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I forgot to record in yesterday's journal all of the sights and smells we experienced in our drive across the San Joaquin Valley. The valley is mostly farmland. October is the last month of the dry season here so everything looks parched except for the crops. The crops look green but the earth they're planted in looks dry. We did not see any irrigation systems but they must exist for the crops to look so good. We passed an onion field and the smell of onions filled the van. Next we passed some garlic fields. Wow! It smelled like we were in an Italian restaurant. There were grape vineyards nearby and we wondered whether the grapes would taste like garlic just from the smell in the air. Vegetable and fruit stands advertise garlic, grapes, peaches, cherries, onions, almonds, apples, and pistachios.
In our quest to have a little more rest and relaxation we slept late and didn't get to Kings Canyon National Park until noon. After taking a few pictures at the entrance to Kings Canyon we decided to skip the canyon and head directly to Sequoia National Park. It would have been nice to visit the canyon but we really came here to see the giant Sequoia trees.
Kings Canyon is only fifty miles from Fresno, where we spent the night, but the drive took over an hour. Both parks are in the mountains at elevations between five thousand and seven thousand five hundred feet. The approach to the parks consists of a lot of twisty, turning mountain roads. I tried writing this journal in the back of the van on our way back down the mountain and I got carsick - a new feeling for me - because the road would predictably curve right then left then right then left, etc. The back of the van whips around more than the front of the van.
After entering Kings Canyon, the road to Sequoia took another hour. The redwoods are pretty trees. There's not much to do in Sequoia except look at the giant Sequoia trees. I'm still not clear on the difference between the giant redwoods of Northern California and the giant Sequoias which are also redwoods. The trees are massive and the walking paths provided by the park are very nice. Many of the giant trees had cracks and crevices that could easily hold multiple people. Take a look at the pictures we took in the park to see how small Ann and I look compared to the trees. A walk through the trees gives the impression of being in a fantasyland.
The road between Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks provided many opportunities for scenic overlooks. Unfortunately, the air seemed hazy up in the mountains so we could not see far at the various overlooks.
We looked in vain for bears. A creature we hadn't seen in any of the other parks - a cow that had wandered up into the mountains, startled us. He was grazing at an altitude of between five thousand and seven thousand feet.
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