Yosemite National Park- Day 3- July 14th

Today we planned on going to the Mariposa groves by our campsite to see more big sequoia trees. We got a later start then planned and decided to take our chances and park in the parking lot instead of taking a shuttle…but we drove there and the parking lot was full so we drove back to catch the shuttle and it had just left which meant a half hour wait. So we decided to switch gears and do a meadow hike that was across the street. So we started on our hike and realized 30 min into the hike that there was no meadow in site and we were on an unpaved road, not a hiking trail. So back we went (which was good because Megan was crying because she was afraid and Leah was crying because it was a difficult hike!). My meadow hike turned into a forest hike…I guess I am not going to see a meadow! After that we went to the Pioneer History Museum. It is an outdoor museum with a lot of old buildings and cabins taken from all over the park and placed here. There was an artist's cabin, a Wells Fargo, a jail and a blacksmiths shop which actually had a guy doing blacksmith work in it! It was like a step back in time. We also took a stagecoach ride and got to feel what it was like in the late 1800's when people would take an 8 hour stagecoach ride up to the valley. The Wawona area was a major stagecoach area where people would begin their journey into Yosemite. It was a neat place and the kids loved the ride. Then we came back to camp for lunch and then Tim took Megan and me for our 2 hour horseback ride. Guess what trail our horses took for our ride? The meadow loop we tried and failed to do earlier in the day! I finally got my meadow in by horseback and it was a beautiful meadow full of lupines and other wildflowers and we crossed a couple of streams. Megan had a great time as she just loves her horses! After that it was back to camp for some quiet time, dinner, and our nightly after dinner game of UNO. Then we attended the ranger program and she spoke about the wilderness and backcountry areas. This ranger was in her 60's and used to come to Yosemite with her young kids and dream of the backcountry although she couldn't go there because her children were too young. And now her dreams came true and she is a wilderness ranger. I thought that was a great story. Gives me hope that one day I will be able to do the long arduous hikes Tim and I desire but cannot do because of our young ones…but for now we are to enjoy stagecoach rides and nightly ranger programs! God has seasons for every stage of life and we have to enjoy the season we are in… I think God is showing me that big time on this trip!

Yosemite National Park- Day 2- July 13th

Today we ventured into the Valley which has all of the main sites or should I say most popular sites in Yosemite. We decided to take the free shuttle leaving from the Wawona hotel since it is an hour's drive…it left at 8:30 and returned at 3:30. So off we went on our shuttle ride and after you go through this tunnel, the valley appears in all its glory. It is basically really tall granite cliffs rising from the ground with waterfalls at every angle. We immediately saw El Capitan and some of the other giant cliffs. The shuttle dropped us off at the Yosemite Lodge and right away the amount of people down there just blows you away. We walked over to see our first waterfall called Yosemite Falls. It was really beautiful to see the water crashing down from such a high point. We took lots of pictures and then got on the shuttle. We made a few stops at some highlights including Curry Village. The valley was not at all what I expected and I felt disoriented and unsure of where we were going most of the time…not fun when you are surrounded by tons of strangers and you have your kids with you! The highlight was stopping at Happy Isles and going to the Nature center there. We then hiked around there a bit and played in the river. Then it was back on the shuttle and to the lodge. We spent a long time in the gift shop and had lunch there too. Then our shuttle came to take us back. Overall, this was a day to get used to the valley and the system so when we go back on Saturday, we will know what we are in for and what we should do. We didn't get to explore too much nature this time but just be a tourist and take in the sites and get to know the lay of the land. Tim's sister and family are coming on Saturday so we wanted to know what we were doing for that day. So, off on the shuttle for the long ride home. Then back at camp it was splashing in the river time, then dinner, campfire and bed. Today we saw the heart of Yosemite but I want to see more…the unpopulated, pristine, and nothing to do with a shuttle and crowds of people!

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Yosemite National Park- Day 1- July 13th

We had a fairly non-eventful trip here to Yosemite…it took about 3 hours of driving and then 1 hour at the dreaded Wal-Mart trip in Fresno. Unfortunately, I chose a Wal-Mart that was not a Super so there were limited groceries. It had most of what we need but we will be having no fruits or vegetables for the next 7 days! Leah had car sickness twice, coming out of Sequoia and going into Yosemite but we were prepared with the bag so it wasn't too bad. Our campground was just a few minutes from the entrance to the park so we headed right there. Our site is right on the Merced River so it is nice and peaceful. So we set up camp and then had a quick dinner and then it was off to the Ranger program at the amphitheater in our campground. The topic was the history of Wawona which is the area of Yosemite where we are camping. It was interesting to hear the history of the park dating back over 150 years. Unfortunately, there was a heckler in the front row next to us that made a few rude comments during the show… he was upset that she was talking about what we can do to "save" the earth and he called her a liberal and a few other choice things. It was a little uncomfortable! There are interesting people here in Yosemite…people from all over the world and obviously with lots of different viewpoints! After the program it was back to camp and to bed! Tomorrow we head to the valley floor to explore the heart of the park.

Sequoia Day 5- Leaving

This morning we are leaving! One last bear siting to report. As Tim was at the dump station we saw the same bear and cubs from last night in the forrest off to the side. The kids and I went over and took pictures of the and watched the cubs romp and play. Yes, I said the kids and I... Megan went too! No crying or screaming! I wonder what worked?

Sequoia National Park- Day 4- July 11th

This is our last full day at Sequoia. The boys and girls did their own thing for most of the morning. Noah and Tim drove over to Crystal Cave to see the cave here in the park. The girls and I swore off caves last summer so we were out. Tim drove to the cave and then they had a little hike down to the cave…on the way a snake jumped out in front of them and Tim said "snake!" and he turned around and Noah had run away. I'm glad I didn't make that trip…snakes and caves are not for me! They had fun though and said it was pretty neat. The girls and I spent the morning at the campground visitors center and market doing laundry and taking showers. I didn't realize how far it was from our site until I was carrying 4 days' worth of laundry for 5 people and then I realized why they have a shuttle from our campground to the visitor's center. But we made it and while we waited for laundry we shopped, the girls got their ranger badges and we took in a ranger program with a table full of fur skins to touch. The ranger doing it was the bear expert from the program last night so Megan explained to her about the bear phobia and she helped a bit. Then it was back to camp for lunch and the boys came home soon after. Tim and I went for a trail run in the afternoon and then took the kids to the river for a little dip. The kids found some big sticks and made up a pretend game of Moses and Pharaoh which was really cute. Then we went back to the visitor's center to get some information on how to drive to Yosemite and for Noah to get his ranger badge. While there we saw a cute little fawn in the bushes. We had some more ice cream (yes, I know we have had ice cream every day!) and then headed back for some playing games at the camp site and just hanging out. Toward dusk there was a bear spotted in the campground so Noah, Tim and Leah went to check out the bear. And yet again, we had one last bear siting before bed...we took an evening walk around the campsite and I saw in the shadows of the river a bear... I called it and sure enough it was a mother and 2 cubs...they were crossing the river over a log. Tim and Noah got closer but Megan started into her panic attack this time with full out screaming (guess her little therapy session with the ranger didn't help) so I stayed back with her and Leah. No camera so no photos of that but it was so amazing to see the cute little cubs crossing the river! What a way to end our trip! Tomorrow morning we leave for Yosemite!

Sequoia National Park- Day 3

Another great day here in the Sierra's. We spent the morning riding the park shuttle and seeing the sights. We first went to see the main event which is the General Sherman tree…it is the largest tree in the world. Not the tallest or even the fattest but the biggest in volume. And my is it big! We are tiny compared to these giant sequoias! After seeing the tree we went walking in the groves doing the Congress Trail. They had another huge tree named the President and then some trees that were the Senate and House. It was a beautiful nature walk in the groves with tons of huge trees, a couple of small waterfalls and beautiful fern meadows. After that we had our picnic lunch and then it was back on the shuttle to the Giant Forest Museum. That was a lot of fun and the kids learned some things about trees. Back on the shuttle again to visit Moro Rock. This is a huge rock where you climb stairs all the way to the top, about ¼ mile worth of stairs. The view is so worth it as we saw beautiful views of the Sierra Nevada and even saw snow on the mountains. One last trip after this to visit Crescent Meadow. The kids were fighting me about this one as they felt they had hiked enough but I love meadows and didn't want to miss it. So we bribed and promised ice cream after and got back on the shuttle to the meadow. I'm glad we did because we saw a bear! Right when we started the trail a lady told us there was a bear up ahead on the side of the trail. Megan immediately went into panic mode (she is deathly afraid of bears!) so I stayed back with her and Leah. Tim and Noah checked it out and then when Tim came back I went to take a peek and there he was. About 30 feet off the trail he was foraging…we got some good pictures and then went back to assess Megan. It was a full panic attack in effect with crying, shaking, everything. So the rest of the hike was not going to happen. So I didn't get to see my meadow but the bear was worth it! Even though we didn't finish the hike we had our ice cream and it was good! Then it was back to camp to hang out and relax…we even got a nap in. We have some lovely neighbors that we have been spending time with too. Leah took in a bike ride and Noah and I played Battleship. Then it was off to the nightly ranger program…about bears. So guess who didn't go? Megan! Anyone know of a good therapist specializing in bear phobias?

Sequoia National Park Day 2- July 9th

What a difference a day makes! Today was a much better day for us that did not involve any cars. We got to know our campground a lot better today and get oriented to the park. We slept in this morning and then got up and had a big breakfast. After that we went over to the visitor's center in our campground. We checked on a few things we were interested in doing and then we saw a movie about bears in the park. We also went to the market next door and of course there was ice cream that we had to partake in…why not have ice cream at 10am, we are on vacation! Then we headed back to camp. All in all the campground is nice…a little older and more run down than I expected (the park is the second oldest in the US, established in 1890) and the campsites are close together but the scenery makes up for it. We are surrounded by giant trees and granite mountains and our campsite is near a roaring river that I can hear gushing right now as I type. So after our trip to the visitor's center we came back to camp for a small lunch and then it was off to our first hike. This hike was right off of our campground which made it so nice and convenient. The hike is to Tokopah falls and it starts with a walk right along the river. The hike continues with mostly forests and of course the occasional meadow (my favorite). The kids took some dips in the river on the way up and we made lots of stops just to gaze at the smaller falls. Then you come to these giant granite boulders you have to walk through and right beyond those is the Tokopah Fall which is huge and gorgeous. It provided a great mist for us to cool off with and have a snack. We saw a marmot up there which is an animal that looks almost like a beaver, it was really cute. Then we came back down and back to camp for dinner. Then it was a campfire, some chats with our new neighbors and some smores. We then headed over to the amphitheater for the nightly ranger talk which was about fires. The ranger was fun, he made us sing a campfire song in the beginning that got louder and louder to the point we were all shouting and making crazy hand motions! The talk was interesting and the kids found it fascinating that forest fires can be good for the forest. On our way back to camp in the dark we practically walked into a deer which thrilled my deer lover Leah. Then it was off to bed. Can't wait for tomorrow, we get to see the biggest tree in the world!