Countdown

Jill's Journal: My parents live way, way out in the country. Never was this more apparent than when four elk bucks were spotted in the valley this past week. It may be difficult to see in the photo, but the rack on the buck that’s second from the right is especially huge.

We’re down to our last hours in Tehachapi – and California, actually – and I find myself feeling very melancholy about leaving. It’s not because we want to live here, because we really don’t even though this is a tremendous state with so much to offer. It’s 100% because so many of our loved ones are right here. It’s amazing how much more important family becomes when kids are involved. These last months have been so, so precious. We’ll treasure them always.

Sequoia National Park

Jill's Journal: We’re not “tree huggers” by any stretch of the imagination, but when in Rome…!

In a random grove in Central California’s Sequoia National Park along the Generals Highway (the twisty road that connects Sequoia with Kings Canyon), we spotted a few unfenced Giant Sequoia trees and couldn’t resist seeing these gentle giants close up.

“The Pacific Coast…is the paradise of conifers. Here nearly all of them are giants, and display a beauty and magnificence unknown elsewhere.”
–John Muir, 1901

Our day in Sequoia began at Three Rivers, the closest town to the entrance of the national park. This picture is actually a shout-out to our brother-in-law, Adam, who was born in this cute little town in the middle of nowhere.

Established in 1890, Sequoia is America’s second-oldest national park after Yellowstone. This welcome sign has been here since the 1930s, when it was made by a Civilian Conservation Corps worker from Arkansas.

Tunnel Rock, a huge “balanced” granite boulder under which the road into Sequoia once led, greets visitors soon after Sequoia’s main entrance. The road now bypasses the rock.

Our girls love places like this. I just couldn't resist sharing this picture.

One of our main stops in Sequoia had nothing to do with big trees. It was a hike up Moro Rock, a large granite dome, which offers a beautiful view of the Great Western Divide from the top. I *think* this is Moro Rock from quite a distance away.

The steep, narrow trail to the top features over 350 steps and is not for the faint of heart. Wooden steps were first put in place in 1917 and replaced with concrete in 1931.

The top! Even at only 6,725 feet, it feels like the top of the world.

Why is going down so much easier?

Mama bear and her cub! Seeing this pair was a serendipitous moment for Rob and Rob alone. I was in the midst of taking all three girls to the restroom after our Moro Rock climb while Rob retrieved our car from a quarter-mile away. It seemed to take an unusually long time for Rob to return and the girls and I were so excited to hear he’d spent 10 minutes watching these bears. Rob has video of the mama tearing apart a piece of a fallen tree to eat the bugs inside while the baby capered around. So very, very awesome.

The closest the girls and I got to any significant wildlife in Sequoia was this deer (because I don’t think squirrels quite count).

Of course the main attraction in Sequoia is the Giant Forest. Look at the trunk of an average tree (in the foreground) compared to a Giant Sequoia in the background. It’s a humbling experience walking among the land of giants.

From a tremendous distance away, one can spot the General Sherman Tree. This is the world’s largest tree by volume. It’s located twenty-seven miles south of the General Grant Tree we’d seen in Kings Canyon.

The girls are standing near the base of the tree. I backed up as far as possible and still couldn’t fit the entire tree in the frame while remaining close enough to actually spot them in the picture. Although the General Sherman Tree is not the tallest or the widest tree in the world, it is still considered the largest living tree on earth due to its volume and that was a hard thing to explain to them. At about 2,100 years old and as tall as the Statue of Liberty, it is believed to weigh 2.7 million pounds, containing more wood in its trunk than any other tree. Interestingly, the top of the Sherman Tree is dead but that doesn’t stop this Giant Sequoia from continuing to grow wider at the trunk. The General Sherman Tree adds enough wood each year to make the equivalent of a 60-foot-tall tree measuring one foot in diameter.

The tree was named in 1879 for the Civil War’s General William T. Sherman, hero according to the North and demon according to the South. (His destruction of a large swath of the Confederacy during his “March to the Sea” was particularly brutal.) A six-foot-tall human looking up at the Sherman Tree is the equivalent of a mouse looking up at a six-foot-tall man. These random guys to the left of the tree base (sorry folks!) looked about six feet tall. Do we really seem that big and intimidating to a mouse?

Farewell, Sequoia. This was far from our favorite national park, but we still had a pretty darn nice time. Such a marvelous country we have.

San Diego Zoo Safari Park

Jill's Journal: After nearly two years on this RV journey, there’s a few things I’m pretty confident have been burned into our girls’ memories:

--camping among the wild ponies on Assateague Island
--touring the replica of the Mayflower in Plymouth
--fishing in Maine
--seeing the stars at Crater Lake
--hiking a six-mile portion of the Oregon Trail in blazing heat

--and now our day at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park (formerly the Wild Animal Park).

However, they’re not going to remember the Safari Park for all the gorgeous wild animals in recreated “natural” habitats. Oh no. They’re going to remember it because we went with April and Cat (who were here from Orange County), plus Aunt Kristi and Adam (who were here from the Central Coast)…and we got drenched.

We knew it was going to rain and we were able to walk much of the park before the showers started, thinking we were pretty clever to save the tram tour of the park for last because it is covered. Well, the tram may be covered, but it’s open on all four sides...and moments after we boarded, the storm kicked in. The wind started blowing, the rain started driving, and we got soaked. Completely and utterly soaked. Rob, Adam, and April survived somewhat unscathed, but all four kids plus Kristi and I were so, so, so very wet! We then had a long, cold, wet walk to the exit in the rain, complete with one little girl in tears because she was so miserable.

By the time we got home, the girls and I were walking prunes and were still soaked to the skin. Now that we’re warm and dry, it was quite the adventure. But yes, they’re going to remember this one for a long time to come. Their misery factor ranked up there pretty close to the Oregon Trail! We didn’t come on this trip with the intent to torture our children, but how funny that the situations where they’re the most miserable are sometimes the ones most established in their memories.

I don’t think we quite got the full Safari Park experience because of the rain, but it was great to see nonetheless and certainly memorable, rain and all. Opened to the public since 1972, the Safari Park was developed as a supplementary breeding program for the San Diego Zoo as well as a place of animal conservation. (The Safari Park is particularly noted for its work in saving California Condors from extinction and reintroducing the bird to the wild). The animals at the park are on display in more of a recreation of their natural environments than in a typical zoo setting. The park is on 1,800 acres in Escondido (just north of San Diego) and features over 3,000 animals (of more than 400 species) from six of the seven continents.

This one may need some explanation…Victoria and Adam were testing their wing span.

A northern white rhinoceros, one of only seven left in the world. Two of the seven are here at the Safari Park.

Goodbye Cat! My girls have SO enjoyed our three fantastic days with you (and I sure have enjoyed my time with your Mom!). What fun to experience amazing places like the Safari Park and the zoo with friends.

San Diego Zoo

Jill's Journal: It’s an elephant pedicure! Seriously.

For nearly a century, the San Diego Zoo has enthralled visitors to Southern California with a stunning array of wildlife. Consistently ranked at the very top of zoos in the U.S., the San Diego Zoo covers 100 acres and boasts over 4,000 animals of over 800 species. It’s also one of the most progressive zoos in the world, having pioneered such innovations as cageless exhibits. It is also one of only four U.S. zoos approved to loan giant pandas from China and has a successful panda breeding program (all surviving baby pandas must eventually be sent back to China).

April and Cat joined the girls and me yesterday for an absolutely wonderful day at the Zoo. And actually, they didn’t just join us…April has annual passes to the Zoo and had free tickets for all four of us! That was an amazing and fantastic treat and surprise; needless to say, we bought lunch. We were there from opening until closing, making it a long day, but we had such a great time together.

I’m convinced April missed her calling and should ditch her travel career for a new life as a zookeeper. Now I love animals and our girls love animals, but April brings a love of wild animals to a whole ‘nother level. To the average person (me included!), a dozen different types of antelope all start to look alike. The same goes for bears that are black. Not to April. She could rattle off the names and many specifics of each species we passed without batting an eye. It was impressive, to say the least.

Our girls absolutely love Cat. My only complaint is that there’s only one of her. My girls displayed plenty of good, old-fashioned sibling rivalry as they all wanted her attention. Cat never has to doubt her popularity as long as these sisters are around!

Humorously, one of the highlights for all four of the little girls was baby ducks. Giant pandas, elephants, giraffes, meerkats, tapirs? Nah. Baby ducks. April and I got a good laugh out of that.

Exquisite animals, beautiful weather, fantastic company. It doesn’t get much better than that.