"You're so beautiful...like a tree..."

During this past week (spring break) I decided to embark on a little road trip. One of my main objectives was to drive through some small towns that had loan-repayment sites and ask myself, "Could I really live here?" Hoping that one of the small towns along the I-99 might somehow "speak" to me, I loaded up my car with a tent, a sleeping bag, and the excuse to do a little camping and hiking. And so I drove and drove. I didn't stop in too many of the towns, but my general impressions of the towns between Bakersfield and Fresno were that 1. it's really flat. I would miss my mountains, and 2. there's a lot more haze and smog than I expected. Where's my blue sky? There were some interesting points. Selma is the raisin capital of the world, and Kingsburg does have an interesting Swedish theme to it. I was able to see the Fresno temple, the 7th California temple I've seen. There was also a miniature golf place that was practically in the middle of nowhere. One town that caught my attention, and unfortunately doesn't have a medical site, was Lemon Cove, population 193. It's past Visalia and on the way to Sequoia National Park. It's surrounded by these beautiful grassy hills with blooming wildflowers and these large boulders that are just waiting to be climbed upon. Oh well...

I decided to try something new and camped overnight in Sequoia National Park. Not only was it new, but there was also the fact that I probably wouldn't be able to get a campsite in Yosemite this time of year without a reservation. I wasn't the only one there, but I did get to have a trail in King's Canyon National Park all to myself. Probably because it was covered in snow. But a little snow hiking didn't hold me back, although some snowshoes or some cross country skis would have been nice. I also got to see General Sherman, the 2200 year old largest tree in the world. How cool is that?!? I did over 10 miles of hiking on Thursday and I think I'll still be feeling the effects of it for the next few days.

I still don't know if I would want to live in the cities I drove through, but I do know I would like to live somewhere where I can use a kayak, and some snowshoes...and has blue sky... and more important - no crazy freeway commuting!! Okay, the kayak is optional, but would be nice. So, I'm sure any loyal readers to my blog will hear more about my decisions of where to work and live for the next 2 or 3 years. These darn life-changing decisions... More to come on that later. Stay tuned!