Time to meet the parents...:) Monique & I flew to L.A., to spend the holiday with her family, in Newbury Park, California. Afterwards, we rented an SUV, and drove to Sequoia National Park for a couple days, and then up to Yosemite for a day, before driving to Fresno and flying back to Illinois.
Day1. Landed to sunny skies and temps near 80. I called my family on thanksgiving, their weather wasn't quite so nice. I felt a bit odd sitting outside in shorts and shortsleeve shirts drinking beer on Thanksgiving day; her family noticed nothing unusual about it. The food was fantastic, something our families have in common there. On Friday, we left the family residence and headed north and east towards Sequoia, driving by Monique's old high school first. Ah, the memories....
Day2. 'Wow, that's a big tree!' That's something we said a lot today. We'd stayed in the only loding inside the park, in Sequoia Lodge. Very nice accomodations, and good food at the resturant inside the lodge. We hiked along all the tree paths, and saw all the giants. The weather felt very Illinois-y, with temps in the 40's during the day, and several snow showers. We didn't mind, it kept the crowds down.
Day3. Drove out and then north from Sequoia to Yosemite. Stopped for the fantastic views along the way. I just had to stand where Ansel Adams had taken some of his famous shots, and though my pics weren't going to win any awards, I was very happy with the shots of Half-Dome, El Capitan, and the Three Sisters. Not much activity from the falls that late in the year, but pretty nonetheless. We stayed in the park in the dorm-type lodges, which were dated, but served our needs fine. We spent some time walking up and down the valley taking in the sights and scenery, spent some money at the gift shop, and scrounged food at the limited places left open in the off season.