Buena Vista Peak + Buck Rock, Kings Canyon National Park

I have been to so many national parks this year, but so far have not visited Kings Canyon National Park. It was time for me to do so.

Together with the Meetup group I headed out to Kings Canyon National Park bright and early at 6:30 AM. Another hiker volunteered to carpool, so the two of us headed to Buena Vista peak where we would meet with the rest of the group. A total of 12 people would hike about 1 mile to Buena Vista peek, enjoy the nature and take a bunch pictures, that was the plan. The hike up was not easy because of how steep it was, but the view on top with certain enjoyable.

We then headed to Buck Rock, which is a large rock with a small cabin on top and old wooden stairs leading up there. Knowing my fear of heights, I realized that I would not be able to go all the way up to the top, but I at least wanted to try to do something. So I walked up one flight of stairs to the first platform.

I have to admit that I did feel kind of dizzy in the beginning and decided not to go any further up. Maybe next time, I thought. The view from my little platform was not as good as from the top, but it certainly was better than nothing. I took a bunch of pictures and enjoy the fresh air, something you learn to appreciate living in Fresno.

After about 30 minutes on the platform I headed down together with the rest of the group. We were planning to have lunch and go to visit Moro Rock.

After lunch, however, Moro Rock was pretty packed, possibly because it was a free weekend at national parks. Me and my friend hiker decided to skip that hike and head home since it was another two hours before we would get back to Fresno. I certainly did not regret that because I was so tired after two hikes already.

This was such an enjoyable day! Physically active in nature - Who can beat that?

Cat House on the Kings, Parlier, CA

In the past 6 years I have devoted a few hours a week to volunteering at animal shelters. At first it was LIFAC, a small cat rescue group in Smithtown, NY, then it was Golden Paw Society, another volunteer-run cat rescue, and here in Fresno I started volunteering at the Cat House on the Kings at the end of July.

Cat House on the Kings has two main locations. One in a Petco store, the location where I actually go to volunteer on weekends, and the main location in Parlier, CA. To visit the place, you must schedule beforehand, and the owner does a whole tour which may take up to an hour and a half, time well-spend when you are surrounded by kitties!

On several acres of land (12, to be exact) cats live peacefully while waiting for their forever homes. There are several areas, all fenced in so that cats cannot get out and other animals cannot get in.

Also, the owner of the rescue devoted her house to cats. Now she lives in a trailer, while cats occupy the main house :)

There are litter boxes and food bowls in assigned areas which appeared very clean. When I asked the owner how they keep the place so pristine, she said she had close to 50 employees and multiple volunteers helping out.

If you are in the area, certainly visit this wonderful place. And most importantly, adopt, don't buy!

Kitty's story + Why I can't travel overnight without a cat sitter?

I adopted Kitty from North Shore Animal League on Long Island, NY in May of 2009. He was only 8 weeks old.

He was pretty healthy in the beginning, but at the age of 2 he became developing strange symptoms. The skin on his back, mostly around his tail area would twitch, and he was scratching himself non-stop. His pupils would dilate, and he would run around the house as if he was having a fit. He also would flap his ears, scratch his head and the area around eyes and shake his head.

Here and here are videos from when it all started. I brought Kitty to specialists and finally found a neurologist who did not just disregard they symptoms and think that I was crazy. After eliminating ear infections, flees, allergies and other potential conditions, she diagnosed him with Feline hypersthesia syndrome.

It all made sense now. After trying different medications starting with Phenobarbital and finishing with Amitriptyline, medications that would just make Kitty sleepy, we settled on a low dose (0.5 mL) of Gabapentin (50mg/1mL - compounded at a pharmacy, in a liquid form) twice a day. He has been on the same dose for 5 years now. He gets his fits once in a while even now, but less intense. The episodes resolve as soon as I give him his meds (or sometimes 0.2 mL extra).

Because he still gets episodes I considered once to increase the dosage of Gabapentin, but in a trial Kitty's third eyelids started to cover his eyes when he was not sleeping. As soon as the dose was reduced back to 0.5 mL of Gabapentin, the situation resolved (after a visit to an ophthalmologist). Kitty is doing ok now.

Since he requires this medication twice a day, preferably every 12 hours, I cannot leave on vacation or a trip without having someone come to give him his medicine twice a day. It has been really a challenge to find someone here in Fresno, and I am still in search of my cat sitter.

I wanted to tell you Kitty's story because I am certain that other cat owners have similar situations and might not know what's wrong with their cat. It is devastating to see your pet suffer and not know how to help them. Please share this so that we increase awareness of this condition.

Who has the time for traveling?

I have always wished I had more time and money to travel and see new things. Many people put traveling on the bucket list for retirement when they have the time, but I never believed it was the right thing to do for me. The main reason is that you never know what your health is going to be 20-30 years from now. Would you be even able to travel when you retire? Or maybe you would have pain in your knee or your back or even trouble getting out of bed? What then? Did we waste all our youth working, earning money, progressing in our career without seeing the world?

I don't want to live my life like that. I want to travel now, especially if travel works around my work schedule and current financial state. Speaking of finances, many people mention that they do not have money to travel. That is true that traveling can be expensive, but local traveling really does not have to. Since I moved to California, I have explored the neighboring towns and cities, parks and preserves to get better acquainted with the local biota and way of life. Driving from one town to another could be quite exhausting, but if you plan ahead of time where you would like to stop, you can certainly utilize your time efficiently to not only see several points of interest but also enjoy them.

I want to travel more in the future, especially abroad. But I first would like to see what is nearby. Explore small towns in your area, visit a neighboring place of interest that nobody might have discovered, or simply go on Tripadvisor for advice. Happy traveling!

Santa Barbara, CA

Another weekend, another trip... This time I wanted to see what real California looks like and took a long trip to Santa Barbara. I remember in childhood I used to watch the TV series and was jealous of the luxury and beauty of the nature that Santa Barbara could offer.

Since Google estimated the trip one way to be 4 hours, I left nice and early at 7 AM. Prior to the day of the trip, I booked a session at Salt Cave Santa Barbara through Groupon and built the rest of the trip around this appointment. As always, I get ideas of what to see through Roadtrippers and TripAdvisor. I use the first website to see what attractions could be along my route, and the second one to see what people liked in the town I am traveling to.

Since I was to be driving in the middle of nowhere (yes, that is soooo true :), there were no stops along the route that really interested me, so in the interest of time (since I had to come back the same day), I drove straight to my first destination.

Moreton Bay Fig Tree was planted in 1876 and is gigantic! It is certainly worth stopping by.

I also got into thrift store shopping, so being in such a trendy city, I wanted to check out their Goodwill. Unfortunately, it was a pure disappointment. The store was poorly organized and looked like a trash box, nothing similar to local Goodwill stores.

Since I had about an hour before my salt cave session, I stopped by a lunch place I planned to visit, C'est Cheese. I was a bit disappointed by their selection of lunch items, so I headed to the local coffee shop, Handlebar to check it out. Luckily for me, its menu had a Cortado, a coffee drink that I love, but could never find in Fresno.

For lunch I tried a sandwich at Three Pickles, a place that had really good reviews on Yelp. Absolutely loved it!

On the way to my car, I stopped at the local historic place just for a quick look.

I then went to my Salt cave session. It lasted 45 minutes and was really neat. With a Groupon I got an additional $10 discount off any product bought there. Theoretically, Himalayan salts are supposed to be beneficial to your health, but in reality I have not seen too many studies proving that. So for me it was more of a spa experience. In a group setting you spend 45 min. in the salt cave (created by humans, not natural) on a lounge chair with all lights dimmed around you listening to some meditation music.

Relaxed and with a bottle of overpriced garlic salt even with a discount, I headed to my car. Parking in Santa Barbara is quite restrictive. The majority of parking spots have a 75 or 90 min time limit. It is free though.

State street is the busiest and trendiest place in Santa Barbara. Local shops, restaurants, fancy clothing stores - all located on that street.

My next destination was Old Mission Santa Barbara, a what I believe, Presbyterian church with a few acres of land. The self-guided tour costs $8 and is probably not worth the money, but hey, I was already there!

Yes, I wanted to take a picture of that family right behind me...

I consider this picture to be a California symbol :)

Part of the church grounds were occupied by memorials and graves

Really cool old flooring...

...and ceiling

The views of the surrounding area were stunning as well...

The next stop was at the Courthouse, a must see if you visit Santa Barbara even if it is because of stunning views from the top.

Courthous

Walking in the area where the Courthouse is located was quite impressive on its own. Palm trees, clean streets and some random churches...

Before heading out back to Fresno (I just can't say "home"...), I had to visit the ocean. Since the famous Arroyo Burro County Park was packed with cars and people so that nobody could get in or out, I opted out to stay away from it. But I did stop once or twice or three times to take pictures of the water and some palm trees.

A perfectly manicured street with super expensive houses on both sides

On my way to Fresno, my air conditioner in the car suddenly shut off... And never came back :( Another trip to a mechanic... My luck.