Thursday, April 16 – Saturday, April 18, 2026
This morning, we started making our way back south, first to Visalia and then eventually home. We were going to use Visalia as our base for visiting Sequoia National Park. We also wanted to see Sophon’s aunt while we were there but with neither of feeling all the great, we did not want to get her sick.
We began the day with breakfast at Sax’s. Sophon got the chicken and waffles, and I got one of my favorite breakfast items: eggs Benedict.
Before leaving Petaluma, we stopped at Petaluma Market. I noticed they had a section with some really nice cheeses, including cheeses from one of my favorite cheese places, Rogue Creamery, which we discovered when we went to Oregon. Naturally, I had to stock up and try a few new ones.
From there, we headed to Visalia. It took about five hours to get there. As we pulled into the hotel parking lot, I realized we had stayed at this hotel before. Unfortunately, when it comes to Visalia, there just are not a lot of great hotel options.
We checked in, went to A&W for dinner, and then returned to the hotel. We also filled up on gas, knowing there would not be many options once we were inside the national park.
On Friday, we set out for Sequoia National Park early. It was a good half-hour drive, and I intentionally wanted to get there early in hopes of avoiding the crowds. We arrived around 8:00 a.m., and there was no wait at the gate. The park felt almost empty compared to my last visit.
We tuned into our GuideAlong app, which we had used before, although it had been a while.
As we headed into the park, I noticed we were gaining elevation and the temperature was quickly dropping. I received a warning on the dashboard about freezing roads. I had never seen that warning on this car before. To my surprise, there was still snow left in certain areas.
We stopped and hiked to the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree in the world by volume. As we got out of the car, we spotted a deer walking along the edge of the parking lot. Later, we would see what I assume was the same deer inside the park. I was surprised by how close it came to us.
We headed deeper into the park and stopped at Grant Grove Village for a bathroom break and something to eat. Afterward, we hiked to see the General Grant Tree, the world’s second-largest tree by volume.
We continued farther into Kings Canyon, but we could only get so far before the road was closed. I had noticed that certain things, like the caves and some campsites, were also closed. I had read that a few of them would not open until Memorial Day. I wasn’t sure if that was because of funding cuts, snow, or simply because nobody wanted to camp in those conditions.
We exited the park a different way than we came in. It was almost an hour and a half back to our hotel, and we finally got back around 3:30. It had been a busy day.
The following day, we headed back to Los Angeles.
It was a fun getaway.
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