A Siblings Road Trip

This past week two out of three of my younger siblings and I went on a road trip.

While it was sort of last minute and frantically planned, it ended up being a wonderful experience.

The timing of the road trip was influenced by our mother getting a knee replacement surgery on 7/23. She wanted us all to get out and do something fun before we had to be home to care for her for the next few weeks.

As the oldest of my siblings, I took it upon myself to plan the trip and map out an idea of what we wanted to do.

On Sunday 7/19 I sat down with my laptop, researched hotels, and booked the reservations.

We planned to leave the following morning, Monday 7/20.

We had a general idea of what we wanted to do on our road trip but ended up making a few spontaneous stops that ended up being my personal favorite parts of the trip!

Here is a breakdown of what we did on our 3 day, 2 night road trip to Monterey, CA & King’s Canyon/Sequoia National Park.

Saturday 7/20

Left our house at 630am

Stopped in Solvang, CA to stretch our legs and sightsee

Took Highway 1 up to Big Sur

Stopped in San Simeon, CA to see elephant seals (spontaneous but my favorite part of the trip)

The awesome elephant seals! They were massive and violent.

Stopped to sightsee in Big Sur

Checked into our hotel in Monterey,CA

Got takeout from a local restaurant

Explored Pebble Beach around sunset (it was overcast but still beautiful)

Tuesday 7/21

Checked out of our hotel around 11am

Grabbed coffee to-go

Walked around Asilomar State Beach

Spontaneously pulled off of Highway 1 South at Garrapata State Park (because Point Lobos was crowded) to hike

Went on an incredible 2 hour hike in Garrapata State Park

Left to Fresno, CA to spend the night there before King’s Canyon/Sequoia National Park

Checked into our hotel in Fresno, CA

Wednesday 7/22

Woke early to try Dutch Bros coffee for the first time

I tried the “French Vanilla Bean iced latte”. A solid 8/10.

Checked out of our hotel and left for King’s Canyon/Sequoia National Park at 645am

Filled up my car with gas at the Valero in Squaw Valley before entering the park (highly recommend since there aren’t any gas stations within the park)

Arrived at King’s Canyon/Sequoia National Park’s BIG STUMP ENTRANCE at 815am

Made it to the General Sherman Tree to see the world’s largest tree (by width and volume)

The General Sherman Tree. Shoutout to the strangers that took this picture for us.

Drove to (and THROUGH) the Tunnel Log

Luckily no one was behind us so we had time to snap a picture!

Hiked up to Moro Rock to see some of the most beautiful views in the whole park

Very steep hike but only 1 mile up & back!

Stopped for a picnic before exiting the park through the ASH MOUNTAIN ENTRANCE around 230pm

Made it home by 6pm!

All in all, it was a wonderful experience and I am grateful we were able to squeeze in this socially-distanced road trip before we begin our new chapters this Fall.