bears? pfft give me something new!

I just caught a case of the woozies. Too much travel, too much irregular sleep. I am back in Santa Cruz and ready for a nice lay down I reckon. Today was very much the full one.

I got up after Ma and Pa but before Nate and Helen. I had breakfast with Ma, though she had already had hers. Then we three returned to the restaurant with N & H for their breakfast. I drew some portraits in my sketchbook while they ate their breakfast. Helen is quite nice. I like her.

Ma checked out of the cabins and we went to the visitors center and watched the video again. I got the Sequoia National Park WPA inspired postcard. I collect them from the parks I visit. I should get some Ikea frames to put them in. I think some of the standard size Ikea frames fit the postcard sizes...?

Anyway. The day started with the Grant Tree. Got a refresher in how massive these trees are. They are indeed massive. And then we climbed Moro Rock again. Which was tough on my gams, but it was again a spectacular view and well worth the climb. A bit more crowded this time, what with it being Saturday and not Thursday (or whatever day we first went up the rock). Still, no where near Yosemite crowded. We had a snack afterwards. Then we went wandering along the paths around Crescent Meadows. There were many unmarked Y's and several viewpoints that went without a plaque, so we took no notice of them. We saw many burned trees to Ma's chagrin. Nate took many excellent photos. He is better with the camera than I am. I can admit that. When we made it back to the car after our meandering U journey, we drove on to Sherman. The biggest tree in the world! It was much the same as the first time we saw it. Got some better photos though. Then we headed out to Lodgepole. I got another stamp for my notebook and we had our daily ice cream break. And some bears wandered by. More bears! Wow!

We finished the day with a partial trek up to Buena Vista Point. It was another beautiful view of both sides of the ridge, and a great photo opportunity. Tomorrow I'll upload some photos for y'all to enjoy. Right now I'm tired.

Nate and Helen brought me back to Santa Cruz. We stopped and got In N Out in Fresno. Mmm burgers. Love burgers. We listened to music and a bit of John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme. Got back at 11, which isn't that bad of a time. Everything seems all right in the house. Now time to tuck into bed. I have a lot of relaxing and catching up to do tomorrow.

What a wonderful vacation.

October Fifth

Today was the least busy day thus far. I had a French Toast breakfast. After breakfast we went to Lake Hume, which is in the National Forest but not the National Park. The only thing that really separated it from being part of the park was that the path contained  a lot more litter and there was more private houses around. We took the several mile hike around the lake, which was nice. Partially dirt, partially paved. We had our obligatory ice cream break at this Christian Camp that was on the lake. Yum yum.

Back in the car, we drove down some of the other roads but came to private property, so we went back to the cabin for a respite. Ma and I showered and watched Downton Abbey. Dad napped. We took another hike up to Panoramic Point, and continued on the Fire Ridge trail. There were a couple deer on the side of the road. Back at the cabin we had a light dinner of rice cakes and crème cheese and wine and other assorted edibles. We watched Horatio Hornblower while waiting for Nathan and Helen to arrive.

The pair arrived at about 10:30 and all was well. Now for a day filled with adventure! And driving back to Santa Cruz

bears and badges

Typical Thursday. Climbed a rock. Saw some bears. Got sworn in as a ranger. Ate some candy. Whateverrr.

The showers here are nothing great. Most certainly not hot enough. At a bit after 10 we headed into the park to have some fun. I found a National Park shirt that I liked. I’m going to cut the collar out of it and turn it into a tank top, because I like the back design more than the front. Reverse it. We started out with the General Sherman Tree walk. Now that is a big tree. Thick and tall. Not the tallest, but certainly the biggest in terms of mass. It was a nice walk down and around. From there we went to the Giant Forest Museum, and got a Junior Ranger Packet to fill out. I completed the 13+ section (24 years old certainly counts as 13+) as we walked along the Giant Forest Loop. Saw some good trees. Identified some more trees. Back at the Museum we listened to the Ranger talk and afterwards I turned in my packet and got sworn in as a Junior Ranger! Yaaay! I even got a badge. How cool is that?

At the 4 oclockish time we went to Moro Rock. It was 400 steps up to the top of this rock. Thankfully there were plenty of rails. It was a nice walk, though we went quite high up. A well winded walk up. There were monks in Saffron robes up at the top. It was a dynamic pretty view. Probably my favorite trek of the trip thus far.

We squeezed in a just under 2 mile walk to Tharp’s Log after that. The Log was a cabin that was built around a fallen log. Pretty neat dwelling. On the way back I heard some rustling in the woods, so I stopped Ma and Pa. And out in the woods not too far from us was a mama bear and her cub. Very cute. We sang to make her aware of us and off she went into the meadow.

An hours drive back, it is time for dinner! What a full day. I should sleep well I reckon.

waders and walkers

Mom and Dad both go up in the night and made the biggest racket opening the door and whispering to one another. Thought they were being quiet but they were not at all. We ate breakfast at the restaurant. Mom opted out, I had bacon, eggs, toast, and hash. It was pretty good. Kept me sustained for the day.

We stopped by the visitor center and I got a patch with a quail and my usual WPA postcard. I should put those in frames. Little Ikea ones.

There were some nice big sequoias, but we were not allowed to get close and hug them.

And then we drove into Kings Canyon. The national park is divided into two sections. It is a pretty nice decent. Nice and warm.

At 12:30 we stopped at Boyden Cavern and took the 1pm tour of said caverns. They were pretty nice. Shasta Caverns had greater variety, but it is just neat to be inside rocks like that.

We drove on through. We stopped at Grizzly Falls for lunch. We went to a meadow and dad took a different way back, and ended up having  to wade through the river. I got photographic evidence.

Ma and Pa took an ice cream break and I napped in the car. I was pretty tired, and I don’t know why. Back at the cabin, we finished watching Avengers (we started watching it last night). Thus far we haven’t taken any major hikes. Maybe that will change tomorrow. I also haven't sat down and done any proper drawing. Hmmm./

omelette starters

We have arrived at Kings Canyon National Monument State Park Sequoia…place. Errr Sequoia & Kinds Canyon National Parks. We have rented a three bed cabin, because Nate and Helen will be joining us on the weekend. We shall hike and have fun. Yup.

Ma and Pa arrived at my place at 10ish. We had brunch at the Santa Cruz Diner. It was DELICIOUS. I had the Capitola omelette, which has ham, cheese, and bacon. Dad had the Monterey which was avocado and mushroom. Mom had waffles and some of dad’s omelette. It was all scrumptious. After that we went to the Mystery Spot to see what the mystery was. And it was a weird place of strange gravitational pulls. There was a guided tour of the place, with lots of optical illusion demos. Quite fun! And we got bumperstickers afterwards. I don’t know what I’ll stick mine on. Hmm.

From there, we gassed up the car and off we went to the canyon place thingy! We had an ice cream stop, and a quesadilla stop, and the heat got over 100. Quite toasty, but generally nice. Some great scenery was beheld. I took a couple mini naps and was awoken when Ma and Pa bickered about directions. They made it up to me with ice cream. I’m easily won over like that.

Got to the park at a bit after 6, got our cabin. Now we shall get something to eat, and maybe enjoy some vino afterwards with some television. That is what I call camping!

work and work and grumpers

My internet wouldn't connect for a while this morning, so I didn't find out till later in the afternoon that a redraw of the face was in order. So I spent the day drawing and drawing and inking and scanning and all that jazz. It left me quite stressed and hungry and grumpy by the time I met Ma and Pa at their hotel. We are going camping! Well, cabining. We leave tomorrow, but they came into Santa Cruz tonight. We ate at Ideal Seafood, but it wasn't all that good. The clams were chewy, and the burger was just a burger. Ah, oh well. I have a bland palette, so I can eat just about anything and not grumble.

Afterwards, we walked back to my place with my bowl and jade plant (which has grown so big!) and I showed them my house, and drove them back. Now I'm relaxing. The new drawing wasn't quite improved, so it's going to be edited on the client end of things, though it will be my work that is edited around a bit, so that is fine. If I weren't camping, I could draw some more. But I am, so I shant. Ah oh well.

I'll have my computer, there should be wifi? If not...well I'll be writing up my adventures, so maybe you'll get a big post on Saturday of my times and adventures.