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Leaf peeping along the Blue Ridge Parkway

By on October 8, 2009 in Other Places, Travel

The last time we were more than a day’s drive from home was Paris in March of 2008, so we’re WAY overdue!

We’re flying to Washington, DC, next week. We’ll spend four nights at the Hotel Monaco in old town Alexandria, then pick up a car and take several days to drive through Shenandoah National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Great Smokey Mountains, and on to fly home from Nashville. As a bonus, we get to stop and visit friends in Knoxville!

I’m hoping for cool crisp days, spectacular scenery, and breathtaking fall color.

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Road trip in the Sierras

By on July 10, 2009 in Other Places, Travel

reflection

A couple of weeks ago, we took a few days for a road trip south to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. It’s a quick 3 or 4 hour drive down Highway 99 from here, but we spent nearly two days getting there, all the way down Highway 49 and then down back roads to Three Rivers. We encountered this tiny still lake along one of those back roads south of Mariposa.

I was completely blown away by Kings Canyon National Park. It’s the DEEPEST canyon in North America — yes, deeper than the Grand Canyon — at 8200 feet, and some of the massive granite cliffs seem to be even higher once you’ve driven along the edge of the world down to the bottom of the canyon. There’s not much civilization down there, just a few basic park facilities and some campgrounds, but the canyon walls and the spectacular Kings River roaring down over the rocks are well worth the scary drive. None of my river photos turned out, but I did like this one of Grizzly Falls.

grizzlyfalls

We also drove through Sequoia National Park where the trees are big, very big.

bigtree

This little boy was too intimidated by the size to obey his parents’ request that he pose next to it. All he could do was run toward it, then turn and run away.

sequoia

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