Courtyard By Marriott Fresno Airport

Nach der hitzigen und kargen Wuestenlandschaft des Death Valley sind wir heute zurueck ins Baumland des Sequoia National Parks...Hallo Baumbart?!<br><br>Im Giant Forest gibt es unzaehlige Riesenbaeume, die wirklich jedes Auto winzig erscheinen lassen. Hier steht auch der groesste Baum der Welt (General Sherman :-)). Er ist zwar nicht der hoechste und auch nicht der breiteste, aber sein Gesamtstammvolumen (1500 m3) ist unuebertroffen. <br>

... regularly been repossessed by the repo companies. House values have dropped 50% from when they were at their highest. Scary stuff.<br><br>The girls had a fantastic time playing with Kylie and Cameron and we even had a fashion parade from all the girls. We spent the night in Harvey in front of Greg&#8217;s place and Greg cooked us a huge batch of pancakes and waffles the next morning. It was soon time to say our goodbyes and get back in to Harvey to make the drive to Yosemite National Park.

... cloud of mist that travels across the sea into the road. We could really see it when we stopped off and climbed some of the rocks along Big Sur - that was ace. <br><br>Paul<br><br>We rode the famous Highway 1 today. Beautiful. The Big Sur section is incredible. We are coming to the end of our big drives...I'm really going to miss it. <br><br>The part of Fresno we are staying in is eerily quiet...almost like a zombie movie build up...<br><br><br>

... wir aber nicht wussten: das ist auch ein Restaurant und ehe wir uns wieder umdrehen konnten saßen wir schon an einem Tisch für zwei. Und das schlimmste, richtiges Geschirr und eine makellos weiße Stoffserviette. Da muss ich natürlich sofort an Siegis Worte denken: "...und wenn du eine richtige Tischdecke und richtiges Besteck willst, wirds erst richtig teuer...."<br><br>ABER: Wir sind ja hier nicht in einer typischen Touristenstadt und so hat es uns ...

Sat 29th Aug<br><br>Picked up the hire car at 9am sat morning from the worst hire company, the car wasn't clean, the tyre pressure was dodgy and they hadn't even filled the car with 'gas', So we had to find the other hire company in SF.<br><br>Fulled up and ready to head out on our road trip, first stop would be Yosemite park some 160 miles west. Some beautiful views all the way ...

... bear! Afterwards we went to Grant Grove to so see some Sequoias Trees. The following day we went to Sequoia National Park. The kids finished the young Ranger program and repeated their promises after the Ranger. They received a lovely badge and were really pleased with themselves. We saw the General Sherman Sequoia which is the biggest ...

... young kids. Last night we watched the debate McCain vs Obama on TV and failed to be impressed by any of them. McCain still fails to appear strong, and Obama fails to say anything at all. Looks like it will be Obama winning and that USA will become United Socialist States of America.... By the way...good we left Yosemite as there was a landslide close to where we were camping. No deaths.

... to welcome a new reader, the owner of the boat I am going to see. Sounds like a nice guy and he turns out to be an Episcopal Minister as well. His addition begs the question for an intro into Religious philosophy, as well as the use of what some call profanity. I have no moral objection to profanity in some cases, but I find it is typically used to replace a term in which is lacking in ones vocabulary. Too pretentious ...

... It turned out to be a shorter trip into California than if we had stayed on I-40. The biggest surprise I had while driving along this road came after we crossed over Union Pass. I was shocked to find the roadsides between Union Pass and Laughlin littered with mobile homes. It wasn&#8217;t the condition of the mobile homes that surprised me. I just hadn&#8217;t realized that so many people made this corner of the desert their home.<br><br>We didn't stop in ...

... vacation, we knew we wouldn't be going to Europe because we had been there for our honeymoon. Instead, my wife (Dianne) wanted to go to Boston. She had been to Boston a few years ago and had very fond memories of that visit. I mentioned going to Reading, Pennsylvania to see my friend, and former travel partner, Tom Marihart. Once I mentioned visiting Tom, she wanted to add a trip to visit a friend in Binghamton, New York. So, we planned a trip that would allow us to both visit ...