Sequoia Adventures Expo offers ideas for fun

Grab your bear can or camp chair, kick your feet up and chew the fat about anything Sierra Nevada related that doesn't quite fit in any of the other forums. Within reason, (and the HST rules and guidelines) this is also an anything goes forum. Tell stories, discuss wilderness issues, music, or whatever else the High Sierra stirs up in your mind.
Post Reply
User avatar
ERIC
Your Humble Host & Forums Administrator
Your Humble Host & Forums Administrator
Posts: 3254
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2005 9:13 am
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: between the 916 and 661

Sequoia Adventures Expo offers ideas for fun

Post by ERIC »

Sequoia Adventures Expo offers up ideas for fun in our backyard

Choices • April 29, 2008

With gas prices reaching $4 a gallon, families might think twice about packing their kids in the car and hitting the road for that annual family vacation.

But don’t despair. There are plenty of things to do right in Tulare County’s backyard — including the Giant Sequoia National Monument, Sequoia/Kings Canyon national parks and Yosemite.

That’s the message of Sequoia Adventures Expo, which will be held from 5:30-9 p.m. Friday, May 9 at the Visalia Convention Center.

Erin Capuchino, marketing and tourism coordinator for the Visalia Convention and Visitors Bureau, gets calls from as far away from New Zealand but few from local people.

“We take for granted what’s in our backyard,” Capuchino said. “The expo is all about highlighting what families can do just an hour or two away.”

Representatives from the U.S Forest Service will talk about hiking, camping and the back-country adventures awaiting those who want to explore the High Sierra.

Capuchino expects about 100 businesses to have booths, at which you can find out about whitewater adventures on the Kaweah and Kern rivers, boating opportunities at Lake Kaweah, back-country pack station tours via mules, helicopter tours and other options.

While Ron Overacker, president of Blue Sky Aviation, said he can’t land a helicopter at the convention center, he does plan to bring lots of information about aerial tours.

These include flyovers of the Sequoia National Forest, the Paso Robles wine country and the Sequoia National Forest.

“We give a whole new way to see the sights,” Overacker said. “Everyone who gets off one of our flights leaves with a big smile.”

You can check out http://www.myblueskytours.com.

Becky Bischoff, owner-operator of Sequoia Sightseeing Tours, typically sees few — if any — people from Visalia or Tulare booking tours. Her company takes customers to popular sites such as Moro Rock, Round Meadow, Tunnel Log and the General Sherman Tree.

About 60 percent of her business comes from visitors from other parts of California, she said. As the American dollar has lost value the last year or so, Bischoff has seen an increase in tourists from Europe.

“With gas prices and the economy, we think people are probably going to be sticking closer to home,” she said. “So we saw this as a good opportunity.”

Check out http://www.sequoiatours.com for tours from the company.

Other tourism-related vendors scheduled to have booths include the Crystal Cave, Wuksachi Lodge, the Horse Corral Pack Station, Paradise Spring Resort, the Historic Seven Sycamores Farm Stay and The Pines Resort.

Besides getting ideas about things to do in and around Tulare County, you can sample locally produced food, wines and beers at the expo. Some of the food-and-drink vendors include Bravo Farms, Brewbakers, Crawdaddy’s and The Depot.

And if you’re really hungry, Visalia restaurant Zhou will offer up a full meal.

Visitors to the Sequoia Adventures Expo also will get a chance to vote for winners of the Sequoia Valley photo contest, which features photographs of various Tulare County spots, all shot by local photographers.

Visalia Newspapers Inc. — the publishers of the Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register — is one of the event sponsors.

Originally published April 29, 2008
New members, please consider giving us an intro!
Follow us on Twitter @HighSierraTopix. Use hashtags #SIERRAPHILE #GotSierra? #GotMountains?
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HighSierraTopix
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 45 guests