Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Fresno South

Nach der hitzigen und kargen Wuestenlandschaft des Death Valley sind wir heute zurueck ins Baumland des Sequoia National Parks...Hallo Baumbart?!

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.

Scott

Last night at San Simeon was surreal, and felt quite dangerous. Me and Paul were playing pool and this guy came over, covered in tattoos, smelt of booze and smoke, and he asked us a lot of questions about where we were going, when etc, and invited himself in the pool game. At first I thought he was gay and thought we were too or something, but when he pulled out this medical tub of weed and asked us to smell it we assumed he was ...

... 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...."

ABER: Wir sind ja hier nicht in einer typischen Touristenstadt und so hat es uns ...

... to pass the time and we arrived at Yosemitie only to be disapointed that the main road into the valley was closed due to fires. We did however travel a different route which lead us up the mountains to see some amazing rock features and lakes.

Headed back out of the park and towards San Jose another 180 miles, with the radio bursting with soft rock we knew we were road ...

We arrived in Dinuba late so we checked into a Holiday Inn Express. The following day we left the Hotel and drove through Orange Groves to Kings Canyon. The route our Sat. Nav. (We've named her Lola like in the RV film starring Robin Williams) took us was a very steep and windy road. We all felt sick!! The route was very scenic though (we even ...

... on Hungary, specifically Eotvos Lorand Tudomanyedgyetem in Budapest, which had the added bonus of allowing me to commit for only one semester, followed by either returning to the States if I didn't like it, staying on for another semester in Hungary, or moving on to a semester in Charles University in Prague. I went for the latter option. I got my passport, my visa (completely unnecessary as I would soon find out) and was off to spend my fourth year abroad in Europe.

... neck due to years of sitting in the sun at Newport Beach in California. The first day of summer, the old mentality was to get a good burn to start a "killer" tan for the summer. How were we supposed to know that that causes Cancer? My current favorite shirt is a black long sleeve shirt with the logo, "Gap," boldly imprinted on the front. I have already started washing that, my chonie's, and my socks every night so they ...

... Thankfully we managed to make it th**e and back without falling, although many oth**s w**en't so lucky. I was kind though and only s******ed smugly int**nally... The viewpoint was nice and let you get close enough for the spray to hit you. We drove furth** along and looked at El Capitan, the huge pinnacle in the centre of the park, and then stopped by Yosemite Falls wh**e we hiked through the lovely snow cov**ed forest, somewhat weary of meeting groggy and hungry bears, to reach the ...

Our traveling in the Southwest had come to an end. It was time to make the long trek back to California. I had done the drive from Southwest Colorado to Fresno in one day five years earlier. Thus, I knew what to expect. That's why I asked Dianne to take the first shift for driving back.

We pulled out of the Travelodge and headed back toward downtown Cortez. It was time to grab some breakfast. In our search the previous day for the Belgian Quality ...

... follow-up research on the Internet, we were able to come up with an itinerary that filled up our two weeks. We cancelled our plane tickets and hotels for the initial trip, and rented a car for our Southwest swing.

It turned out to be a good trip. I think our enthusiasm was slightly tempered by the uncertainty that permeated over the country. Still, we found that the Southwest has many attractions that are worth visiting, and a few that one could avoid. The main thing ...