The Sequoia Saga

From Sequoia National Park and Aftermath


Maybe it was doomed from the start. Back in May, we went camping with my sis and bro-IL outside Kings Canyon National Park and had intended to spend part of the trip home on a detour through that park and Sequoia National Park/Monument. But THEN, james left his jacket - and wallet - on a rock at the camp site. Of course, we were all out of cell phone range, and, through a series of half-received messages and near-misses, we spent a good portion of the day on a wild goose chase. (James said it would have been very funny to have footage of us from above.) We vowed to return to Sequoia before the pass was snowed in.

Fast forward to fall, Saturday, September 6, 2008. We decide to attempt a day trip since the winter is fast approaching. We get a decent-ish start and get to the park at around 11:30. We enjoy a stop at the Visitor Center on the southern side of the park. We purchase a few souvenirs and head up to see the main attraction and reason for our visit, Sequoiadendron giganteum, the Giant Sequoias.

About two thirds of the way up the mountain, on a very narrow, very steep, very windy road, the Prius suddenly flashed three or four warning lights. Since they seemed to refer to the stability control which Greg was confident we would only need if we were going fast and braking suddenly on a slippery wet road, and as the car seemed to be otherwise operating normally, we decided it would be safe to keep going. We got to the Giant Forest a few minutes later (breathtaking - I barely remembered it from a family trip in the late 80s) and made it safely to the Giant Forest Museum. We turned off the car in the hopes that whatever the issue was, it would reboot itself and all would be well. We spent about an hour at the Gaint Forest Museum, which used to be one of hundreds of buildings in the Giant Forest until they tore just about all of them down (Suprisingly, pavement is bad for trees! Imagine!).

We got back to the car and turned it on...and ALL of the warning lights turned on. Plus, no start. Greg tried to see if there was ANYTHING we could try, but no, the car is like the opposite of user-servicable. So we started to try to figure out how we could get out of there. There is no cell phone service in the park, BTW. We had the Toyota roadside assistance, but we soon found out that only the first $100 of a tow is covered - and one quote came in at $1200. I spent an hour or so on the ranger's phone. She was so nice.

Finally they found us a company willing to come up for us, for what ended up being $380 ($280 for us). Amelie in the meantime read a whole chapter book, became a Junior Ranger, played hangman with the park ranger, and we all went for a nature hike. Where we saw bears. OK, that part was awesome.









So the guy gets there 2 hours later (right on time) and loads up the car, and we all pile into the seatbeltless truck cab with him and his girlfriend (cozy). Amelie on my lap, we head down that same, windy road, and not the straighter, RV-friendly long way back towards Fresno. Greg made friendly conversation. I hoped the guy was a good driver. At least he did go slowly.

About 8 PM we made it back to Visalia which was the location of the nearest Toyota dealer. We dropped off the car and had our friendly driver drop us at the closest non-hourly hotel which fortunately was a new Marriott. The people there were very nice, we walked a block to downtown Visalia (cute) after checking in, and got some actual food for the first time all day.

We got back to the room and settled in for the night. Luckily there was an Avis in town with Sunday hours since we didn't intend to wait around until Tuesday (or later) for the car to be ready. We got back at about 3:30 and it turns out my anxieties about the cats not being fed were unnecessary as they had not waited long to bust open their food container on their own.

We got the car back today. What went wrong? Greg's still not sure if the guy told him it was a short, or disconnected, or what, but basically they reset it and supposedly it's fine now but we're talking about Mini Coopers. I'm not the optimal Prius owner at the moment anyway, and he says he will "never trust that car again" - so, where does that leave us but kbb.com?

Anyway, that's my story. Thank you for sticking with me through my vent. Check the album above for some nice pictures of some trees.

Just Checking

If, like me, you heard about the scientists "trying to re-create the Big Bang" this morning and thought "I hope they don't mean actually, because that might be bad," then this is for you.

Update: link fixed. But it's ok, we're still here.

Young Republicans in Love

I totally had this poster on my wall in high school - but the McCain/Palin ticket denying the truth about the Bridge to Nowhere (she wanted it until there was an outcry against it) just reminded me of it, and one google search later, there it is. God bless the internet.

And I never knew this was a Matt Groening creation so thanks to the guy who posted the picture for that info.

The OTHER Palin in the Race

Republican Doubletalk

For anyone who doesn't really get the full hypocrisy of the Republican party, this is required viewing:


and, heck, this too:


and why not this.


Same old party, led by McSame and the classic Rove campaign.

Sad news on Frosted Mini Wheats

For anyone still looking for them, Kelloggs says the vegan organic FMWs are officially discontinued. Maybe we can get a letter writing campaign going. After the election I might think about it. Right now...bigger fish to fry.