The google map said 3,100 miles or 47 hours. We were headed from Yosemite to my niece’s (Nicole’s) high school graduation at Kent, Connecticut. It seemed like a long journey, but we planned to visit Sunil’s friend and check out Sequoia National Park and the Great Smokey Mountains.
Sequoia National Park boasted the largest trees in the world. General Sherman is the largest tree in the world at 52,508 cubic feet and General Grant is the second largest at 46,608 cubic feet. Can you picture how big they are? I couldn’t until I saw them! They were literally gigantic! They weren’t only large ones with many neighboring trees that were as nearly as big. Giant Sequoias are known to live more than 3000 years, thanks to a chemical, called tannin, that helps them to be resistant to rot, boring insects, and fire. They are kings of the trees and a living history on earth!
After a visit to Sequoia, we were determined to drive straight to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Sunil’s friend lived. 1543 miles and 23 hours of driving laid ahead of us. Sunil was a hero driving most of distances except for his weak hours during the evening. We napped for 1 hour at a rest area, but other than that, yep, we drove pretty much straight through. When we got to Tulsa, tornado warnings were sounding. We could see gray and black clouds close and coming towards us. We protected our car from potential hail. Sunil’s friend also showed us his tornado shelter inside of the house that was built out of solid metal. Luckily, the tornado didn’t hit us directly, but it was an interesting and scary experience. On that night, after the tornado scare and driving 23 hours, we immersed ourselves in bed safe and sound.
The next morning, we headed to Nashville, Tennessee, home of country music. The town was cute and lively, with lots of cowboy hats and boots. We strolled through a strip where every other restaurant or bar was playing some kind of country music. We ended up in a bar where we grabbed a bite and had a small feel of country music.
After spending the night at Nashville Tennessee, we headed to Bridgetwater, New Jersey, where Sunil’s office is located. Along the way, we made a few stops in the Great Smokey Mountains which we weren’t overly impressed with and a vineyard in the rolling hills of Virginia. We stayed for a couple of days in Bridgewater for Sunil’s office visits.
On Friday, we drove to Kent, Connecticut where we reunited with my Chicago family for Nicole’s graduation. It took an entire week to travel from the west to east. We couldn’t believe what we just did but we hoped we would remember it as one hell of a story in the future.
SooJin & Sunil 