Yosemite

Our weekend adventures are just that…..ADVENTURES.  There is always something funny happening or some big lesson that we learn after we take our trip.  Most of our trips will be one time only trips, but after we take them we realize there are many things we would do differently if we ever went back.  I guess that is how it goes with being a “traveler.” This weekend was no exception as we ventured to the famous Yosemite National Park.

Here we are eagerly waiting for Dan to get home from work. .

We left Friday evening and stayed in a hotel.  The pool water was freezing, the upstairs neighbors sounded like elephants on our ceiling, and the girls decided to lay in bed wide awake until 11pm.  So next time we might choose a different hotel, but you know, in spite of any inconveniences, we had a

blast.  All three girls were extremely good through it all. 

We woke up early Saturday morning and got everyone out the door by 8am.  We got breakfast and started our day at the South entrance of the park.  Apparently you have to get to the park entrance pretty early because of all the traffic from tourists (or so Dan told us……I think he just said that because he was so excited to see the waterfalls).  So we get there bright and early and there is no traffic.  I could have stayed in my nice cozy hotel bed and enjoyed some television for just a little longer.  Oh well, it worked out just fine. 

We decided to check out the Sequoias first so we parked our car and started on the trail.  What turned out to be a leisurely stroll became a four mile hike up the mountain and back down again.  Initially I had Chloe in the front pack and the two girls walking, but that didn’t last for long.  Sara has such a hard time walking on tough terrain so Dan backpacked her and carried Chloe in his arms.  I carried all the sweatshirts (we didn’t need them because we worked up a sweat) and held Mya’s hand.  Now without kids this type of activity is right up me and Dan’s ally, but with kids…..it was interesting.  Little Mya walked all four miles and did an amazing job.  This was a great time for me to work with her on the lesson of not complaining.  As we walked, I kept quoting scripture of being content in every situation. 

After our four mile hike and seeing some beautiful Sequoia trees in the grove, we headed to Glacier’s Point.  This was worth the entire trip.  We saw the waterfalls and mountains….it was stunning.  In Dan’s words, that he said all day, “Holy Guacamole!” By this time it was later afternoon and the poor girls had been snacking and drinking water all day but were getting hungry for lunch/dinner.  There were no restaurants to be found!  So we drove to Yosemite Valley to see the bottom of the waterfalls.  Breathtaking!  We stopped at a campground store to get more snacks for the kids. Finally, we left the park around 5:30, drove to the nearest town and got everyone dinner around 6.  A little fish and chips, a smoothie, some gas in the car, and we were on our way back to Porterville.  Looking back, we would have done a few things differently….like maybe packed lunch!