2 days, 3 national parks

there are a few spots in california where we wanted to spend some time before we move, so on wednesday morning, we hit the road for a week. by the time we set up camp in the mojave desert on thursday night, we had visited three national parks that the boy had been wanting to check out – king’s canyon, sequoia and death valley. we experienced a lot of climate and elevation changes, had a lot of good conversations, and marveled at a lot of god’s grandeur together.

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^^ we walked right through the center of a ginormous tree! ^^
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^^ the second biggest tree in the world! ^^
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^^ if you look closely, you can see me dwarfed by those sequoia giants! ^^ isn’t the reddish bark of the sequoias and the vivid green moss so soothing and lovely to the eyes??
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^^ the biggest tree in the world!! ^^
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we hiked up 350 steps to the top of morro rock to behold magnificent (albeit quite foggy) views of the surrounding expanse. it was so invigorating to feel on top of the world there.
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^^ the boy is a little scared of heights! ^^
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^^ the rock we climbed from a different perspective, bathed in sunsetty light ^^
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^^ we passed tooooons of orange groves and had to make a stop at this roadside stand. holy cow those oranges were so delicious! the scenery along our drives to and from the national parks was in-cred-ible. ^^
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^^ we saw so many rolling green hills carpeted with orange california poppies. this picture doesn’t do it justice! ^^
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^^ we made it to death valley just in time for sunset at the lowest spot in the western hemisphere! ^^IMG_4585IMG_4593
^^ we walked along the salt flats as the sky evolved. death valley is crazy desolate unique beauty – more coming next!
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after we set up camp on thursday night, we drove our car away from any lights, sat on the hood and gazed into the starry expanse of the night sky. {death valley is supposedly one of the best places in the country to see the stars!} the milky way stretched thick like a cloud in a band across the glimmering dark and we felt blessed and in love, talking about never-ending space and time.

i decided california wins. just when i feel like i have scratched the surface of amazing and cool things in this state, i discover deep wells of more!

Comments

  1. These pictures are so beautiful!! They are making me want to take a trip :)

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  2. Charity and Ian...I'm an armchair traveler and love seeing these gorgeous photos and enjoying your worldwide travels vicariously. Safe and happy journeys to a lovely couple living all aspects of life with gusto!
    Sincerely, Linda

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  3. I second Linda's comment! Armchair eye candy! Love being a part of your adventures!!! You look incandescent. Can't wait to see more. x S

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  4. Thanks for letting us peek in on where you are! So grateful for blogs!

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