough to get ahead of the big crowds.  We were able to stop when we wanted to and wander around.  We even had time to open the foam cooler we had bought and filled with sandwich fixin’s and other snacks.

The forest was amazing.  The Sequoias were so big the view of the forest was surreal.  It made us feel like we were on a movie set.  Adri said the trees reminded her of the Ents from the Fellowship of the Rings Trilogy.  That is Treebeard for those of you who might have read the book or seen the morning.

Our main destination was to get to “General Sherman.”  This Sequoia is considered the largest tree in the world by volume.  We saw many huge trees on our way there, but this one had a huge base.  The sequoias are very interesting because they grow so straight and so tall.  Apparently, their longevity has a lot to do with their bark.  It protects the tree against insects, fire, and disease.  These trees can have a base that is 30 feet in diameter.  Imagine this compared to how big one of your rooms is in your house!

On our way out of the park, we had an exciting thing happen: we saw a bear in the wild! He was just lumbering across the road, taking his time and minding his own business. None of us had ever seen a bear in the wild before, so this was just one more highlight on a truly breath-taking drive through the Sequoia National Park!  We tried to get a picture was it was hard to do because it was such a surprise to us.

From there, our next hotel was the historic Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.  If you look at a map, you will see what a long drive that is, and we were going to make it a little longer by avoiding the expressway and going through Death Valley. 

It was a long and very desolate ride to even get to Death Valley.  Just before we arrived at the park our thermometer read 116, and that was at 4:30 in the afternoon.  I wonder what it was earlier in the afternoon.  Death Valley, unlike the others, was not so crowded.  Actually, there were very few places to even stop along the road we were taking through.  It was just interesting to say we were there.  There were several places that were actually below sea level way out in the middle of nowhere.  We stopped at Furnace Creek, which was a resort oasis in the middle of rock, dust, and heat.  The kids picked up an ice cream bar, and off we went.

All of this drive was just interesting.  We saw things that we would not see anywhere else.  Traveling in such desolate areas was interesting.  We stopped a couple of times and stepped out into the heat.  It almost took your breath away.  I think it was good for the kids to see these places. It was an exciting surprise to see the lights of Vegas after driving for hours with virtually no signs of life. 

Golden Nugget, here we come.  Day five - done!