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The greatest day for a mini-vacation is the day you aren’t planning on it at all! Like this past Saturday morning when David, between Caleb’s, Chelsea’s, and my chatter -- “what should we do today?” “should we watch a movie?” “what do you feel like doing today?” -- simply drove through McDonald’s, picked up to-go breakfasts, and drove away to a “secret place” that turned into an overnight vacation that brought us back home Sunday just before midnight!

Boy what fun we had! And we got to see so many beautiful sights!

Our first stop was the Red Rock Canyon State Park, off Highway 14, on Cantil, CA [http://www.desertusa.com/rrsp/rrsp.html] Just to give you an idea this is about two and a half hours away from Azusa. And how is something this pretty not talked about all over the place?!? You see it and it brings to mind all those pictures of Greece you’ve seen around. It is a small park, but unique and beautiful. Apparently a great place for camping [$12 per night] or for a barbecue [$5 per day use.]

After it we drove north on Highway 14 and switched to Highway 178 towards Lake Isabella, which we will always remember, not only for its beauty, but also due to a family shooting potatoes [with a potato shooter] into the water [hah!] Several folks were fishing so fishing must be good. [http://www.co.kern.ca.us/parks/isabella.htm] As for us, Dave and the kids spent a while skipping rocks on the water with the flat rocks on the shore.

From Lake Isabella we headed to Wofford Heights, just south of Kernville, where we spent the night. Wofford Heights is smaller than Kernville, and therefore cheaper. We stayed at a nice cabin-like room [if that makes any sense], complete with refrigerator, microwave, TV, VCR, cable, two double beds and a sofa bed, for only $75. Kernville has more “life”, more restaurants and bars, but it is only five minutes away from Wofford Heights so one can simply go back and forth and save a buck. The Kernville Brewery is recommended!

Sunday morning we followed the road passed Kernville, and further towards The Trail of 100 Giants, a grove of Sequoias with a looped hike that takes, going slowly, just about an hour to walk.

After the hike we continued on the road through the Sequoia National Forest, across several towns, every minute a scenic view, on the way to the Sequoia National Park.

The pictures speak better for how beautiful it is inside the Park. We saw a bear!!! How cool is that! The entrance to the park is $20 per car, which kind of shocks you when you first pull to the entrance booth, but oh well, once inside you see that your money is preserving something fantastic. General Sherman, “the largest living thing”, sits there right in front of your eyes, impressing you with its 2,200 years plus of existence!

It does not matter where you turn, everything you see is beautiful. And I won't even start on the sunset!

We started our way down the mountain at sundown. Including a dinner stop, and a couple of gasoline and bathroom stops, we made it home around 11.30 pm.

It was sooo fun, and it was sooo pretty… I just want you all to make this trip sometime! Just in case you’re interested, here’s a map of what we did. Believe me, it was worth it!

Do it … Do it… Do it… !

And now, here is a bunch of our pictures...

RED ROCK CANYON STATE PARK

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