Homewood Ste By Hilton Fresno

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.

The drive from Castaic Lake to Fresno was very pretty. The Central Valley is always a very pretty drive past all the fruit farms and orchards. Mark was also a little more comfortable driving the RV which we had decided to call Harvey the RV. We got lost getting to Greg's house since the stupid GPS didn’t work but we finally made it. His parents came over to see us and it was great to see them after 12 years. We first met Greg in Germany back in 1992 and have been back to visit him twice ...

... 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.

Paul

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.

The part of Fresno we are staying in is eerily quiet...almost like a zombie movie build up...

... 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 ...

... USA style when 'Journey' was on!!

Sun 30th Aug

One night stay in the lively San Jose to rest before we headed for Half Moon Bay and the infamous Sam's Chouwder House. Great veiws and fish dishes helped us for our trip heading south down route 1, which runs parrallel to the Pacific. many a winding road watching the coastline and the surfers before we reached Santa Cruz.

... 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 ...

... On the road, it's all about you and what you think, and the icing on the cake is that most, if not all, of the administrative affairs of life such as insurance, financial planning, and bills are so far from your mind that you're actually able to focus your entire attention on the topics of your choice. This provides you with the clarity and attention to take on such important mental debates as identifying other lifelong goals, figuring out how ...

... the odd numbered rooms were round the back. This almost worked in our favour later, when it also confused a Chinese takeaway delivery driver, who tried to deliver a meal for two to our room! Fresno is twice the size of Bakersfield and following the usual formula of the American towns we have visited, contains about twice the number of malls, fast food outlets and hotels. Although I would say that in general it looks slightly less affluent than Bakersfield ...

... but going into it allowed me to attain a goal that I had never achieved on my other trips through this area. I finally got to see the Colorado River during the day time. No, it wasn't that impressive, although it is picturesque to see this blue ribbon running through the desert. Still, after three trips over the river at night, it was great to be able to say that I have actually seen it.

After Laughlin, the rest of the drive was pretty ...

... be the best time to take an East Coast trip. It wasn't the fear of something happening on the flight that made us hesitant to go (although the events of September 11th did nothing for my fear of flying). Instead, we were concerned that we’d be stuck on the East Coast, much as other folks were just after September 11th. I remembered being in England during Princess Diana’s funeral and stressing about how I was going to make it back to the States. I didn’t want ...