Recent travels

I’ve not been around for the last few weeks because I have been relaxing in the States visiting Mr. Sloft. Well I say relaxing, but it’s pretty much flown by! Hmm.. so what have we been doing… We went to the Abbot Kinney Festival. I bought some very nice tee’s, then we ate some tasty tapas and then strolled on home.

Of course we did some well deserved shopping, down Third promenade street in Santa Monica. Oh and tried a very nice Italian place which I would recommend, Laconda Del Lago. I had the Pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese Specialty of the House – Traditional Dish of Lake Como House-Made Whole Wheat Pappardelle Tossed with Braised Savoy Cabbage, Roasted Garlic, Fried Sage, Yukon Potatoes and Bitto Cheese Fondue. Yum!

We tried to go to El Matador beach in Malibu, but the tide was not on our side… and when we arrived we could not get very far at all. So that was a short visit, but the sun came out and it was a nice relaxing few hours dozing on a beach towel. We were entertained by some fisherman and the cheeky gulls that kept stealing their bait.

Sequoia National Park

This trip we managed to get out of LA for a change and visit Sequoia National Park. I think it was a good time to go because it wasn’t busy and the weather was perfect. We arrived pretty late the first day; it was just over 200 miles driving! We came in on the 198 which was a nice drive in and we had no problems. We entered the park on a 7 day pass for $20 and had a drive into the Giant Forest and stopped at Beetles rock. We didn’t go any further as it was getting dark and we had to find somewhere to stay.

We noticed lots of lodges and motels on the 198 on the way in, so we were sure we would not have to go far for a bed. We stopped at the first Lodge just outside the gates to Sequoia Park at a place called the Buckeye Tree Lodge. We got a queen room for $98 and a bowl of fruit and muffins for our breakfast. It was a very nice place and perfect location in the Kaweah River Canyon. All the rooms are set along the bank of the Kaweah River and you can hear the smooth running of the water from your room. There is no restaurant at the Buckeye Tree Lodge, but you don’t have to go far for some fine cuisine! We walked a few yards down the road to the Gateway Restaurant and Lodge for dinner. It was a quiet evening but a place you could just tell would be bursting with hungry folk on a hot summer’s night. The food arrived in good time and was delicious, we left full, happy and ready to go to bed!

The next day we ventured a little further into the Park. We went to Rock Moro, Tunnel Log and Crescent Meadow. I thought Moro Rock was the most impressive, I was not expecting anything so astonishing. This is a must visit pace if you are on the south-west side of the park. My advice is… once you park up at Rock Moro take a bottle of water if it’s a hot day and enjoy the 400 steps walk up the rock and take your camera!

Crescent Meadow was a pleasant walk but probably looks best in spring when the flowers are out and the meadow is not so wet. We did see a cute woodpecker that amused us for about 10 minutes pecking away at a tree!

We only managed a fraction of Sequoia National Park and it’s somewhere I would love to go back to and camp for a week and do some of the longer walks. Maybe next year.. who knows.

So back to England I come… I hope it’s not raining!