Thursday morning, we left Pond House reluctantly after enjoying three nights with Natalie and John. Natalie's breakfasts were so wonderful--fresh fruits and yummy baked goods and great coffee--and she and John were happy to consult with us on how to get wherever we wanted to go....
At the end of the day it was so lovely to sit by their pond and relax after being in the car for hours...
...the rowboat was inviting...
...and it's fine to see Rick who has driven about 6,000 miles so far, relaxing by
the pond.
In the morning, we headed toward Exeter and along the way saw some lovely sights like this.
We found our new airbnb and Greg let us in early--so, we had our lunch next to...
...yes, the pool, how idyllic is this? Then, we headed to Sequoia National Park and along the way we found...
...more beautiful oak trees, so emblymatic of the area...
...groves of orange, pistacio, walnut, lime and grapefruit trees and I"m sure we missd a bunch of fruits!
We were not prepared for the the twisty turn roads--or the spectacular beauty of the park...
The sequoira trees are enormous beyond belief and 2,000 plus years old.
Rick just wanted to hug them!
We walked through the shell of a burnt out tree, many feet in length.
Looking up is like looking up to an imaginary Jack and the Beanstalk home!
Here I am at the bottom of the tree over on the left--another Where's Waldo?--can you see how tiny I am compared to the giant Sequoia? Can you see me at all? :o)
There have been many fires in the park, both planned burns and unplanned fires, including last year's Rough Fire that burned many acres in the north of the park.
One of the benefits of the fires is that the undergrowth is cleared making way for wildflowers and new growth as you can see below...
Tomorrow we leave on our last jaunt to Death Valley before we head home to Vermont. This has been such an amazing experience--a retreat of sorts that will take some time to sort out--a pleasant project in itself...
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