Calaveras big trees

When they say "big trees", they mean big trees.  BIG trees. 
This was the first big, sequoia tree found by a man who was hunting on his own.  His friends didn't believe his story about giant trees so he had to lead them back to the tree prove his tall tale was for real. 
Sadly, the first thing people thought they needed to do to such a tall tree was cut it down. 

What's amazing to me about this picture is the "regular" sized trees hanging around the feet of the giant sequoias. 

That joint where these twin trees are joined is already fifty feet high.  These trees touch the rain clouds. 
Amazing.

Petrified forest

That's a forest out there.

A petrified forest of trees turned in to rocks; I think that's fascinating.

What was once a very different climate has left behind some incredible evidence of its existence.

Some trees are as big as 9 feet in diameter

To turn them from wood to rock, some of the trees were buried by volcanic sediment before they could decompose.
Ground water dissolved silica from the volcanic ash and carried it through the logs. This solution filled the wood cells and crystallized them to quartz.  What's left shows every detail of the former logs--the rough bark surfaces, the growth rings, sometimes even cell structure.
The quartz, in the shape of the logs often has a beautiful rainbow of colors.

It's so beautiful that, depending on the report, 1 ton to 12 tons per year are stolen.  People just want to take a piece home with them.

The petrified forest is something people have always found fascinating.  Here are a few photos of around 100 years ago...

Bananas

 Bananas grow on trees. 

A person might forget that if they don't see it in person every now and then.

Spanish moss

Something I've always wanted to see is the cobwebby Spanish moss on the trees in the Southern U.S.

I'm sure it's something very "everyday" to those who live there.

But to me, it's very novel.

And rather pretty.

Fall

 It must be six years since I have seen Michigan's fall colors.
I know they say it's nice in other places, too, but I have a hard time believing these colors can be beat.