After Yosemite, we drove to Fresno for the night. Troy and I were amazed at how dry it was as we drove along. Everything was very brown. We also saw quite a few orange groves and other fruit trees growing along out route. Very different scenery than from where we are from.
After the night in Fresno, we went to King's Canyon. This day ended up to have a lot more driving than we hoped. Once we got to the park, our first stop was to see the General Sherman tree, the second largest tree in the world. After a few pictures, we did a short hike through the woods.
Having a little fun with all the picture posing.
Second largest tree in the world.
Our next stop was supposed to be a gift shop...the kid's love those--but traffic was at a stand still. Apparently there is some 4th of July parade in the park, but we did not have any information about it. Rather than waiting for a long time, we decided to drive to another area of the park. What we did not fully realize was how slow and windy this drive would be. It took quite awhile and we were hot and tired and hungry when we arrived at the other area.
We looked in a tiny shop and then found our way to a shady picnic area for lunch. Troy always found us parking even at the busy spots! We had some lunch and then planned a hike to the meadow area. It was hot again, and we started the hike wondering how far we'd make it. Not far in, we changed our minds and decided to simply wade in the stream we had passed. That was fun and cooled us off.
Troy and I were the first to go in the water. It was not deep, but it sure was cold at first!
The kids did both get in eventually.
Timothy and Teresa enjoyed recreating some poses we saw some other people doing...making some shapes together with their hands. I actually love this picture. The bunny ears one is cute too!
On our way out of the park, we made a stop at the bigger gift shop. The kids bought lanyards and I think we all picked out postcards. Our destination for the night was Three Rivers, CA. We chose not to drive the connecting roads between King's Canyon and Sequoia to get there. We thought the non park road would be easier and faster. Well, it may have been slightly faster, but we were on a curvy, hairpin turn road without road signs and no cell service for directions for way too long! Troy and I were nervous and wondered if we were actually heading the right direction. There was no where to even stop and ask directions. All we had was mile marker signs suggesting this crazy road ended in 20 miles! We finally did come to some homes. Troy stopped and tried to ask directions, but no one answered the door. In time, we had service and we were indeed going the right way. I was pretty happy to find a town!
Three Rivers was where the Lazy J ranch was, which we affectionately called the "Goat Hotel" because it had goats, sheep, dogs and cats. I think this was probably the favorite hotel of the whole trip. The rooms were sort of like a little cabin and the kids had their own twin beds. And it had a nice deep pool!
Teresa lounging on her bed.
Greeting one of the goats.
Saying hi to one of the three dogs.
On the evening of the 4th, we drove to a near by town to watch some fireworks. We parked along a road right next to an orange grove. We had a great view of the fireworks display!
The next day we went into Sequoia National Park. There was quite an elevation change from 800 feet o 5,000 some feet. The drive was a bit slow and curvy, with lots of sharp turns. We luckily found a parking spot and took a shuttle to our first hike. We hiked to the top of Moro Rock. It is a short, but steep climb to the top of a rock with some great views.
Here is a picture of us at the top of the rock.
Our next stop after this hike was to see the General Sherman tree which is the largest tree in the world (not by height, but by volume.) It is 275 feet tall and 36 feet wide at the base. 60 feet up it is still 17.5 feet wide! 
We chose not to wait in the long line to take a family picture by the sign that said General Sherman tree. Here Timothy took a bit of a distorted panoramic picture with the tree.
Not too long ago, a branch fell of the tree. It was left in the middle of the path where it fell. We joined many others and left our mark. T3 +M Teresa, Troy, Timothy.
By this point in the day Timothy started to not feel well due to the altitude. His stomach hurt and he was really tired. After lunch we decided to take the shuttle up to one other area of the park to visit the gift shop. Teresa bought a shirt, and Troy and I found stickers. We had hoped for one last short hike through the big trees, but it was warm, and Timothy wasn't at his best, so we called it a day and headed out. I did insist on one last picture...the hug a tree picture.
When we got back down to Three Rivers, Timothy was feeling better, so we stopped at a frozen yogurt place for a treat!
The next stop on our journey was Los Angeles and Hollywood. The next morning we drove to the LA area and went to Playa Del Ray beach. It took some hunting, but Troy found a great spot to park just a short walk to the beach. It wasn't too crowded and there were some great waves to play in. Timothy and Teresa loved it. I got a little wet and Troy went in a bit more than me. We stayed for about two hours before getting out to make it to our hotel. Timothy especially could have stayed longer!
The next morning we had thought about hiking up to the Hollywood sign, but we decided we were not up for another hike. Instead we drove on Hollywood Blvd., stopped to see some sights and shop. We made our way to the Chinese theater, but there was something being filmed there, so we first went shopping. We enjoyed looking at the stars' names on the walk of fame. There were many names we all recognized. We also got to see the handprints by the theater on the way back to the car.
The walk of fame.
Giant Oscars outside of the gift shop.
The Avengers square outside the Chinese Theater.
We saw the Hollywood sign form the mall area where we parked.
The kids wanted more beach time, so we spent the rest of the day at a beach not too far from our Disneyland hotel. The beach was a little busier, but still lots of fun! Then we were off to Anaheim for Disney!!!
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