2nd leg of summer trip... Visalia!

The 2nd part of our trip was spent in Visalia CA!
We took a few days to go visit part of my family but not before we had to wait in a an 1 +hours of traffic on I-5 going over the mountains. This is what we saw....

lovely clouds of smoke...yikes!

we watched helicopters drop water on the fire, etc. as we drove up to the scene. By the time we got there most of it was out but you could see how close it had gotten to the side of the road because the posts that hold the guard rails up still had flames on them!

the hard-working firefighters that put the flames out...thank you!!

We stayed with my mom and took in a few sights in the area. On the first day we went to the Kings Canyon and Sequoia Nat'l parks. So beautiful! The weather was perfect and it was a nice break from the heat of TX. Here are a few pictures from the parks.

we ate at a little picnic area then...

we cleaned up other peoples trash that had been left around said picnic area... "leave only footprints"!

the girls are standing next to a tree that had fallen over... it's hollowed out so they could go inside and out the other end... it's so BIG!

ok, little story about this family photo... Rick wanted to hike up to the Tokopah Falls in Sequoia Nat'l Park. "It's a nice little hike", he says, "you'll love it", he says. It really wasn't too bad and the girls were great little hikers... until we ran into the swarms of mosquitos that were SO big you could saddle and ride those things! And there was no escaping them! Did we think to bring insect repellent? NO! UGH, it was awful! And then we got to the falls. I mean, they're nice enough and all, but they're no Snoqualmie Falls... I'm not hatin', I'm just saying. (you'll picures of those falls in another post from our trip) But truly, it was a great little hike and the scenery along the way was beautiful!

Also, my cousin Jana had us over for a BBQ and swimming. It was so good to see some of my cousins... Jana, Allison, Macy, Michael & Tiffany.the gals, splashing around

It was just good to see everyone! A few people stopped by my mom's to say hello...Ashley, Scott, Mary, Deneise, Haylee, me, Hannah, my mom

And we also spent some time at my Aunt Karen's house.
The girls had a good time playing over there with their cousin Briana... in fact, Haylee was over heard saying "I want to live at YOUR house" as they noshed on s'mores and played the Wii in Briana's bedroom! =}

We really like Visalia... the small town feel but just about any store you need is right there... right at the foot of the mountains and the National Parks... and family! Thanks for a fun visit!