Sequoia National Park has some very large trees. It has what is supposed to be the largest living thing in the General Sherman tree. And it is very large. It's not the tallest, it's not the widest, but, by volume, it is the largest living thing on earth.

This park was also crowded, but it did not seem quite as crowded as Yosemite. Some of the places I visited are the Crystal Cave, Moro Rock, Crescent Meadow, and some other things.

This park is about a 2-3 hour drive from Yosemite and definitely worth it. I just wish I had had time to go to King's Canyon which is attached to Sequoia.

During my time in Yosemite I stayed at the Yosemite Lodge. The first night I was in one of the more expensive rooms and the following two nights in a cheaper room. They both seemed fine to me. Reservations typically need to be made at least a year in advance.

The first thing I noticed about Yosemite is that it is very crowded. Tons of cars. The second thing I noticed is that there are a lot of foreign tourists. Especially from Germany and France (but I also heard quite a few Italians, English, etc...). Granted we went in August and August is a big vacation month pretty much everywhere. So if you go some other time there may be fewer people. A surprise to me is that the park is open year round. One thing I would highly recommend is that you use the shuttles when you are on the valley floor. So much better than driving.

We didn't have a great deal of time and so had little time for lengthy hikes. We instead concentrated on seeing as much as possible in the time we had. We went to Glacier Point, Bridalveil Falls, and pretty much all of the other major sites. This takes a good day and a half and you'll get plenty of small, easy hikes in. If you have more time there are lots of longer, more difficult hikes.

Just got back from a week long vacation to Yosemite National Park and Sequoia National Park. King's Canyon National Park was also on the plate but we simply did not have the time.

Unfortunately no pictures. I wanted to use my phone, but I forgot the charger and it ran out of juice after about 36-48 hours. At that point it was more useful as a brick than a phone (or camera).

More details soon.

A very good vacation overall. The weather was great and the beach wasn't too crowded (California schools apparently aren't currently in Spring Break, but it looks like Arizona and Texas schools are). I was very happy with the beach house. I would recommend Sandy Beach Rentals to anyone.

On Thursday we were supposed to go to La Jolla. But we didn't. The weather looked like it was going to turn bad and we stayed on the beach. As it turned out the weather never got that bad and we likely could have spent some time in La Jolla. Oh well, there's always next year.

Like the forgetful doofus I am I forgot my camera. Sorry, no pictures uncaring world!

What have I been doing? A fair amount. Several days were spent simply hanging around the beach in (and around) our rented beach house. These are my favorite days since I am an expert at lounging. Watching the surfers fight the waves, watching the women run along the strand, watching the sail boats in the distance. These are all the things the expert lounger will notice. Even if he has had a little too much to drink.

One day was taken up by visiting the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park. The last time I was there was when I was six years old. I don't remember anything from that time. The place is really very impressive. The grounds appear to be very well taken care of, lots of exotic animals are easily viewable, and they have an awesome zipline! If you decide to do the Flightline realize that it will take up around 3 hours of your time due to training and various other things. It is well worth it if you ask me.

Ate delicious Mexican food at the always pleasant Miguel's Cocina restaurant on Coronado Island. Try the amazing jalapeno white sauce. A very good margarita selection is also available.

Tomorrow will be a La Jolla day. We plan on seeing some seals assuming we can figure out where they are.

I'm going to be living on the beach in San Diego this week. Not literally on the beach, but in a house next to the beach. Anyway I may or may not blog. I also may or may not take pictures.