(Thomas) Today, we’re leaving Los Angeles and head towards Sequoia National Park. But before all of that, we meet Liss, a friend of Gabi. She will show us a gymnasium. Not just some gymnasium, but the very place the ‘Enchantment under the Sea’ dance interior in the Back to the Future films was filmed. As you may remember, we’ve already visited the high school where the exterior scenes were filmed yesterday. This is a small bonus – or a rather big one as the gymnasium that belongs to a church in Hollywood is not open to the public.

I admit that Michael J Fox looked much better on the stage than I playing air guitar. It’s still a very magical feeling standing up there.

We have lunch with Liss and her friends before leaving LA: sliders with chili fries. They hit the spot.

Driving to Visalia where our next hotel is located takes about four hours and could not be more diverse. First, we cross the coastal mountain range, so driving a long way uphill and then again downhill. The highway has many lanes to allow cars enough space to pass the semi trucks. Some of them are barely making the way up. But we also see a broken down car by the side of the road. At the bottom of the mountain range, there are gravel pits where truck driver could lead their runaway trucks.

At the top of the mountain range, it’s so hot that bushes started to burn. We already saw the smoke in the distance and feel the heat while passing the fire in spite of all windows being shut.

After the coastal mountain range, there’s the the Great Valley, a very fertile area where a lot of plants are grown. We think we spot grapes for wine and apple trees. Almonds and peanuts are grown here too, also exotic (for us) fruit like avocado or mango.

After the Great Valley, we reach the Sierra Nevada mountain range with a highest elevation of 14,500 feet. Sequoia National Park is situated within the Sierra Nevada.

We have salad from Trader Joe’s for dinner. It’s a good feeling to eat something healthy again.