All posts by paula

2-Sequioa and Kings Canyon Natl Parks, CA, Places we Visit-Year 1

Latest Location: Sequoia National Park

We drove from Julian to Three Rivers, Ca just outside the entrance to the Sequioa National Park on Friday August 17th.  Long drive but an uneventful one which is good.

It’s even hotter here than it was in Julian, they’d been having highs of 104-106 and Friday it was a bit cooler (ha!) at 98.  So we were really glad our A/C is again working.

On Saturday we went into the Sequioa National Park.  I drove to give Jeff a break as he’s done all the driving so far.  Very windy road and you start at about 1,000ft and end up over 5,000ft!

There was constructions going on and a couple of miles of that narrow, very windy road was down to one lane and delays of about 20 minutes while folks going the other direction made their way through the construction area, then we went.  Luckily the place where we had to stop and wait had a fabulous view of Morro Rock. A different Morro Rock than the one in the beach near Morro Bay of course, but just as magnificent!

We went into the “Giant Forest” and as far as the General Sherman Tree area.  The parking area to go see the General Sherman tree is about .5 miles away from the tree itself, so there’s a hike to see it, but downhill all the way.  The tree itself, and many others in that area, is truly magnificently huge!  Jeff exclaimed several times that he’d seen pictures and knew they would be big, but until you actually stand under them and see how large around and how tall they really are you can’t imagine what it’s really like.  The park service made the trail very nice because in addition to a choice to hike back UPhill .5 miles to reach your car there’s a very slight downhill trail to some accessible parking and a shuttle will take you back to your vehicle.  That’s what I wanted…no uphill strenuous hike for me!

The temperature change from the lower area where it was mid-90s to the Giant Forest where it was sprinkling and about the mid-60s was interesting.  We hadn’t expected that much of a change, but it felt REALLY nice to have a cool breeze and some rain and it made the forest smell really good.  It was fortunate as well for Laddy – we took him on the drive with us and he was very comfortable staying in the car while we hiked down to see the General Sherman tree…dogs not allowed on the trails!

We took lots of pictures and they are in some separate posts.

 

2-Sequioa and Kings Canyon Natl Parks, CA, Places we Visit-Year 1

Pictures from our first visit to Sequoia National Park – views from the winding road

2-Sequioa and Kings Canyon Natl Parks, CA, Places we Visit-Year 1

Pictures from our first visit to Sequoia National Forest – Morro Rock

2-Sequioa and Kings Canyon Natl Parks, CA, Places we Visit-Year 1

Pictures from our first visit to Sequioa National Park – the Giant Forest

About Us

One of my hobbies – baking my own bread!

I help my mom make rolls every Thanksgiving and Christmas, but other than that I don’t really have experience baking bread.  It’s something I’ve wanted to do for quite a while, but time and other commitments got in the way.

Now that we’re retired and have lots of time to do what we want, I’ve decided to start baking my own bread.  I made a simple white loaf this morning.  First time using the oven as well so I had to figure out how to light the pilot before putting the loaf in, and I was a bit unsure how well the temperature would match what’s on the dial etc.  Here’s a link to the recipe I used (click here).

Once I master this, I plan to make some sourdough starter so we can have sourdough bread, and also to make other types of bread such as pumpernickel, rye, etc.

Here’s a picture of my first loaf of bread…I had to take the shot quickly while it was still cooling because Jeff couldn’t wait to slice some of it.  He declared it is delicious!

1-Julian, CA, Places we Visit-Year 1

We woke this morning to deer very close to our campsite! Jeff got GREAT photos of them

We had to close the shades and keep Laddy from seeing the deer as he would have started jumping and barking to get out at them.  Jeff took the camera and was able to slowly get close enough for some great shots!

1-Julian, CA, Places we Visit-Year 1

More deer wandering through the park

This photo gallery is of two adult female deer with 3 young ones that wandered through an area of the camp where we happened to be.  Unfortunately it was right after we dropped off Carli and Huntar, so weweren’t able to share it with them

You’ll need to enlarge the photos to see the deer, in most they are walking to the right side of the picture.

About Us

Laddy poses with a model

A few days ago we took a drive in the afternoon and ended up at the Sunrise Hiway Kwaahii lookout over the desert.  We noticed that there was a male model and photographer there already and they were doing a photo shoot.  The model was all dressed in black and as we walked by with Laddy, they asked if they could use him in some of the shots.  We said “Of Course!”

The result is that Laddy is featured in the photo gallery of the photo shoot!  Here’s the photo that includes Laddy (below) and here’s a link to the photo gallery from my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/sinsayfitography#!/jazzzr.  Just scroll down on my Facebook page a little and you’ll see it.

About Us

Laddy likes travelling and being in new places

We weren’t sure when we headed out from San Diego how Laddy would do in new and different places instead of being in the backyard he was getting used to.

But he’s doing just great.  He’s very well-behaved when meeting new people and while he gets excited when he sees a squirrel, rabbit or turkey he’s still easy to control.

He’s not too excited about how hot it’s been this week (in the low to mid 90s every day)  and our A/C still isn’t working.  In the afternoon he and I hang out in the shade near our trailer and try to wait out the heat.