Pictures don't do it justice

You just can't fit Sequoia in the lens of your camera.

The grandeur is too large.

The scale of it too extensive.

The magnitude too overwhelmingly amazing.

The beauty of God's creation so unfathomable.

So breathtaking.

You just can't capture it in the lens.

These pictures don't do any of it justice. You just can't even fit a sampling of the grandeur and breathtaking beauty into the small area your camera can capture. Looking down from 7,000 feet into the valley below, where you can see what looks like a miniscule little line of white but is really a huge, fast flowing rushing river.....looking at the Great Western Divide with their snow-capped peaks that seems to go on forever....looking up at a tree, the size and magnitude of which I have never seen before in my life, so big I cannot move my neck back far even to even see it all....this is Sequoia. You can see the handiwork of the Creator in amazing detail. Dave and I talked about how God is so gracious to allow us to see such beauty here in our world. We discussed how if this is how it looks now, imagine the world before the fall of man, before sin entered into the world! There really aren't that many places in the world like this. While I do think Yosemite is a tad bit more beautiful, Sequoia and Kings Canyon have beauty and splendor you just can't even imagine. As we were driving through, we were amazed at how much the scenery changed in a matter of minutes. One minute we would be at 6000 feet elevation, looking down into the valley, with its trees and rivers....and then around a few bends, we were back down at 1000 foot elevation looking up at granite monoliths!!

We dropped the kiddos off at their various weekend getaway spots, and we headed out on the road after stopping at Goldsteins' for a bagel and cream cheese. We entered the park through the Three Rivers entrance, where our hotel was also located, just 6 miles from the entrance. We spent several hours in Sequoia the first day, seeing the General Sherman tree, the largest in North America. You just can't grasp the size of this tree!!!!! It is enormous. I was surprised at how much snow was still there at the end of May. It was hard packed, as thick as 3-4 feet in some places. The hike down to the General Sherman tree was flowing with water from snow melt! We got our clothes and shoes a bit wet and muddy, but who cares! We then made our way over to Moro Rock, which was, I think, the hightlight of the trip. You can climb the 400 steps up the side of the giant granite rock to the top, where they have a viewing platform. The whole trip up, I kept stopping to take a look off the side....magnificent. If you wanted to, you could just climb over the guardrail and slide down the rock straight down.....to your death. Upon cresting the top, I just had to catch my breath. Not so much from the hike up, but from the incredible, once in a lifetime views. We were at about 6700 feet elevation, looking down into the valley below. The park map said by some estimations, the drop into the valley floor from the top is deeper than the Grand Canyon. On one side of the rock, you see the Great Western Divide, and just behind that is the largest peak in North America, Mount Whitney. The mountains were all covered in snow...breathtaking. On the other side, you could look down and see the road you travelled to get up there, along with the beautiful Kings River. Add in hundreds and hundreds of trees and some granite rocks, and it truly is a marvel of creation. I didn't want to go back down to the car! We headed back to the hotel to change, and headed to Visalia, a short 20 minute drive around Lake Kaweah for dinner at a fantastic Japanese restaurant. We knew it would be good, as the place was buzzing with locals, and everyone was so happy and having a wonderful time. Filet mignon teriyaki and some sushi, and we were a very happy couple!

The next day, we took the drive into Kings Canyon. Driving through pretty much the middle of nowhere, hardly ever seeing any other cars, we wondered if we were lost! The only life forms we saw were cows. Lots of cows. The road followed a beautiful stream the whole time as we climbed up the mountain. Eventually we made our way into the park. I was ecstatic to find a little food cart next to the little convenience store/gift shop when we got in. The dear foreigner who ran the cart was selling hot dogs and Starbucks coffee. You can't imagine how happy I was to find this gem!!! There was snow on the ground, it was chilly, and that coffee just hit the spot. We headed down to the grove of large sequoias to see the General Grant tree. They also had fallen trees you could actually walk through. Back in the car, we drove the beautiful back country, seeing waterfalls and many other sights to get to Boyden Cave to take a tour. Wow! What a gem. Alongside rushing water lies a large mountain. A short steep climb led us to the entrance of the cave, where a guide took us through, showing us stalagtites and several other types of cave growth. I had never been inside a cave before, and it was intriguing. You could hear the sound of rushing water inside, you could see the water drops forming the new stalagtites, and it was chilly and smelled good, like fresh clean smelling. I can't explain it. How do people find these things, anyways??? I felt like I was inside the log ride at Knott's Berry farm, or inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, except this was the real thing! We returned to the car for the drive back to town. It took a couple of hours, and by that time, we were hungry. There is a darling little downtown in Visalia, kind of reminiscent of Old Town Pasadena but much smaller. We ate at a wonderful Mexican restaurant, out on the front patio that bordered the street, and then took a stroll around the town.

We decided to take the coastal route home for a change of scenery. It was time to head back already! We drove through Santa Barbara trying to find a place to grab some lunch and take a walk on the beach, but since it was a holiday weekend, the place was just SO crowded. Too crowded for my taste. Aghhhhh.....too many stinkin' people!!!!! So we got back on the freeway and The Spot in Carpinteria came to mind. YES!!!! It was the bomb....yummy burgers and fries, but too windy and cold to walk on the beach ):

It was such a blessing to get away and take this trip. Dave and I just really enjoyed the time together. Time to regroup, talk about our kids, our goals for them, our memories....such precious time together. We were also so happy to be reunited with our kids, one by one, as we picked them up. While we enjoyed our time alone, we couldn't wait to all be together again. Thankful to the Lord for all these precious blessings!!!!