April Adventure

C and I became a little stir crazy from being home so much this week due to my bronchitis.

This was my favorite of the two murals

Today brought a perfect opportunity to get out the house: lunch with some MOPS mommies and kids at Wildflower Cafe in Exeter.  We sat out on the patio, which is surrounded by roses and framed by two of Exeter's famous murals.

I had the "Summer Salad," spring mix with mandarin oranges, strawberries, blueberries, almond slivers, feta cheese and a honey raspberry vinaigrette.  Charlotte had a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich, a mini strawberry smoothie and a sugar cookie with pink frosting and sprinkles.

Our al fresco lunch was cut a bit short by a sudden shower of rain.

Before saying goodbye, a few of the moms and kids browsed through the charming boutique adjacent to the mural pictured above, Rosemary and Thyme.

Then it was approaching 2:00 p.m., ostensibly time to go home.  But neither Charlotte nor I particularly felt like going home.

"Let's go visit the mountains!" Charlotte said.

"Why not?" I thought.  We'd already traversed about 17 miles between our house and Exeter.  Why not go the extra 22 miles to the nearest mountain town of Three Rivers?  Maybe we could stop for ice cream once we got there.

So we headed up State Route 65, rolling down our windows whenever we passed orange groves in bloom to breathe in the glorious scent of orange blossoms.

When we made the turn off to Highway 198, I saw a sign indicating:

Three Rivers: 11 miles
Sequoia National Park: 25 miles

"Charlotte!  Would you rather go to Three Rivers and get ice cream, or go to a place where you can see the biggest trees in the whole world?"

"The biggest trees in the whole world!!" she exclaimed.

So we impulsively decided to extend our already impulsive trip just a bit (ha!).

The entrance to Sequoia is just a few miles past the other side of Three Rivers city limits.  As we approached the entrance, I cringed a bit at the $20 day pass fee, but pulled forward to the gate anyway.

To my surprise and delight, the ranger informed me that I picked a great week to come: apparently April 21 - 29 are "Fee Free Days" at the park.

So we got in for free and started winding our way up, up, up along Generals Highway to Giant Forest, which is just above 6,000 feet.

About halfway there we hit a road construction zone that required us to sit for 20 minutes at a red light waiting for our turn on the highway which narrowed to one lane.

It sprinkled on and off as we drove up, and we drove through misty clouds a few times.  When we arrived at Giant Forest, it started to rain in earnest.

We got out of the car to take a closer look at "The Sentinel,"
which is 28 feet across at the base of the trunk.

The Giant Forest did not disappoint either of us.  Charlotte was duly impressed with the immensity of the trees, and delighted to see the traces of snow along the side of the road.

The museum/visitor center at that point was closed for the season, so we continued on to Lodgepole, another four miles up the road, to use the restroom before heading back out of the park.

It was pouring when we reached Lodgepole.  Charlotte and I ran as fast as we could down the wet slope of pavement that led to the visitor center, but still got pretty wet.

After using the facilities, we poked around the visitor center. We browsed the souvenirs and then went into the exhibit area.  Charlotte was fascinated by a mural illustrating the ecosystem and food chain in the area and insisted I read it to her.  By the time we finished there, the rain had thankfully let up to a light sprinkle again.

We drove back down the mountain with the sun peeking through the clouds and treetops.

By the time we returned home, it was 6:20.

I may have overdone it, and my right ear still hasn't popped all the way, but it was worth it to have such an April Adventure!

We'll have to go back in the summer sometime so we can explore the other parts of the park.