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Mr and Mrs Grayblazer's Excellent Adventure

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    • Mr and Mrs Grayblazer's Excellent Adventure

      I love them big trees! Couple years ago National Geographic magazine did a write up on em with maps and huge 4 or 5 page pull out centerfold, that was like 3' long...What a canopy that was! Thanks GB, sent you a PM.
    • Mr and Mrs Grayblazer's Excellent Adventure

      Still day 2 PM- Saturday Jan 18, 2016

      Here we were heading towards our room at the Wuksachi Lodge. We stopped at every overlook. Most of the drive along General's Highway is 5-7000'. We passed the lodge since it was still early and kept heading south. Did I mention it was off season? We heard from everyone that it gets really crowded in the summertime. We were blessed with small groups of people. With my training of driving in the eastern appalachians, I am proud to report that I did not have long lines of traffic following this Floridiot driver. Nor did Mrs. Grayblazer get carsick from the constant curves and speeding up and slowing down. I did pull over for the really expert drivers who did pull up behind us. Around 5 PM we turned around and headed towards our lodge. We checked in around dark. The lodge is very nice. We had been warned by many people that the food there was not worth writing home about. No problem. Mrs. Grayblazer had brought a lot of food and snacks. Unfortunately, there was no microwave in the room. Too bad I did not bring my backpacking stove. We warmed up the dinners by soaking them in hot water in the ice bucket. The rooms were extremely nice and comfortable and warm. Did I mention the weather was perfect? 50's and 60's during the day and @30 at night. Ironically, the same weather we have been experiencing right here in NFL. We got everything organized and ready for the next day and got a very good nights sleep in our clean warm room.

      Pics in my gallery soon.
    • Mr and Mrs Grayblazer's Excellent Adventure

      Day #3-Sunday Jan 19, 2013

      Woke up early ready to spend a whole day exploring the parks and enjoying being with the big trees. We drove to the Grant Village to do our last souvenir shopping and mail out some post cards. I had been looking forward to driving and exploring more mountain roads in the park. We drove on down to Humes Lake. There is a big Christian Camp there with lots of teens. That was the most people we saw the whole time. There was a gas station there which was the only station in the park system. The lake and the mountains in the background made for a lovely spot. There was some overlooks on the way there which made it quite a loverley drive. We saw some deer on the way there. The loop road back to General's Highway was quite icy. After driving off a mountain in WV some years ago, we knew to take it easy. The Park service can require you to use chains at any time, but this was not one of them. We saw a beautiful large furry fox standing in the road. After several twisty icy miles we made it back to the General's Highway and made our way south again towards the World's biggest tree-aka The General Sherman. (A large section of a Sequoia had been taken apart and sent to the 1893 Chicago's World's Fair and reassembled. People back East refused to believe the trees were so large and called them the California Hoax.).You have to see the General Sherman to believe it. We sat on a nice bench and kept the giant company for about an hour. Believe me it is massive and beautiful. (Pics in my Gallery).

      The highlight of the trip for me was a visit to Moro Rock, a massive rock monolith that rises straight up with a 360 degree view. We got there right before sunset. I made my way up the 400 steps that wind around and through the giant rock formation. The view was stunning. Off to the East was Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the 48 contiguous states. However, you couldn't see it cuz the Western Mountain range rose straight up in front of it and blocked the view. I was not disappointed though as the Western range is one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. As you all know, just because you climb a mountain you are not guaranteed to see the sunset or even anything. God was good to me (again). I was treated to God's own drive-in. (pics in my gallery). And thus ended another perfect day. We headed back to the lodge and prepare for our drive the next morning back to San Francisco.
    • Mr and Mrs Grayblazer's Excellent Adventure

      Day #4-Monday Jan 20, 2013

      We left the lodge at 3 AM. I wanted to make sure we checked in early for our flight and got the car back on time. I didn't mind cuz as you know by now I love driving in the mountains. I love the Sierras and I love my Garmin which I was glad Mrs Grayblazer had brought with us even though I told her we did not need it. She punched in the address of the car rental place and I didn't have to worry about any wrong turns. Once we were back in the central valley we were treated to a sunrise over the Sierras. Sorry, no pics of that. The morning traffic was no problem cuz of it being a Holiday. Thank you once again Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.,a truly amazing man. We drove around the area for a little while looking at the 20's architecture and amazing houses built along the steep streets. We boarded our flight at 11:10 and took off at 11:20. I was anticipating seeing the Golden Gate, the Sierras and the Rockies from the air. I was not disappointed. God is good. More pics in my Sequoia Gallery. We transferred at Charlotte (yes we flew the entire width of the AT. It was dark by then) and got into Tampa at 9:30 PM. Some good people saw how tired we were and we got a wheelchair guy to take us to our luggage and car. We got back to Gainesville at 12:15 AM. We had nothing left to do but remember what a good time we had.

      What I learned ... walking thru the airports, getting your luggage, finding your gate is more walking than I could have imagined. Next time we will take the transports and/or wheelchairs. Also, I will use a good brand of rental car. No Payless.
      Everything else, I would not change and would gladly do all over again.

      Thank you.
    • Mr and Mrs Grayblazer's Excellent Adventure

      grayblazer wrote:

      rocksNsocks wrote:

      GB's gonna need lots of frames.

      I have nine new ones made and I'm making at least 3 more. That way I have 12 new ones to take to the Bash in Franklin. Three are for the owners of this site. I have to make redwood frames for the CA pics. My AT ones are made out of barnwood.
      that's great tonal wood, once I had some clear heart Redwood and made a drum out of it...sounded so sweet and mellow. I'm pretty sure they stop cuttin Redwood...not that you can't get it, but they hit ya in the head for it.

      Your pictures should sound good
    • Mr and Mrs Grayblazer's Excellent Adventure

      GB, that's some great soundin pictures there....they're talkin to me. I love to fy and press my face agaist the window for a six hour flight to the left coast...one of my favorite things to do in life, it really is...talk about a lesson in geography, geology, topogrphy, thrmodynamics, and hydrological studies.

      ..damn I didn't even knew I know words like that.
    • Mr and Mrs Grayblazer's Excellent Adventure

      rocksNsocks wrote:

      GB, that's some great soundin pictures there....they're talkin to me. I love to fy and press my face agaist the window for a six hour flight to the left coast...one of my favorite things to do in life, it really is...talk about a lesson in geography, geology, topogrphy, thrmodynamics, and hydrological studies.

      ..damn I didn't even knew I know words like that.


      It took many decades to convince my mother to take a plane. I took her to Arizona a few years back. She sat tapping her hands in the aisle seat. When we got over the Rockies I said, "Hey Ma', look at that". I lost my window seat on the spot and she was cured.
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.
    • Mr and Mrs Grayblazer's Excellent Adventure

      BirdBrain wrote:

      rocksNsocks wrote:

      GB, that's some great soundin pictures there....they're talkin to me. I love to fy and press my face agaist the window for a six hour flight to the left coast...one of my favorite things to do in life, it really is...talk about a lesson in geography, geology, topogrphy, thrmodynamics, and hydrological studies.

      ..damn I didn't even knew I know words like that.


      It took many decades to convince my mother to take a plane. I took her to Arizona a few years back. She sat tapping her hands in the aisle seat. When we got over the Rockies I said, "Hey Ma', look at that". I lost my window seat on the spot and she was cured.
      yep, same thing happen with my kids...now I have to pull rank to get the window seat, should kept my big moth shut.

      ...I man look at that wing flappin up and down.
    • Mr and Mrs Grayblazer's Excellent Adventure

      grayblazer wrote:

      ...I man look at that wing flappin up and down.


      I got some good video of the wing flapping up and down in some strong turbulence in the Rockies. I think that if the grandchildren see it they won't want to fly. :sick:[/quote]

      yer right...better put em in the isle seating gif.016 :whistle: