Those Are Some BIG Trees!

Just outside Pismo Beach is San Luis Obispo.  I have been there many times and so I wanted to show the kids the hit of the town---the Madonna Inn.  Anyone every heard of it?  It is a very nice hotel that was built way back when by Mr. and Mrs. Madonna. (NO, not the singer!)  He loved the color pink and so with that and the fact that all the rooms are decorated in a different theme, makes this place famous.  He was very extravagant and so are the decorations.  Anyone who knows this place knows that you have to go to the bathrooms.  So I very conveniently had to stop to go to the bathroom (and take my camera in with me).  It turns out that the men's room was far better than the ladies room. (WARNING:  I do have pictures of the bathrooms so don't scroll down if you are offended or embarrassed)

Outside the dining room

Inside the main entrance

Ladies Room

Men's room sinks

And yes, the men's room urinal complete with a censored waterfall to wash it all away.

Our big stop for the day was Sequoia National Park.  Again, my hubby and I have been here before, but we were surprised at how things had changed since we were here celebrating our 1st year anniversary.  Obviously the trees had not changed, but the facilities had as well as the trails and parking areas. Pictures do not do these trees justice.  You have to see them in person to really get the full magnitude of their size.  They just go on forever into the sky.

Our first stop was the trail to the "General Sherman" tree.  This is the largest tree on Earth.  It is not the tallest or the widest, but the overall volume of the trunk makes it the biggest - 52,500 cubic feet.  It has a circumference of 103 feet, 275 feet tall and 2,200 years old.  They say that a 6 foot tall person looking up to the top of this tree is equivalent to a mouse looking up to that 6 foot tall person.  So another words, it is massive.

Here is a pix of it from a distance

Here is the family at the base of it.

Next, we stopped at the "Auto Log".  This is a tree that has fallen and they let you drive your car on top of it years ago.  But we found that it is closed to vehicles because it is falling apart.  So we just got out and walked on it instead.  This is the kids at the roots of the tree.

We also went to the "Tunnel Log" and drove through a tree that also fell and they cut a hole through it.  We were excited to find that even with the roof carrier, we still fit.

We stopped at a grouping of trees called the "Parker Group"  It is a cluster of 8 trees named after members of the Parker family.  We had a good time running around them and feeling very small and insignificant.

It was a nice day to walk around and see all the sights.  K earned her Junior Ranger Badge which was cool.  At every National Park, you can become a Jr. Ranger and so I think K probably has about 10 or 15 by now.  She loves to do them.  She was even more thrilled when she purchased a bear t-shirt (she loves grizzly bears) You will see it as she wore it almost every day after that.  We had a great day but was very happy to reach our hotel and crash for the night.