Day 21 - Three Rivers to Bakersfield

Big trees!!!

Ah man. I've been to Sequoia National Park at least twice before (with my grandparents when I was tiny and again 8yrs ago when I last came to California) but I definitely do not remember feeling this way. These trees are so old that they are the very same trees from both those visits. Ok, so I'm not that old and maybe that's not so impressive but think about this - if Jesus had come here (just go with it) these same trees would have been here. Oh, and they'd have been thousands of years old already!! I just wanted to hug them all (you can't hug them all - some are fenced off)

This is the biggest tree in the world. And some random chick.

I read this story about Walter Fry, the first Chief Ranger on the Park:

"In 1888 Walter Fry came to know the sequoias as a logger, having left hardship in the Midwest for a new life in the Sierra. After spending five days with a team of five men sawing a single sequoia, he counted the growth rings on the fallen giant. The answer shocked him into changing careers. In just a few days they had ended 3,266 years of growth."

Here are some photos of the big friendly giants:

I loved it. I went for a 2h hike into the Giants Forest and about halfway round remembered about the bears that live there. I realised I was all alone in the woods (when you see all my pictures with nobody in them it's because there is nobody around- this is a great time of year to come) and I didn't know if I wanted to see a bear or not. I didn't but I guess I'm a little disappointed I didn't...

Doesn't this look like a dragon's head? And in the other direction like a diplodocus' head.

Rude! (because it looks like a bottom!!)

The Big Stump. Doesn't look that big?

How about next to a building?

Something funny happened around a tree

I saw this group of people praying around a tree. It was quite relaxing, it was in Spanish so I was standing by, quietly listening, when something funny started to happen: the way that they were praying was by one person chanting and the rest repeating it. The problem was that the tree was so big that they couldn't all see each other and couldn't really tell when it was over. Twice I saw people walk away only to have to run back to the tree because someone else had started chanting! Funny.

I really really love driving

And thank goodness I do because there's a lot of it on this trip! Just check out some of the fantastic places I'm seeing:

I love when mountains look blue

Can you see the moon?

I love water. This is San Luis Reservoir I think

This guy

As I was driving away from the National Parks I was trundling along, lalala (I do this a lot) when I suddenly see this little monster:

I drove straight past him (I was going quite fast) but decided he was worth reversing for. I did, I got out, I took some pictures:

And for the next three hours I sat driving convinced he'd been a decoy for a gang of tarantulas to crawl into my car and attack me when I was least expecting it.... eeek!! I've been jumpy ever since...

Some things I'm getting really good at

- Popping my ears. I keep going up and down mountains and this is essential, every few bends in the road you can catch me holding my nose and looking like a puffer fish

- Pulling into turnouts. I keep letting other cars drive past me. Nobody dictates my pace, I'm on holiday!

- Catching flies in my car. It seems that every time I stop to take photos (and leave my car door open) some critter or other decides to hop in for a ride. The problem is that they'll sit and wait until I'm going really fast and then go "boo!" Or the insect equivalent, which is just enough to scare the bejeesus out of me.

- Talking to myself. A lot of it is just oohs and aahs at the incredible scenery but sometimes it gets quite interesting. Turns out I have a lot to say.

- Talking to my GPS lady. This I'm a little less proud of... she doesn't seem to mind though.

Project "talk to a stranger"

Today I met Bo Brown from San Antonio, Texas, now living in Fresno, California. He went to great lengths to explain to me that he didn't know why his dog was so skittish - she has a great life, nobody has ever hit her, her mother was really relaxed... I didn't explain that I was probably more scared than she was...

Some random things

I don't get US licence plates

I'm really happy!

This is Spanish Mountain 

Loooove it!!!