Day 42

Dave and I were up early to get things organized to get back on the road today. I worked on the bear box and the inside of the car while he packed up our tent. It's so nice to have another adult!! Once breakfast was ready we got the kids up and Dave started working on their tent. We made it to Grammie's spot with time for a couple holes of mini golf while she filled up with propane. Grammie had an audiobook she thought all the kids would enjoy so they all hopped into the RV with her for the drive.

Our route today was to take us through the southern portion of Yosemite toward Sequoia. There were several tunnels along the way - one marked at 10'4" - that we were all nervous about the RV making it through. We had seen many RVs past the point of the tunnels and had also traveled on a tour bus through them so we hoped all would be fine.

We were leading so as I looked back in the mirror going through the first tunnel marked at 13' it appeared to me that she still had 6 more feet of room. They do mark the tunnel height from the top of the curb to the lowest point of the arched top. Meanwhile Grammie's GPS is screaming at her to warn her of the low clearance the entire time.

Next was the lowest tunnel but at least it was short in length. If necessary she could move to the middle of the road at the highest point of the roof to make it through before meeting oncoming traffic. She didn't really need to though because as I held my breath and looked back she still had at least 4 more feet of room. No problem! We beeped our horns for Ryan and a little bit in celebration of making it through tunnel #1 and #2.

Each time we'd driven or been driven into Yosemite we'd all noticed this farm in a valley. There weren't many pull offs so I managed to snap a picture as Dave slowed down just before a turn. I learned these barns were all built in the late 1800s and are the last remaining barns in the park. They are unique because they were built in the "Mormon Pole Barn" style unusual for this area of California.

Tunnel #3 was an easy high one then we turned south and stopped at the popular Tunnel View spot just before out last tunnel. This overlook was created in the 1930s by the CCC to give visitors an amazing view of Yosemite Valley. It was crowded but provided a lovely view of the valley. It wasn't near as good as our view the night before at Glacier Point though! You can see El Capitan on the left and Half Dome far back on the right. We also spotted Bridal Veil Falls - one of the hikes we decided to skip.

The last and longest tunnel I didn't even get to see Grammie go through as she went on ahead without us. We did find her on the other side with all her parts so all seemed well! We stopped at the Wawona Visitors Center to get the kids' passports stamped since I'd forgotten them our first day. There was a ranger outside doing a program on coyotes so we listened for a little while. Did you know coyotes are found in every county in every state today? We touched the coat she had displayed - it was so soft!

About halfway through our drive we stopped at Walmart for a resupply and gas. We had three days ahead of us in Sequoia National Park and now we had a jam packed full cooler. I even had to disassemble some containers so everything could fit!

I set the GPS to our campground as we followed Grammie but it wasn't very happy with her route. I finally muted her and just watched the scenery. We made it into Kings Canyon National Park after about an hour when the real crazy roads began. We traveled the winding General's Highway until we reached Grammie's campground.

We grabbed two kids and continued on to our spot to set up. I routinely consult a website for site reviews and suggestions on the best campsite in a campground. While this spot was tough to find a flat space for our tents it had loads of exploring potential for the kids up the rocky mountain behind us.

As we drove in I noticed a sign with the number of days since the last bear incident. They'd had 5 bear break-ins in the last 7 days. We were definitely in some strict bear country! All food and anything else with a smell including our laundry soap, first aid kits, and unopened drinks and water had to be stored in the bear box at our site. We were used to storing our shower bags and food but wow! Families with toddlers were even advised to pull out their child's car seats and place them inside or on top of the bear box. With our resupply at Walmart that day I wasn't sure it was all going to fit!

Dave and I discussed some different dinner options on our drive today and I remembered I'd brought our dutch oven and had barely used it! Tonight we decided on dutch oven nachos which excited everyone! We made a giant spicy pile and a giant non-spicy pile and we all dug in. I would venture to say these nachos were better than the ones we make in the kitchen at home! Of course, everything tastes better in the woods.

With full bellies Dave, Ryan, and I decided to go searching for the campground amphitheater. While I was cooking the ranger stopped by to tell us about the program and she told me simply it was "just down the hill". We walked down the hill for at least a mile and had only found one vague sign pointing straight ahead so we decided to turn around and drive there when it was time.

The whole time we were walking however we noticed a park ranger patrolling the area as well as the Bear Management team. I assumed it was a normal patrol with everyone cooking dinner and the smells coming from every site. Once we saw the park ranger for the fifth time I decided it was a little more. We were almost back to Grammie's loop when we saw the Bear Management guys out of the truck talking to the ranger. One guy had what looked like a shot gun (rubber bullets I'm sure) and the other was wearing a giant backpack and holding a radio receiver antenna. We were finally going to see bears this trip!

Next to the road in a small meadow next to the woods was a yearling rustling around in the grass. I was bummed I didn't bring the camera! We'd learned on previous trips that these younger bears are often the ones who make the riskiest decisions being away from mom now. We watched him head back toward the woods as the shot gun guy walked into the meadow and that is when we saw another bear hanging out on a log watching him. They had a stare down for a minute or so before he retreated as well. These teenagery bears must be familiar with the rangers and their rubber bullets.

The program tonight was excellent detailing the history of the area and much about how the park came to be. Our interest about the Buffalo Soldiers was piqued and we learned about Morro Rock which we'd be visiting our second day in the park.

We left Grammie and Ryan with plans to meet back up in the morning and utilize the park shuttles to hit the not-to-miss spots on our list. It was already chilly as we zipped up our sleeping bags. Did I mention this is my favorite weather?

Day 41

We slept in a little this morning with a different plan than normal. Since Grammie had power she was making homemade biscuits for all of us! I was up with the sun to write but the kids slept in until 8:30. They were much happier this morning when they woke up!

We didn't have a tight schedule today so we were able to linger at breakfast and really enjoy the morning.  Grammie cooked enough biscuits for an army so we were all stuffed by the time we got up from the table. I took the kids to the game room with plans to play 2 games of ping pong, 2 games of foosball, and 1 game of pool. The kids were so awful at ping pong I shortened the games to 10 points and it still took us almost an hour to finish! There was lots of doubled-over laughter throughout the games as they got used to the rules, the paddles, and the bounce of the ball.

Next up was foosball which we'd played many times before so the games were pretty quick. Ryan and I blew away Laney and Brayden so Brayden and I joined forces. We were beating them so horribly we played facing backwards with our arms crossed. Talk about some serious brain coordination happening! Once they made it within 2 points of us we played facing forward
but still with our arms crossed. My brain was so slow to react as goalie that we almost lost it. We played a third game with Laney and I teamed up and it was definitely more even than any other matchup with a final score of 9-10.

On our drive to Yosemite we'd gone through the tiny town of Groveland. Brayden noticed a couple pizza places and I noticed a general store so we decided to drive back and explore for the morning. I was assuming there were a few gifts stores we could walk through or maybe a small museum. Unfortunately it was already pretty hot and the stores were a flop. There were more taverns than anything! We just dropped post cards at the post office and headed for pizza.


Once we walked into the pizza place I didn't have very high expectations but it actually was very good. The crust and sauce were delicious and ours was piled high with veggies. I asked the owner if there was a laudromat close and this was a good day to do it but it was more than 20 more minutes away. I noticed on my plans we were to have laundry at our next stop and Grammie already had laundry at hers. Our to-do-laundry or not-to-do-laundry quandry solved itself.

The kids were interested in swimming and I'd noticed a spot called Rainbow Pool on my map in between our sites so we headed that way next. With it being so warm and a Sunday the place was absolutely packed! We drove through anyway just to see the swimming hole then continued on to drop Grammie at her laundromat. We still had a few days of clothes left so the kids went to swim at the river and I relaxed and read with Lola.

I was rudely taken away from my book about 45 minutes later and close to napping with wet hugs from Brayden and Dave. They wanted me to come down to the river so we put Lola back in the RV and walked down. The girls were wrapped up in towels by the time I got down there but I talked them into going back in to jump off the rock. It was a nice little spot with colorful rocks but the water was COLD. There was no way I was getting in any higher than my ankles.

Once the kids got in dry clothes we headed back down to the game room for a few last games. It was a little more crowded now so the kids settled on playing pool. The kids are getting better but I don't think we'll have pool sharks any time soon.

After dinner we made the not-to-miss drive up to Glacier Point. This was supposed to be the best view of the valley and mountains in the park and I was hoping we would be able to time it to make the ranger program and the sunset. It looked like we were going to just make the program until the traffic came to a complete stop about 100 yards from the parking lot. We inched and inched closer and finally were at a point where everyone could hop out and I could find a parking spot. The parking lot wasn't too small, everyone had just been waiting for people to leave and holding up the rest of us.

I joined up with everyone after a few minutes and we walked the trail to the point. This was a spot Lola could join us so she was thrilled. It's been almost like everywhere we went we were missing someone until we are allowed to bring her too. Brayden not be as thrilled as she sat in his lap during the more than hour drive up!


We caught the last few minutes of the ranger program about fire then explored the point while the sun dipped behind the trees. There wasn't much color to the sky but it was still beautiful to see Half Dome from this perspective. On a rock by the edge I spotted a survey marker for our spot. We were at 7,214 feet.











The Santa Cruz Astronomy Club was all set up in the Amphitheater with a bunch of giant telescopes all aimed in one of two directions. There was still enough light to be able to easily see so I didn't
expect much until it got dark. Boy was I wrong! We saw Jupiter in all it's color with 4 moons in two of the telescopes. Then we saw Saturn as clear as if we were looking at our moon in the others.  It appeared so close it seemed fake!

There was a night sky program scheduled next but once we did the calculations of when we would actually arrive back at our campsite we decided to skip it. I could only imagine how brilliant the stars and planets were at this perfect spot. Ryan had been eyeing a rock ever since we got here and it was finally empty for her to climb. I promise this picture wasn't taken at JC Penney - it just got dark on us!

About halfway back to our spots I was so very glad we had opted out of the sky program. There wasn't any traffic but I was so tired I was yawning those big, noisy yawns that meant it was time for me to be horizontal. With the help of the cold wind on my face we made it back and all sunk into our sleeping bags for the night.

Day 40

I set my alarm just in case but of course I was up well before the sun. I edited pictures until Dave woke up and we decided to start breakfast. Dave made a big pot of cheese grits while I prepped all our sandwiches and snacks for the day. The kids were not at all happy when I woke them up at 6:30 but a warm bowl of grits helped a little bit.

We made it to Grammie's spot about 30 minutes early so I got the angry stares from Brayden and Ryan. That meant they could have slept for 30 more minutes! They forgave me a little bit when they realized they had a few minutes to play mini-golf while we waited.  I expected a little shuttle bus to be driving us but it was a very nice and comfy tour bus bringing us into the park. This was definitely worth the investment!

It took us about an hour to get into the park and down to the valley. The views were spectacular with us up high in the bus. I was excited to get my feet on the ground and start hiking the area. I already could tell this was a park I would want to spend at least two weeks hiking on another visit.

Since we weren't staying in the park we didn't have a program schedule or map until we walked into the visitors center. I asked for some advice from the ranger and we were off to see Yosemite Falls. This hike was super easy but the payoff with the view of the falls was wonderful. I could only imagine how huge this waterfall would be in April or May with the snow melt!

 We have definitely gotten used to the 70 degree days and were not enjoying this 90 degree one! We sat in the shade to get some water and let the kids climb around the rocks for a few minutes before continuing on.




The trail was very busy and we overheard accents from all over the world. I would imagine this was an easy trail the majority of people took if they had just a day or afternoon in the park like us.

Our next hike was the Cook's Meadow just across from the falls. Not many people were opting for this trail in the morning heat so we were able to enjoy it a little more. The view of Half Dome and the falls was awesome. We also learned a lot about the Native Americans who called this area home like in many other parks we've visited. The meadow we were standing in was set on fire by the Awaneechee every year to encourage new growth. Once they were pushed out by gold seekers and other settlers they later returned describing the meadow as overgrown and ugly. Today the National Park Service performs prescribed burns in the area to lessen the changes of a fire from lightning as well as to return nutrients to the soil for meadow plants to thrive.

Our next bus took us to Cathedral Beach for lunch and the cool waters of the Merced River. There were ravens staring at as as we ate so we didn't take too long. It was nice to lighten the load of carrying lunch around for a family too!  Dave took the kids down to the water to cool off for a few minutes and check out the view of El Capitan. He made a new friend while he was there!


Earlier this year we went with Grammie to watch the Free Solo movie about the first person to freely climb El Capitan without ropes. It was inspiring, funny, and a little scary too! We gained a whole new perspective once we were standing at the base of the sheer wall. None of us were willing to say we would try that climb!








We hopped on the bus back to the visitors center to enjoy the air conditioning and the movie next.
The kids all placed their votes for the coolest hair first.

This movie was a little different than most with less to learn and more about the beauty and spirit of the area. We stopped by the giant gift store for post cards and stickers then Ryan and I ducked into the museum for a few minutes. We were leaving the park on the first bus to be able to make it back for Lola. We all feel sad for her to have long days locked up in the RV. She probably loves these naps in the AC though!



After we returned to Grammie's spot and everyone got their Lola licks in the kids went to play volleyball with Brayden's mini soccer ball. I ran to the corner grocery story to pick up some kind of fresh something as we were pretty much out of everything fresh. Dinner was quick then the kids were sent begrudgingly for showers. I was excited for mine!




We all smelled so much better as we walked to tonight's outdoor movie - The Goonies! Grammie helped the kids pop the bags of popcorn I'd grabbed so we were set for the night. Well except all of us forgot sweatshirts so by the time the credits started rolling we were more than ready to pack up our chairs and head back.

Brayden and Ryan were excited about being able to sleep in the next day as were Dave and I. We begged Grammie to make her homemade biscuits in the morning for us since she was plugged into power at this park. I had the easy job of just showing up with yogurt and strawberries in the morning!

Day 39

I woke this morning excited to check out the view of the lake with Lassen Peak. Unfortunately I missed the sunrise so the peak was already lit up with us still in the dark at the lake. I enjoyed my bagel walking on the trail this morning checking out the view.

We are all spoiled with Dave here as he helps the kids pack up their tent and me with cooking and clean up. When it's just mean mom everyone sets up and packs up their own stuff. Must be another reason they look forward to his visits so much!

We got on the road pretty quickly with me & Dave looking forward to the rest of the drive through the park. There was a hike to Lassen peak so I knew we would be seeing it again at some point.

We rounded a corner by a beautiful meadow and there it was! We pulled over to take a picture and the kids spotted a thick snow drift across the street so they had to all climb out and play.

I stayed in the meadow to try out the water in the stream and enjoy the view. I bravely stepped into the water up to my ankles. Within 3 seconds I was in pain from the frigid water - so much pain all I could do was yell, bend over, and hold my knees. I climbed up the bank to look around if anyone saw what a wimp I was.

Grammie climbed out of the RV  with Lola for a walking break and I told her how refreshing it was that she should join me. She called my bluff and said she would after she saw me step in. Of course I did and before I could complete the sentence, "See? It's refresh...!" I was doubled over in pain again and climbing back out. You can take the girl out of Florida....



When we got back on the road Brayden and Ryan were glued to the car windows looking for the next snow spot they could find. There were lots of drifts on the side of the road but no place to pull over. They especially loved the caves the creeks made through the snow. Around a series of s-curves Grammie left us and we stopped for snow. The kids were slipping and sliding all around on flip flops.

Our second snow stop just happened to have a gorgeous view of Lassen Peak with a glass-like lake in front of it. Lake Helen was clear and blue-green reflecting the mountain and trees on the other side.

While we took pictures of the scene, Brayden and Ryan took off to slide down a small snow hill nearby. They could only last a few minutes before their hands and feet started to hurt from the cold. I told them if we didn't keep going we would never make it to our next stop! We found Grammie waiting for us at the visitors center near the exit.













We stopped to enjoy the exhibits on energy and volcanoes. Ever since our very first trip we have seen the works of the Civilian Conservation Corps and this park was no different. They had a notebook used by a road construction crew with a drawing of the road around Lake Helen we'd just traveled. Their hard work was still there after almost 100 years.



















We had a long drive ahead of us so once we got back on the road we didn't stop except for brief gas fillups. Well, of course with Dave along with us we also had to stop for ice cream. He found us a homemade stop in Sacremento that had rave reviews. It was 2pm on a Thursday when we arrive and the place was packed! That's when you know it's going to be good!  It was 103 outside but we found a shady spot to gobble up our ice cream before it melted. Grammie had a little bit of help with hers.






The temperatures were hoverying in the low 90s once we got close so I didn't mind that we were going to arrive and setup a little later in the afternoon for sure. Way back in March when I'd made our reservation for Yosemite in the first minutes they were available I was super excited to be staying in the park at a much sought after spot. Once Grammie started making reservations she discovered a mistake I'd made so we ended up having to stay just outside the park. Reservations for Yosemite are gone within minutes the first day they are available.

Our bare-bones spot was in the Stanislaus National Forest about a 20-minute drive from the entrance to the park and about 10 minutes from Grammie's spot. We set up quickly and opted for a snack dinner to avoid cooking in the sun - definitely not my favorite.

At some point on our drive the kids discovered we had a hitchhiker in the car with us. Brayden felt something crawl down his neck and assumed it was Ryan trying to annoy him. Ryan felt something crawl across her arm and they both screamed when they realized it was a roach. One of the problems with having to store all our food in bear boxes at campgrounds is that the smaller creatures can get in even if bears cannot. It seems this guy decided to explore our crumbs and got taken along for a ride! Ryan tried to catch him but he eluded her Tupperware trap tactics. You could tell Brayden was nervous because he kept talking about it and talking about it. He even lifted his feet off the floorboard of the car as if that was going to help. They named him Neck Armstrong. We tried to capture him again after setting up but he was too quick.

Brayden mentioned there was a lot of activities at Grammie's spot so we headed that way next. The kids raced down to the mini golf course first for their version of the Holey Moley show. They had been looking forward to this place all day! Dave and I played shiffleboard until it was too dark to see and the kids were finished.
































Grammie and I tried to plan out our next day since we had some quiet. We wanted to make it into the park on the day it would be the least crowded for our time in the park. Yosemite is notorious for traffic jams and lack of parking after 9am during the summer. We opted instead for a shuttle bus that picked up at her campground to lessen the stress and maximize our time in the valley.

The adults were all exhausted from the long day so we declared it time to retire to our sites. We were going to have a busy day tomorrow and had plans to be up early!