Monday, August 21, 2017

California! The Adventure Continues.


Day Six, the California Adventure Continues. 



We left the Yosemite Lodge early Wednesday morning to head out to King's Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. Some of us may have been sleepy. We'd spent an unusual night due to the fire and electricity outages. At morning, we learned the Mariposa, Yosemite fire was still raging.


We felt a sense of loss and sadness for them. A controlled fire may help the Goliath trees, but an out of control one is a tragedy. 



As I write this blog today, my friend in Fresno tells me the fire is now inside the park and has burned 1600 acres. It's burning near the community of Wawona in the southern portion of the park.  She's close to the airport and hears the retardant bombers flying over her house.

On this day, July 19, we stopped at the River Park in Fresno for a "scatter" lunch stop.   We were in the River Park Mall. I don't remember what Paul and I ate, but he found a Macy's department store and bought aftershave. We were on a bear watch. One couple in our group saw one, but Paul and I missed it.

After lunch, we boarded again to go to the Grant Grove Village at King's Canyon National Park.  At the Grant Grove Village at King's Canyon National Park, we learned about the ancient, colossal trees.





We browsed in the gift shop and then headed to the General Grant Tree. 

I borrowed this picture from Wikipedia.  The General Grant tree is the largest in the park and according to Wikipedia, it's the second largest in the world. Our literature said it was the third largest. No matter whether it is the second or third, it's a whopper.


It's also the spot where we posed for a group photo.

After leaving the giants, we drove to the Wuksachi Lodge. Our dinner was included at the lodge. I didn't take pictures of the lodge, but you can see it at this link.

We had a lovely time visiting with our dinner companions. Afterward, Carole, Richard Steer and Paul and I waited in the lodge for the star gazing program. If you've read my earlier blogs, you've already read about Richard's pants, if you haven't, scroll down. He wore convertible trousers. He didn't take the top off, just the bottoms.



It grew cold as we gazed up into the dark sky, and we were far away from the lodge. Paul kept saying, "let's go." I wanted to wait for others to leave so we wouldn't be alone. The woods has bears and other varmints, plus, we might get lost. Wouldn't that have been awful?

We decided to brave it. When we rose to leave, others did as well and most of us left. We decided to follow one tall man who seemed to know where he was headed. 

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Henry Piwowarek and Karen Kruger

He walked fast, but we kept up with him. I breathed a thankful prayer for his height. I really didn't want to be lost in the woods, even if Paul was with me.

 We later visited with Henry. He and his lovely companion, Karen, are from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. They have a unique story about how they met. I'll probably tell you about it later, or maybe they'll end up as characters in a Sarah book. Their meeting is a perfect setting for Sarah.

I'll write more about our trip later. We're almost to the point of returning to Houston. Right now, I'm writing blogs for other authors. Several have offered to tell their readers about Mattie's Choice. Mattie will be here September 15! I'm excited. It's a historical novel and it begins in Oklahoma in 1925. I made up a city named Fossil Creek, and this little town is about 50 miles from Tulsa.  My new friends, Henry and Karen will recognize some of the areas.









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