Seqouia National Park - General Sherman

Matt has been in Bakersfield, CA for the past few weeks for work and drove up to Fresno yesterday on his day off. He wanted to see the mountains so we took him to Sequoia National Park.




The drive along 198 was absolutely stunning!

As the elevation increased, the colder it became. And the colder it became, the more snow and ice we started to see. We finally came across this sign...

<grumbling from the twins>

Attempt #1:

Attempt #2:

The chains were too big for the tires and were so loud that it was difficult to hear each other! After a few miles of unbearable noise, Matt decided that he wanted fix the right tire once and for all.

His "quick fix" broke the chains on the right tire.

So we drove the rest of the way up the mountain with chains on one tire. Classic.

You might notice that both Michael and Matthew are wearing shorts. They both forgot to bring their jeans that were sitting on the table in the dining room. And none of us were expecting the large amount of snow or the below-freezing temperatures.

The picture below is the three of us in front of General Sherman. General Sherman is the world's largest tree in terms of volume. It is 275 feet tall and has a circumference of 102.6 feet. It was named after the American Civil War general , William Tecumseh Sherman in 1879.

At least Michael and Matt weren't the only idiots to wear shorts in 29 degree weather.

There is construction for a few miles on the main road in the national park and we were stuck for about 20 minutes at a stoplight waiting for our turn to drive on the single lane road. Thankfully, the scenery was gorgeous and the guys made the wait much more enjoyable by building a snowman.

Another group shot:

On the drive back, we couldn't help ourselves. We stopped the car on the side of the highway and grabbed a few oranges off a tree. I guess this counts as stealing but there weren't any fences or signs telling us to stay away! :)

Delicious.

It was so great to have a family member in town... we miss everyone so much!



Woodward Park

Yesterday, Michael didn't have to go into work until around 2pm so we took advantage of the beautiful day and visited Woodward Park. Here's a little bit of history on the creation of the park. The late Ralph Woodward, a long-time resident of Fresno, bequeathed the major portion of his estate in 1968 to provide a regional park and bird sanctuary in NE Fresno on the bank of the San Joaquin River between Highway 41 and Friant Road. The city has since added quite a few acres to the park, bringing the total to an amazing 300 acres.

Woodward Park is packed with amenities, including: a multi-use amphitheatre that holds 2,500 people, authentic Japanese Gardens, a fenced dog park, a 2 mile equestrain trail, an exercise par course, 3 childrens playgrounds, a lake, 3 small ponds, 7 picnic areas, an 18 hole frisbee golf course, a BMX bike park, and 5 miles of multi-purpose trails that are part of the San Joaquin River Parkway's Louis S. Eaton Trail.

The main reason we wanted to go to the park yesterday was to see the Japanese Gardens. Sadly, these are only open on the weekends and don't allow pets. Double fail. Instead, we walked around for a few hours, let Elfie swim in the ponds, and enjoyed the beautiful day.

(Can you see Elfie hidden in the trees?)



All that walking made us hungry so we visited one of our favorite places in Fresno... Le Parisien. This restaurant's variety of sandwiches, crepes, and pastries is astounding. We'll definitely be taking you there for lunch, whoever comes to visit!

Au revoir!

Big Hat Days

This past weekend, Michael and I attended Big Hat Days Festival in Old Town Clovis. The festival, which kicked off Western Heritage month, featured over 400 food and craft booths, a family style carnival, pony rides, live music, and a beer garden. The Clovis Chamber of Commerce says that the festival draws around 140,000 people over its two days and is the largest craft show in the Central Valley. Strangely enough, we only saw a few people wearing big hats.... quite upsetting, especially to Mike_eee.

The best part of any festival, of course, is the large variety of unhealthy and stomach-upsetting food.

The beer garden seemed to be the most popular area for people our age. No surprise there! After seeing the long line of 'slightly' intoxicated people waiting to get in, we decided to grab a beer in a less populated venue... the outside patio of 500 Club. Complete with cheap drinks, live music, and some very interesting people watching, it was the perfect end to the festival. Before heading home, I grabbed one more drink with two new friends, Keri and Katie... these girls definitely know how to have a good time! :)

Until next time...