Flowers near and views from our lodge at Sequoia NP

The pink flowers are called pussypaws, because they are soft and poofy like cats' paws. These were found next to the laundromat. We met a nice lady while we were doing our laundry this afternoon. Sam helped her move her loads from the washers to the dryers (without being asked, so sweet). The kids also found pine cones, saw chipmunks, and watched a Stellar's Jay clean up the picnic area. Josie sketched the cones and the trunks of the Sequoia in her journal.

The laundromat was next to the visitors center, and the kids enjoyed seeing the exhibits there and watching films that explained how fire is managed in the Park (with prescribed burns to assist Sequoias with seed release from cones - the fire burns off the resin from around the seeds, a few days after the fire, the cones open up and the seeds fall out - the fire is more helpful than that, but that's a big part of it) and how development in the forest area in the late 1800's and first half of the 1900's damaged the forests, but recent efforts to remove the developed areas have helped reclaim forest space and will hopefully lead to more Sequoias in the future.

The lodge where we are staying is at high elevation, about 7,000'. So, we are lounging around in the room tonight to let our bodies adjust, and hopefully we won't have any problems tomorrow with physical exertion. The pictures of vistas below are shots from our lodge - very nice. We're all in one room here - two queens and a pull-out sofa bed. There's a box fan in the window - it's cool up here on top of this mountain at night, but it warms up fairly well in the daytime - but not so hot that real a/c is needed.

I doubt our puny cameras will come close to capturing the majesty of these trees, but I'll post something tomorrow anyway, as a record for the kids to remember this trip. :)