Cadi Cam

As I posted our Yosemite photos earlier, I hadn't gone through any of Acadia's pictures yet, so now I've found that there are just a few more that I would love to share. 

The pic of the kids facing the fence makes me laugh.  It LOOKS like they are in time out or something, but I'm pretty sure they were just playing hide and seek with their uncles.  lol

Mariposa Grove:

Bridalveil Fall:

Valley Floor:

Volunteering with the Rangers at Cooks Meadow:

Yosemite Fall:

Oh deer...

Glacier Point:

Mirror Lake and Vernal Fall:

She took some pretty awesome pictures!  Thanks, Cadi!

Yosemite Day Four

Friday morning - our last day in Yosemite.  And finally, everyone was well enough to go at the same time!  Yay!!!  The weather was great!  It wasn't super bright and sunny, but the temps were pleasant and it didn't rain - so we were happy!

We went into the park seperately, agreeing to meet up mid-morning to take the shuttle to Mirror Lake.  Our family wanted to get in early so we could spend time seeing more areas we hadn't had time to stop at before.  We began at Swinging Bridge.  Which, actually, is not a swinging bridge at all.  It's a solid, firm bridge. lol  I guess there used to be a swinging bridge long ag, but it's since been replaced with the solid bridge but the name remained the same.   lol

But first, note the picture on the top right of the collage - I just LOVED how the lush, green floor covering looked like a soft carpet, blanketing the floor.  I could not let this, our last chance to get a picture of it, pass us by!

After Swinging Bridge, we decided to walk along the boardwalks in the meadow for just a few minutes.  It was so quiet and peaceful and it was so relaxing to be there, looking around at the huge granite peaks surrounding us.

But then it was time to meet up with the rest of our group, so we made our way to the shuttle stop.  We found my mom and brothers there, waiting, and Ben was sketching while he waited.  He is really good!

And then we were all on our way!  The shuttle dropped us off at the trailhead and it was a pretty easy 1 mile hike up to the lake.  It was beautiful, as we walked a long a rushing creek.

Mirror Lake was so still and peaceful!  This is a seasonal lake; later, it will be just a meadow, but we came at the perfect time.  While we were exploring the lake and surrounding area, we followed some stairs to an area completely covered in cairns that hundreds of visitors had made and left for others to enjoy.  It was pretty amazing.  Later, my sister read that some people feel that this was disrespectful, but everyone in our group, and it appeared also the other visitors there that morning, felt it was beautiful and something to honor the spirit of Yosemite.  It almost felt sacred!  Both of my girls, as well as others in our group, added their cairns to the collection. 

Mirror Lake is just such a beautiful background, we could not pass up the opportunity for a family photo.

The walk back, was just as beautiful and enjoyable as the walk up.  (Maybe more so because it was all downhill. lol)

We had a quick lunch, then headed over to Vernal Falls for our last big activity of the trip.  This was a hike.  Finally, a good, decent hike.  It wasn't especially long, even for those that went a little further than the footbridge, but it was all uphill.  It felt awesome!  And I felt it for the rest of the weekend. lol 

Some of the group stopped here, but the rest of us wanted to continue up the trail to the base of the falls.  Ryan, Rori and I were pulling up the rear and arrived at the fall last.  The others had gone ahead to the top, and Ryan really wanted to go, too, so I let him, while Cadi and I turned back.  The steep, wet stairs were making us nervous and we didn't want to go any higher on shaky legs. ;)  Ryan had been carrying Rori though, and wanted to take her with him.  I was nervous about it, but I trusted his judgement on what he was capable of, and he had done this hike before, so he knew what he was up against, so I let him take her.  I regretted it pretty soon after we parted, though.  All the way back to the footbridge, and until he finally returned there with her, I worried about their safety.  I wouldn't have worried so much if someone hadn't just slipped and fallen do their death just a couple of weeks earlier.  Of course, everyone made it back safely.  They all had a great time, loved the view, and even Rori said she was glad I let her go with Dad.  So, even though part of me wished I hadn't let them go, now I'm glad I did.  I was a nervous wreck for awhile, but once I saw she was safe, I was just so relieved that I didn't care about anything else. :)

By the time everyone made it safely down the trail, it was getting late.  We stopped by some stores so Debi could do a little shopping since she had missed out earlier in the week, then we headed home.  Exhausted, and sad that our time in Yosemite was over, but so happy and grateful for the time we had spent there.

Yosemite is a special place.  It is absolutely beautiful and has so many things to enjoy and explore.  I could easily spend a good couple of weeks there and still feel like I didn't get to see/do everything there is to offer.  I hope we get to go back someday!

Yosemite Day Three

Debi was still sick on Thursday morning and this time, she decided to just stay home instead of having to endure the long, twisty ride in and out of the park just to stay in the car the whole day.  But the rest of us enjoyed a beautiful, bright, and sunny day in Yosemite.  We decided to split up in the morning, allowing each person/group to do what they wanted until early afternoon when we would meet back up at the Lower Yosemite Falls trail.

Our family headed into the park, taking time to stop at lots of the places that kept grabbing our attention each time we drove past but didn't have time to stop for before. 

We made our way down to the valley floor and the girls and I dropped Ryan off at Yosemite Falls so he could hike the Upper Falls trail before we all went to Lower Falls.  He knew he wouldn't have time to make it all the way to the top before having to turn around to come down and meet us, but he wanted to get as far as he could, hopefully making it to the base of the upper falls.  While he hiked, the girls and I drove the loop around again, stopping to take pictures along the way.

We stopped in one of the meadows to have our lunch, then circled around to Cooks Meadow to park the car and take a walk.  The view from the meadows are spectacular, especially on such a beautiful day!



Turns out, Ryan did make it to the base of Upper Falls and since he had the camcorder with him, we have some pics of his hike.

As the family gathered to head towards Lower Yosemite Falls, I began to worry that Ryan wouldn't make it back in time.  Since they are completely seperate trails, I knew that if we left before he got there, we weren't going to see him until we got back.  But as it turned out, just as we were leaving, I saw him making his way toward us - Perfect timing! :)

I was surprised to find out that the "hike" to Lower Yosmite Falls is really just a nice walk.  But it was still a nice walk and of course, beautiful.

The trail loops around, so you can go back a totally different way than you came, which we did, and got to see even more beautiful scenery.

We all decided to head up to Glacier Point because we knew it was the perfect day to take in such a great view of Yosemite.  It meant getting home really late, but it was SO worth it!  See for yourself!  The first group of photos is from Washburn Point, just before Glacier Point.

The rest are from Glacier Point, but this first group was taken near the parking lot, which is not quite all the way to the point.

And finally, the view from Glacier Point:

On the way back to our cars, we stopped at this little lookout.  Rori had fun pretending she was Rapunzel up in her tower, while Cadi had fun playing with Half Dome. lol

We headed home excited about the gorgeous day we had just experienced and looking forward to coming back in the morning, but sad that when we did, it would be our last day in Yosemite.

Yosemite Day Two

Wednsday morning was beautiful.  Jared was feeling better, but this time it was Debi who was sick.  She took some cold medicine and came along anyway in hopes that once the meds kicked in she would be able to enjoy the rest of the day in the park.  As it turned out, the meds wiped her out so much that she spent the entire day sleeping in the car.  We all felt horrible for her. 

Before going to Yosemite, Ruth contacted the park rangers and signed our family up to volunteer on Wednesday morning.  It is a new program where every Wednesday, whoever wants to can show up in front of the visitor center and will get put to work for 2 1/2 - 3 hours.  We learned we would be helping to remove baby conifers from Cooks Meadow.  Mom gasped!  You mean to tell her that she came to this beautiful national park, she who cried everytime she set a Christmas tree out on the street once the holidays were over because she hated that it had died, she who loved nature and animals as much as most people she knew, SHE would be killing baby trees???  Yes, Mom, that is exactly what they were saying. ;)

Turns out, we were asked to play the role of fire.  Nature has a way of taking care of its own needs, but when an area becomes protected and cared for by humans, we might actually get in the way of it's preservation.  So, to make up for that, we became the fire which the rangers were so careful not to allow into the valley.  And we killed baby trees.  Cooks Meadow will remain a beautiful meadow and not become overrun by non-burned conifers that threatened to turn it into just another part of the forest... and it's all thanks to us. ;)

We worked hard, but some of us did manage to take a break from time to time to snap a photo or two, so here is evidence of our baby conifer slaughter, all done on federally protected land, and within eyesight of 3 park rangers and one park fireman.  As my brother said, it takes stealth. lol

As soon as we finished, it started to sprinkle.  In fact, Ranger Tom had predicted before we began that the rain would arrive at 12:15.  At 12:08 it was sprinkling and by 12:20 it was raining.  He could pull off a pretty decent meteorologist. ;)  We ate lunch and discussed our options.  Originally, we planned to visit Yosemite Falls that afternoon, but we decided instead to do that on Thursday and hit some shops while it rained.  It worked out perfectly!  So, we headed to Yosemite Village, checked out the movie at the visitor center, then checked out all of the shops.  We found some great deals, too! :)

We were all pretty tired by the end of the day.  Working in the meadow totally wiped us out!  Plus, Debi was still pretty sick.  So, we all turned in early and looked forward to a beautiful, sunny day in the morning.

Yosemite Day One

We knew that with the holiday weekend, Yosemite would be packed through Monday, so we chose to have fun hanging out at the lake and around town before heading into the park.  But Yosemite IS what we really came to see, so we were all looking forward to Tuesday morning when we'd finally head in.  Unfortunately, on Tuesday morning, Jared woke up sick.  That put a damper on things.  Tom stayed home with him and the rest of us headed to the park.

We began at Mariposa Grove, the largest grove of sequoia trees in the park.  It was a short hike (about a mile or so) to the tunnel tree we were aiming for, and it was beautiful!

Yes, that is a cute little snowman. lol  We were waiting for some of the group and Ben and Miriam decided to create that adorabe little guy.

 
At one point along the trail, there were these five tree stumps in a row, so we decided to put one person on each and had them all do a yoga tree pose.  then we switched it up and had everyone do a different pose - even Rori did one! lol

I don't know if you can read the sign or not, but Ben and the girls are all standing with Bachelor and Three Graces.  Get it?  Ben's a bachelor, and he's also standing with three graceful young ladies... ;)

Finally, we reached the tunnel tree:

The sequoias are beautiful!  And the walk was really nice.  It was a great way to start our visit to Yosmite.

After Mariposa Grove, we drove to Tunnel View, where we stopped for a breathtaking view:

Gorgeous!   El Capitan is on the left, Half Dome is in the center off in the distance, and Bridalveil Falls is on the right.

And after Tunnel View, we headed to Bridalveil Falls.  It was awesome!  This was the PERFECT time of year to go to Yosemite if you like waterfalls.  They were all full and powerful!  There were more waterfalls present than any other time of year.  Later, the big ones will slow to a trickle and the small ones will disappear entirely.  The downside of big, full waterfalls, is that you get DRENCHED whenever you go near them! lol  But that is also fun, so I didn't mind!

After Bridalveil Falls, we went the rest of the way into the valley and just took a shuttle around part of the valley floor. 

When we were in front of the visitor center at Yosemite Village, a deer crossed our path.  He was totally unafraid of humans.  Though, he did show a little concern for the dog that was present. ;)

And then, the day was over!  It went by fast!  Thank goodness we still had the rest of the week, and thank goodness the drive out of the park was just as beautiful as the drive in.

Bass Lake

About a year ago, my mom mentioned how much she would love to go to Yosemite for a week and felt the perfect time to go would be right after my brother, Andrew, returned from his mission for our church.  My sister's husband's parents have a time share in the area, and were asked how they would feel about our family using it.  Since they were leaving for a mission of their own, they knew they wouldn't be using their time share time, and so the arrangements were made for our family to have 3 two-bedroom condos about 15 miles outside of Yosemite National Park. 

We started by heading down to Sacramento the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.  Ryan's mom is recovering from hip surgery, so we were not able to spend the night with them that night, but we did see them for dinner and were able to visit for just a little while before heading on to Ruth's.



We were all leaving Saturday morning, and since our family had the advantage of already having the car loaded and ready to go, we were the first ones on the road.  For the most part, the drive was pleasantly uneventful, and we arrived in Bass Lake by mid-afternoon.  We wasted no time in walking out to the lake to look around and take some pictures.



And just as everyone else arrived, it started to rain.  Which was okay, though it would have been nice for the rain to wait until EVERYONE could have gone out to the lake that first day.  We had a lot of unpacking to do, and some grocery shopping as well, so the rain didn't bother us.

On Sunday, we attended the local branch for church.  It was nice and we ended up meeting a couple of people that we had connections with without knowing it.  One lady was there visiting from SLO, where my brother and his wife had just graduated from college - and she knew them from the Institute of Religion there!  Another lady used to live in our stake in Sacramento about 20 years ago and we knew some of the same people.  Small world! :)

After church, we played games and visited at the condos.  The Hinds' condo was designated as the general eating/gathering spot since they have the youngest kid and it was just easiest for them that way.  Somehow, though they had to stay inside and downstairs, the kids began a game of Hide-and-Seek.  After a short period of time, some uncles joined in.  The result, was hilarious!  The funniest part was when Ruth's husband, Tom, hid under the couch cushions - and Ruth sat atop - about 2 feet higher than normal, with someone else sitting nomally on the couch.  And it took the kids a good TEN MINUTES to find him!  It was HILARIOUS!  We were laughing so hard that I'm sure it counts as exercise because my abs were hurting! lol



Joseph got some video of the end, when they finally did find him... take a look:



Lots of fun!  lol

On Monday, being Memorial Day, we knew that Yosemite would still be packed from all the weekend visitors.  So, we decided to enjoy the resort and Oakhurst a little.  I have some pictures and video from the time we spent playing at the pool in the morning, but I will have to post them later (My computer is not liking my waterproof digital camera, and keeps giving me the blue-screen-of-death when I try to connect it, so I need to wait until Ryan gets home from work with his laptop for me to be able to retrieve them.), so stay tuned for that.

But after lunch, we went to Oakhurst (the nearest town) and went geocaching.  The first location appeared to take us to a cute cemetery on a hill.  It was all decked out for the Memorial Day weekend and we began to feel that this was one of the most appropriate things we could have done that day.  We wondered around the cemetery, trying to find what we were looking for, and taking lots of quaint pictures, before we realized that the location was actually in the parking lot of the strip mall next door. lol  That's okay, we still enjoyed the cemetery and beautiful flags very much.



The next coordinate took us to a really cute store, The Purple Cow.  Now, there is a story behind The Purple Cow, but our family's story is much different than the store owner's.  You can find our family's story here; needless to say, it has special meaning to all of us who love our mom.  And it was fun to find The Purple Cow with us on our vacation.  We all searched for the secret location and finally found it.  Since I don't know of anyone personally who is planning on going to Oakhurst to go geocaching, I feel safe in sharing the photos of our search and find.  ;)



So now, if any of you DO go, either forget what you just saw, or amaze your family/friends with your ingenious intuitiveness by finding it yourself when you get there. ;)

Next post:  Yosemite!

Yosemite post to come.

We have a lot planned this year and the first big vacation was spending a week down in Yosemite National Park.  We just got back last night and had a fantastic time!  It was SO BEAUTIFUL!!!  I only have about a thousand pictures (that I took) to go through, then another couple thousand that everyone else took... and then I'll be happy to share some of the best. ;)

In the meantime, I have a lot of unpacking to do, as well.  So, stay tuned, I do believe it will be worth the wait, though I warn you that even the best pictures won't do Yosemite justice.  It was spectacular! :)