To Seattle We Go......................................

First leg of the journey:

Seth and Kelly went to the rental place to pick up our “reserved” car, only to find out it was still having its hair done—okay, oil changed.  So rather than make us wait and miss our self-imposed deadline, for the same price they gave us a bigger SUV to play with—an Expedition.  Read that:  More gas.  However, it turned out to be one of those providential accidents, given the fact that all our “stuff” and camping gear and 5 bodies would have not fit in the smaller vehicle, and Danny would have had to be fastened to the top.

After loading up the vehicle like a jigsaw puzzle, we headed north to the Sequoias.  Since the south end was battling a big fire, we opted for the north entrance.  Smarts R Us.

Our first stop was at a turnout with a view of what I think was some fork of the Kern River.  But don’t quote me on that.  It was wet and had sharp rocks and rapids.  Right beside the path down to the river was the sign that boasted that it is a “mortal” river.  People die on the river every year.  Seth made up a park promotional jingle to that effect, and then he and Danny hiked down to test the capabilities of their guardian angels and give their mother a stomach ache. 

We stopped to picnic a little further inside the park.  Unfortunately, some ground wasps had the same idea.  When Kelly went to open the bear-proof trash container, he got stung 3 or 4 times and proceeded to dance and yell, something I haven’t seen since his youth!  Some person(s), instead of actually depositing their sweet roll trash in the container, instead wedged it up in the handle.  They may not have been deliberately evil, just deliberately stupid.  My thought is that they possibly thought that tiny space, which kind of appeared as an opening, somehow led to the belly of the container below.  They did their best to find the missing hole.  Because the roll was not immediately visible, and because it was supplying a luscious feast for the wasps, Kelly innocently put his hand on the handle, thus supplying the wasps with fresh meat.

Note to the Sequoia Park Rangers:  (1) Supply opening instructions to the trash can.  And fear not:  Bears do not read.  And (2) it might be a good idea to carry Benadryl at least at one of your outposts and visitor centers.

Note to Harbor Freight:  Your 1500-volt insect zapper thingy is really not worth a hoot. 

We viewed, oohed, and ahhed at the wide and tall trees.  Kelly held his thumb up in the air.  We tried unsuccessfully to get adequate first aid at Visitor Centers, while Kelly held his thumb up in the air.  We eventually found a market with a long line that snaked through the store and made some purchases while Kelly held his thumb up in the air. 

After exploring in and around the accessible Sequoias and climbing to some high “mortal” places, we hit the road again.  (The highest place I climbed was a log fence, and I have confirmed to my in-denial self that my climbing days are over.  That’s what zooms in cameras are for.)

We headed for Fresno to spend the night with Brigid De Jong, a friend we had not seen for at least 35 years.  She supplied us with delicious food and conversation.  We didn’t exactly fill in the blanks for all those years, but we made a jolly good try.  We didn’t get to see Rick because he was getting off patrol at 2:30 a.m.  We thought about waking him in the morning with a pillow fight, but Brigid suggested it was probably not wise to attack a man who wears a gun for a living.  So to bed we went, and in the morning after some awesome expresso, we hit the road again, a wonderful homemade De Jong hot sauce (all legal) in hand. 

Second leg to follow.......................................