Late Summer Road Trip 2019: Sequoia National Park

When I had just turned five, I went on a weekend trip to Sequoia National Park with my paternal grandparents. It was summer and baking hot. I remember eating orange flavored popsicles and feeding peanuts to the friendly squirrels that visited our cabin in the woods. For a souvinier, my grandparents bought me a wooden jewelry box that I still own. I also lost my first tooth on that trip, and much to my mom’s dismay, the “tooth-fairy” left twenty-dollars under my pillow.

Other than pictures, I don’t actually remember seeing the massive redwood trees, especially the impressive “General Sherman",” which has the distinction of being the largest single-stem tree on earth.

Dan had not visited Sequoia, and my memories of it were hazy, so we added a quick visit to our 2019 road trip itinerary.

The drive up into the mountains took us through beautiful farmland and winding curves.

We arrived at the entrance gate for park opening and paid our 35.00 car fee. The park was not crowded during our visit, which was on a Monday in early September.

Sequoia National Park has several warning signs to remind visitors to be respectful of plants and wildlife. We did not see any bears, but we did see deer!

We stopped at the Foothills Visitor’s Center to get our bearings and to make a plan for visiting the park, before heading off on the road to see General Sherman. Minutes into our drive we were surrounded by a canopy of enormous trees.

The walk to General Sherman was relatively short, taking us about fifteen minutes at a leisurely pace. There were many warnings, because the climb down is at a steep grade and the altitude is high. We had already spent a few years living at a high altitude in Big Bear Lake and did not feel affected by it, but we did see other visitors that were clearly struggling. There are many beautiful spots to rest and the path is wide, not intimidating at all, but I’d recommend bringing water and sturdy shoes.

That’s a tall tree!

and a massive trunk!

But not bigger than the star of Sequoia: General Sherman.

Here are my less than spectacular Sequoia pictures from the early 80’s, where I rock the Dorothy Hamill cut and my grandparents cut the tree out of the picture.

We briefly stopped at the Giant Forest Museum to see another enormous redwood named Sentinel, admire the cute stuffed animals for sale, and have a pee-break before driving back to Big Bear Lake.

I wish we had been able to spend more time at Sequoia National Park. I wish we had brought hiking shoes and had been better prepared to explore. I also wish that we had been able to see the tree with a hole that you can drive through the middle. How cool is that? I mostly wish that I had taken advantage of our proximity when we lived in California to visit this enchanting land of giants. Sequoia National Park is truly a magical place.

Late Summer Road Trip 2019: Yosemite National Park

After our morning spent visiting Mono Lake, we decided to cut through Yosemite National Park on our continued road trip to Portland, Oregon. Neither Dan nor I had visited Yosemite National Park previously, yet we were familiar with pictures of the famous El Capitan, an enormous granite cliff that attracts rock climbers from around the world. Yosemite National Park seemed too iconic to miss.

Prior to officially entering the park, we saw dramatic mountains and a beautiful lake.

We entered at Tioga Pass, paying a 30.00 fee. The fee is per vehicle. I think that we must have entered on the quiet side of the park, as the deeper we went, the more traffic we encountered. We visited the day after Labor Day, and many visitors had extended their three day weekends.

After entering the park, the landscape included extensive fields, tall pines, and more mountains.

We pulled over for some dramatic mountain shots.

And another stop at another lake. This one was vast, much larger than the lake near the entrance to the park. To be honest, it could have been a very large river, rather than a lake. I’m not sure. The water was crystal clear, and I felt envious of the people having a lazy day in lounge chairs on the shore. I wish we had both more time to stay in Yosemite and the forethought to have packed a few chairs and a picnic. The weather was crisp, but sunny. A perfect way to cap off the end of summer.

As we continued our drive, the rocks became even more dramatic.

We drove up into the mountains with amazing views of the valley below.

Finally, we reached Yosemite National Park’s star attraction, El Capitan. It was crowded, as if the entire population of park visitors converged into this one area. It was so jammed, that we spent an hour driving around a loop in an attempt to find parking and decided to bail on the idea. We did get to see the magnificent El Capitan, and stand in its shadow, but since Yosemite was an unplanned stop, we had to keep moving. it’s hard to see it in these pictures, but there were plenty of climbers on the mountain, which was incredible.

Our drive through Yosemite National Park took a few hours, longer because of the traffic near El Capitan. We thought that it was stunning, but it Yosemite didn’t pack the same punch as some of the other national parks that we have visited, such as Bryce and Zion.

I am happy that I finally visited Yosemite National Park. It had been on my “California Bucket List,” and visiting was especially sweet, as I moved to Colorado a few months later. I always think of the things that I should make a point to see now, things somewhat close to Colorado, for example, the Black Hills of South Dakota or Yellowstone National Park. In her early 20’s, my mom lived in Virginia for two years, and one of her biggest life regrets was not visiting Washington DC. I want to make sure that I see it all!

We drove through the Stanislaus National Forest and into the charming town of Groveland for lunch. in Groveland, we went to Dog Gone Good, a hot dog stand set up in the front yard of a person’s home. It was odd and delightful. The hot dogs were delicious and a good value. We would definitely eat here again, if we ever found ourselves in the area. I highly recommend it.

I’ll end this post with a beautiful sunflower that was in the garden of Dog Gone Good. I can’t think of a better symbol for the last days of summer.

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Late Summer Road Trip 2019: The Museum of Western Film History

One of the best parts of any road trip, are the unplanned stops. We were driving through the dusty town of Lone Pine, when we happened upon The Museum of Western Film History. This cozy gem of a museum has a treasure trove of film memorabilia from the decades of filming done in the area, primarily with westerns during the “Golden Age of Hollywood.” Entrance was a suggested donation of five dollars and it was practically empty during our hour-long visit.

Lone Pine, with its rolling hills and desert landscape, has a rich history of being used as the backdrop for Westerns. Some of the biggest Hollywood stars, like John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Kirk Douglas have filmed movies in the area. The first exhibits that we encountered involved filming equipment.

I had not heard of many of the the movies filmed in Lone Pine, but the posters are fabulous. I wish we still created movie posters with a flair for the dramatic!

I was delighted to see so many nods to my favorite horse: Trigger!

A bit of back story, when I was in elementary school, my grandparents moved to Victorville, California and I would spend summers visiting them. There wasn’t much to do in the high desert community of Victorville. We went to the Victor Valley Mall and to Scandia, the local mini-golf/fun center. But hands down, the best attraction in Victorville was The Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum.

Even from a young age, I’ve loved museums. All museums. Truly, I can find an interest in pretty much anything, but I reserve a special level of affection for museums that cater to the off-beat or slightly tacky. OMG…The Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum was a weird and wonderful place.

It was absolutely filled with taxidermy, including Roger’s beloved horse and co-star, Trigger. Also “stuffed” was their dog, Bullet, and Evan’s horse, Buttermilk, along with a menagerie of non-celebrity dead pets. The taxidermy was overwhelming, but even more bizarre was the sheer volume of crap housed in the museum. It was as if every single possession; meaningful and meaningless, from the entirety of their lives was on display. Zero filter. It was amazing.

I used to beg my grandparents to take me to the museum and often, we would see Roy Rogers himself. I shook his hand! I was born in the late 70’s, so Roy Roger’s was culturally from a different generation, but I was obsessed with his museum. I didn’t much care who he was, just that his museum was endlessly fascinating. Unfortunately, the museum closed in Victorville and was moved to Branson, Missouri, where is closed for good in 2009. I would have loved to have experienced the museum as an adult to see how it held up against my childhood memories.

Here is some of the Rogers and Trigger memorabilia at The Museum of Western Film History.

We saw fancy saddles, 1950’s era children’s toys, and general old-west stuff.

And this…I’m still scratching my head, trying to figure it out! Thoughts?

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

The biggest surprise was the small section dedicated to Quentin Tarantino’s 2012 film, Django Unchained. The museum had Dr. King Schultz’s dentist wagon, used as a cover by Christoph Waltz’s character in the film.

A few non-western films shot in or near Lone Pine, including mega-hits Iron Man and Star Wars.

And finally, the best of the Kevin Bacon films: Tremors!!! Tremors was one of my favorite childhood movies. So silly and so much fun.

if you’re traveling through Lone Pine, The Museum of Western Film History is worth a quick visit. Growing up near Hollywood, we always imagine that everything is filmed on the backlots, but this is a great reminder that many of California’s natural settings have also been used to create movie magic.