| 09/13/2012 | Dine, Downtown Visalia, Family Friendly, Sequoia National Park, Shopping, Things to Do
This past weekend I did 2 things: shop (again!) and take advantage of the Sequoia Shuttle and beautiful weather in Sequoia National Park. It was a perfect combo! I got to visit the local stores downtown at the Downtown Visalians' Annual Sidewalk Sale (I got some great deals!) and got rugged in what we are lucky enough to call 'our backyard' in Sequoia National Park. Keep reading to hear and see all about my weekend adventures!
Downtown Visalian's Annual Sidewalk Sale
This year, for the first time, the sidewalk sale featured barbecues! Can we say yummy?! I strolled down the street and could smell the delicious food just waiting for me dig in, and my mouth watered as I passed by the A&W Root Beer Float Truck. But, first things first! I shopped! I hit up some of my favorites like Chelsea Street Boutique, Link's Men's and Women's Wear, and Brown's Shoes (just to name a few). Then I popped in to visit Downtown Visalia's newest tenant, Stacey's Boutique. Stacey is just wonderful! I felt so welcome as soon as I stepped inside. Not only is her store cute and her staff friendly, but she's got all the latest fashions and trends. And she's waiting for you to come by so she can help you with all of your fashion needs. No matter if you're 16 or 60, Stacey's Boutique has something for you. Visit our
website's shopping section to see all of the downtown stores!
Overall, the sidewalk sale was a huge hit! It turned out to be a great family event, complete with dunk tanks (our wonderful City Council members-even the Mayor-joined in on the fun and were gracious enough to be the 'dunkees'). I'm definitely looking forward to next year's annual sale!
A Day in My Backyard
We like to call the Sequoias our backyard because 1. They're so close and 2. It's literally like a giant backyard with an unbelievable playground. Who wouldn't want to brag about the fact that they can have endless adventures with just a quick drive up the mountain?!
The Sequoia Shuttle is an awesome service that the City of Visalia and Sequoia National Park have worked hard to provide for visitors and locals over the past few years. The Shuttle (visit their website
here for all of the details), running each year from Memorial Day to just after Labor Day, is an ideal way to not only get to the Park, but to also see the major attractions once you're there. I had yet to ride it this year, so with only 2 riding days of the season left (procrastination at it's finest!), I decided it was time to give it a whirl. On Saturday morning, I grabbed a couple of friends and we jumped aboard the Shuttle (we made reservations in advance!), ready for a full day of adventures and site-seeing. Check out my itinerary below!
9:00am Departed the Transit Center in Visalia
11:30am Arrived at the Giant Forest Museum in Sequoia National Park (expect some delays getting to the park if you're heading up any time soon, they've got some construction going on. Find out all the details on their website!
www.nps.gov/seki)
12:00pm Took a Shuttle to Moro Rock. We hiked (or climbed, there's stairs the whole way up!) to the top. The view was absolutely incredible and we could see around the Park for miles.
1:00pm Headed back down from Moro Rock. When we got to the bottom we sat ourselves down and had a little picnic (we got to see a little bear running around! Don't worry...he was FAR away) while we waited for the next Shuttle to take us back to the Giant Forest Museum.
1:30pm On the way back to the Museum, we stopped at the famous Tunnel Log. This tree fell across the road years and years ago. It's HUGE (this picture just doesn't do it justice), so instead of removing it, they cut part of it out to create a pass-through. It's been a major Park attraction ever since!
2:30pm Arrived back at the Museum, where we hopped aboard the next Shuttle that took was to the General Sherman Tree, the largest living tree in the world (due to it's enormous volume). We snapped a few pictures (it's so big, I couldn't even fit the whole thing in one picture!) and listened to one of the Park Rangers give a short presentation on the history of Sequoia National Park and the General Sherman Tree.
3:30pm Arrived, once again, at the Giant Forest museum and took a Shuttle to our next destination: the Lodgepole Market and Visitors Center. We were ready for another snack by the time we got there, so we grabbed a little something and took our time strolling around the Visitors Center. There's all sorts of cool information here! They've got lots of displays for you to look at and learn about the history of the park.
4:30pm Got back to the Giant Forest Museum where we waited just a few minutes for our 5:00pm Shuttle to take us back down the mountain and to our pick-up location in Visalia.
WHAT A WEEKEND!! I was exhausted by the time it was over, but it was completely worth it. That's the beauty of our area. There's just so much to do ALL of the time, it's hard to pick just a few things each weekend. We'll see what next weekend's adventures hold for me. Stay tuned!
Overall, the sidewalk sale was a huge hit! It turned out to be a great family event, complete with dunk tanks (our wonderful City Council members-even the Mayor-joined in on the fun and were gracious enough to be the 'dunkees'). I'm definitely looking forward to next year's annual sale!
A Day in My Backyard
We like to call the Sequoias our backyard because 1. They're so close and 2. It's literally like a giant backyard with an unbelievable playground. Who wouldn't want to brag about the fact that they can have endless adventures with just a quick drive up the mountain?!
The Sequoia Shuttle is an awesome service that the City of Visalia and Sequoia National Park have worked hard to provide for visitors and locals over the past few years. The Shuttle (visit their website here for all of the details), running each year from Memorial Day to just after Labor Day, is an ideal way to not only get to the Park, but to also see the major attractions once you're there. I had yet to ride it this year, so with only 2 riding days of the season left (procrastination at it's finest!), I decided it was time to give it a whirl. On Saturday morning, I grabbed a couple of friends and we jumped aboard the Shuttle (we made reservations in advance!), ready for a full day of adventures and site-seeing. Check out my itinerary below!
9:00am Departed the Transit Center in Visalia
11:30am Arrived at the Giant Forest Museum in Sequoia National Park (expect some delays getting to the park if you're heading up any time soon, they've got some construction going on. Find out all the details on their website! www.nps.gov/seki)
12:00pm Took a Shuttle to Moro Rock. We hiked (or climbed, there's stairs the whole way up!) to the top. The view was absolutely incredible and we could see around the Park for miles.
1:00pm Headed back down from Moro Rock. When we got to the bottom we sat ourselves down and had a little picnic (we got to see a little bear running around! Don't worry...he was FAR away) while we waited for the next Shuttle to take us back to the Giant Forest Museum.
1:30pm On the way back to the Museum, we stopped at the famous Tunnel Log. This tree fell across the road years and years ago. It's HUGE (this picture just doesn't do it justice), so instead of removing it, they cut part of it out to create a pass-through. It's been a major Park attraction ever since!
2:30pm Arrived back at the Museum, where we hopped aboard the next Shuttle that took was to the General Sherman Tree, the largest living tree in the world (due to it's enormous volume). We snapped a few pictures (it's so big, I couldn't even fit the whole thing in one picture!) and listened to one of the Park Rangers give a short presentation on the history of Sequoia National Park and the General Sherman Tree.
3:30pm Arrived, once again, at the Giant Forest museum and took a Shuttle to our next destination: the Lodgepole Market and Visitors Center. We were ready for another snack by the time we got there, so we grabbed a little something and took our time strolling around the Visitors Center. There's all sorts of cool information here! They've got lots of displays for you to look at and learn about the history of the park.
4:30pm Got back to the Giant Forest Museum where we waited just a few minutes for our 5:00pm Shuttle to take us back down the mountain and to our pick-up location in Visalia.
WHAT A WEEKEND!! I was exhausted by the time it was over, but it was completely worth it. That's the beauty of our area. There's just so much to do ALL of the time, it's hard to pick just a few things each weekend. We'll see what next weekend's adventures hold for me. Stay tuned! 
