US TRIP - Sequoia National Park to Santa Monica

After our hike in Yosemite (I really must go back there and do more!) we drove to a little town called Three Rivers, which was just a little way from the entrance of the Sequoia National Park, and so different in terms of landscape!

"Tunnel View". We stopped for a look on our way out of Yosemite. 

 The nearby Lake Kaweah looked like it had been hit hard by California’s drought, and the water levels were really low. We had a nice night in the very comfortable Comfort Inn, including a welcome swim after dark, as it was pretty hot.

It was an interesting drive up into the park. We went from dry grassland-type terrain, through a more rocky terrain with cactus and other Southern Californian looking plants. Then it became more rocky and forested, with some amazing canyon views and rock formations. As we got higher (and via a VERY windy road!), we stared to see lots of the bigger trees, including some impressive sequoias right alongside the road.

We parked and walked down to the General Sherman tree, which was very impressive!

The General Sherman holds the record for the largest tree in the world by volume. It’s not the tallest, because it was struck by lightning a few years ago so it doesn’t grow any taller but it does keep growing wider.

There are several other trees in the grove that are equally impressive. It's quite humbling when you realise just how small and insignificant you are compared to these trees.

As we were walking back to tour car, in the distance we heard a tree being cut down. It made an amazing BOOM when it hit the ground!

After hanging out among the giants for a while, we started our drive to Los Angeles. It was pretty steady, fast freeway driving (speed limit of 75 (120kms)!), but some nice scenery along the way. I annoyed Oli every few minutes by saying ‘take a picture of that!’

I was a bit worried about driving into LA, but we managed to hit it when all the traffic was going the other way. I found that as long as we went with the flow, we were ok. We found our Air BnB in Santa Monica, and then decided to walk down to the Third Street Promenade, which was brimming with people. There were some cool street entertainers and lots of up-market shops.

We had a nice dinner in an Italian restaurant
 
and then checked out the Santa Monica pier, which was pretty tacky and gaudy!
The rides were all closed for a private function, so we headed back to our accommodation for some much-needed rest.

Here's some more photos from Yosemite and Sequoia parks: https://flic.kr/s/aHsm5T8DAv