California Trip; Days 6 and 7

On day 8 we departed Fresno, CA at 8:00 am under blue clear skies with a temperature of 64 and rode directly to Kings Canyon National Park.  It was a beautiful day.

At Kings Canyon we walked around Grant’s Grove and saw numerous humongous Sequoia trees including the third largest tree in the world, the General Grant tree.DSCN1027This tree has a diameter of 40 ft at the base and a circumference of 107 ft.  The volume of wood in the tree equals 159,000 basketballs.

We rode into Kings Canyon, which parallels the Kings River, which was an impressive sight.  Nearly the entire length of the river was rapids.  We had lunch at a picnic site by Grizzly Falls.DSCN1043

Temperatures in Kings Canyon got as low as 52 and there was still snow in places.  Chris enjoyed the colorful wild flowers  in the canyon as well as a cactus, possibly yucca, that she called a “dinger” cactus.DSCN1052

From Kings Canyon we rode into the adjoining Sequoia National Park.  Here we saw the General Sherman tree, which is the largest tree in the world (in total volume of wood).DSCN1061There are taller trees in the Redwood National Park on the coast of northern California.  The General Sherman tree is dead at the top so it does not grow up but it still grows in diameter.

We stopped for the night at a Super 8 Motel in Visalia, CA.DSCN1074 It was a fantastic day of riding (except for the road construction delays in the parks) with great scenery.  We picked up some large pine cones to bring home.  Temperatures ranged from 52 to 86.

On day 7 we departed Visalia, CA a little before 8:00 am.  It was 66 degrees with blue clear skies.  We rode west through the San Juaquin Valley.  There were many vinyards, orchards, and other agricultural endeavors in this area.  We saw large numbers of people working in some of the fields.  The highest temperature we experienced today was 79.

We rode G16 west from Highway 101 to Carmel Valley.  It was quite an experience.  The area was beautiful but the road was quite narrow and rough in many places.  It took us much longer that if we had taken the freeways and main highways on in to Carmel.  That is part of the adventure.

We had lunch at the Hog’s Breath Inn in Carmel.  The Hog’s Breath Inn and other buildings are owned (or used to be owned) by Clint Eastwood.DSCN1075 

After lunch we visited the Carmel Mission.  For pictures of the Carmel Mission click on the following link: http://picasaweb.google.com/goldwinger.shawnee/CaliforniaTripCarmelMission?feat=directlink

We rode to the Monterey Aquarium in neighboring Monterey, CA, arriving at 4:30 pm.  We found out the place closed at 6:00 pm so we wouldn’t have long for our visit.  We decided to find a motel and return in the morning.  Problem was . . . . the US Open was in progress at Pebble Beach and motels were either full or gouging the hell out of tourists.  We decided to ride north to Santa Cruz, CA for a motel.  Problem was . . . . traffic was terrible due to rush hour and US Open traffic.  It took us 2 and a half hours to drive the 40 miles.  We landed for the night in a Ramada Limited at about 7:15 pm.DSCN1121 We decided not to return to Monterey on day 8.  We’ll make tracks for San Francisco in the morning.

For other pictures from days 6 and 7 click on the following link: http://picasaweb.google.com/goldwinger.shawnee/CaliforniaTripDays6And7?feat=directlink

Comments

Frank Bryant said…
That seems more like a vacation.
June 29, 2010 at 10:38 AM
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