Visalia, CA

I flew into Fresno CA on a Sunday in order to be at work at 8am Monday morning.  After the hellish flight into Phoenix, I was relieved to only have an hour left on a regional into Fresno. 

Fresno's airport is SUPER nice.  It's small, but really ideal.  I picked up my bag and car and drove an hour-ish south to Visalia.  I arrived to the Hampton Inn on Noble just after noon, where my room was surprisingly ready!  I made a quick change of clothes and grabbed my trail gear, this is what I had hoped for!!  It's a short drive from Visalia up to the Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks.  I wanted to see some of those amazing Sequoias... hungry and tired - but my desire to see this park outweighed it all.  If you ever find yourself in this part of the state... do yourself a solid and go.  you don't even have to get out of the car to be awed and overwhelmed with the beauty of this park.  I am still in love with the fact that these magnificent trees exist in this world.  After navigating the hairpin turns up the side of the mountain I finally made it to the trail head for the General Sherman tree, the largest tree (in mass) and the largest living organism on EARTH.  If that doesn't tickle your gut in some way, you may not be human.  I hopped out and started running, full out running, to get to this creature - and then the thin air slowed me down.  LOL!  After a day full of flying and some pretty impressive cankles if I do say so myself, it was the air that got me.  That was ok, this tree had been here for a very long time, I didn't think it was going anywhere any time soon.  Trust me, the slower pace was worth it.  I am still in complete awe of this place.  There were plenty of critters around, more than enough giant birds and a couple of bears in the distance.  It felt like HOME, like somewhere I was meant to be. 

By far, this was the highlight of my trip.  The rest of the week went well, not much to note really.  OH!  So I did go for a run around Visalia after work one night, it was a balmy 105F at 8pm - it really was a dry heat.  I found the local roller derby rink and then the sweaty friction split my toe.  No joke.  That's never happened before, or even since - and it completely freaked me out.

I'll be making the trip out to Visalia again soon, I will of course go back to see the General but I will spend a bit more time in town and maybe have more detail on food and such.  You guys know me, I pretty much hit the in-n-out daily on this trip.  Stick to what you know, right?