After my visit to Knott’s Berry Farm, I was on my way to Sequoia National Park – or so I thought. I planned to stay in Kernville – small town USA at its best – where I stayed at the Kern Riverview Inn. It was not only the cheapest hotel of my trip, but also by far the nicest. Kernville is also such a charming place to visit and it has a great local brewery.

As I hadn’t planned for any roadblocks, the trip to Sequoia National Park would have meant a very long drive, so I ended up just visiting Sequoia National Forest. One of my main goals for my California trip was to see one of the mammoth trees. So I went to the Trail of 100 Giants. Although it wasn’t the hike I had originally planned, I had a great time.

The next leg of my journey took me back to the Bay Area – which meant another long drive. I spent another night in Santa Cruz. This time I stayed at the Aqua Pacific Hotel, which was very nice, especially for the price.