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Beautiful California--Day Seven

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May 7, 2021--King's Canyon and Sequoia National Parks

Wow.  Hannah made the distinction a while ago that we Kennedys don't go on vacation.  We go on trips.  There's nothing relaxing about our getaways, and that's exactly how we like it.  I understand it's not most people's cup of tea, but we drink herbal anyway, so *raspberry* ;-)

After taking an entire day off for my plantar fasciitis, I was excited to head back out again.  We were only staying an hour or so out of the parks in Fresno.  Can I just take a moment to give some credit to Fresno? What a nice town!  I half-jokingly said to John that I could definitely retire in Fresno.  A small town feel with everything necessary, and it's all clean and upscale.  I mean, the kids even said the comic book store was amazing!  It looks totally different from anything we've seen before, sitting solidly in the grasslands of California.  We ordered pizza from Mike's Mountain Pizza, and it was some of the best I've ever had.  And the Texas Roadhouse was super nice as well.  As was the Baskin Robbins.  So. Much. Eating.  The kids all went to the fitness center to exercise (was the hiking not enough, I ask you?), and it made John's and my heart proud to see how they have all become exercisers.  The pool was super cold, and the three dudes sitting next to it were drinking and smoking weed, but my kids always humor me for a picture.




How nice it was to not need to pack up our bags and the van because we were staying in Fresno for two nights.  We met up for breakfast, all dressed in our awesome t-shirts designed by Glo.  She did a great job, and we all love the shirts.  We then drove from sub-2000 feet up to 7,000 feet in just over an hour, watching the scenery dramatically change.

We first visited the Grant Tree, the second tallest tree in the world, sometimes called The World's Christmas Tree.  It was so tall that I needed two photos to capture it all.  The sequoias are just huge.







We then decided to do a four-mile hike to Moro Rock, a huge granite rock reached by a hike through sequoia groves.  The trees are so beautiful, both because of size and because of color.  I won't lie--climbing at 7,000+ feet was pretty hard on my asthmatic lungs, but the kids hopped around like billy goats.

Probably my favorite photo of the entire trip!

Pacific dogwood, a favorite of Ethan









After seeing the rock, and having hiked 4 miles, I could hardly take another step because of the pain, so the kids and John flew back to the car over those four miles and swung by to pick me up.

We then did a short but fun nature trail as a last hurrah,



We've all been fighting exhaustion.  I think it's the altitude because we've been getting PLENTY of sleep.




We drove back to Fresno. We ordered Chili's to-go and watched Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune during dinner.  I can hardly believe we only have one day left....

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