Half Moon Bay, California November 2012

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Yosemite!!!!

Dad doesn't have much time off so we take whatever he can offer us!  Friday after work, we packed up the car and drove to Yosemite for a few days of leisure camping.  I say leisure because we normally camp in a tent.  This time we reserved a tent cabin!  It's definitely a step up for us!
The children were excited!  (This was the beginning of their Spring Break)

 And look how lucky we were -- a rainbow!!!
We arrived really late Friday evening... but we were unprepared for the snow!  Well, it was dark and we were tired.  What could we do?  We dredged through the snow and got into our sleeping bags and went to bed.  Poor Vince drove all night without complaining - better him than me!  So we were all so tired!  We knew it was cold (and were not as prepared as we would have liked!)  Anyway, I would have complained the entire way if I had to drive all day!  We were all sound asleep in no time!  Now, check out the mountains the next morning!
 This is our "hotel!" we had to store all our food in the green bear locker outside the tent.  No food is allowed inside the tent -- bears can smell food and will, I repeat, will tear into the tent to get to the food!
 And there they are... MG is under her sleeping bag.  That's MD playing a game over there:
 Dad is still asleep!
 E is hidden under all his blankets -- he's awake but didn't want his picture taken:
 That's the parking lot -- full of snow!
 The children and I went for a walk to explore the place...
 And came back to get Dad -- check out all the tent cabins and all the snow!
 After a quick bite to eat we headed out... This picture was taken by MG.  If you look closely in the background, you can see Upper Yosemite Falls!
 We visited the Yosemite Visitor's Center Museum-- that's John Muir.  Dad is going to hike the John Muir Trail one day....
 While walking the grounds around an Indian reservation (for display only), MD saw this... isn't that nice?!  A heart shaped snow ball... It made us all smile.
 They posed in front of this sweat shop because they had just learned about it in their homeschooling science class.  They wanted to show their science teachers.  :)
 Inside the museum, this native American Indian was giving them a demonstration on different wind instruments made by the wood found in the area -- one he played using his nostrils!  They thought that was pretty cool!  :)
 Back on the trail again, we are now headed to the lower Yosemite Falls... or as E calls it, the "downer" Yosemite Falls!  Check out the frozen part of that river!  Brrrrr!!!!
 And we made it to the Lower Yosemite Falls!
 This warrants a family photo, right?!
The next morning, the children discovered a deer!
 They were fascinated by it but knew better than to get too close!  According to our previous shuttle driver, more humans are killed by deer than bears here... Apparently they have very sharp hooves and will slash at you if provoked or scared!
 We took the shuttle to head off on another hike... This time to Mirror Lake.  Paved trails are the best! :)
 A few stops along the way to toss rocks in the creek....
 take a picture of each other... ;)
 Learn to carve with a new army knife set!  (And it was my idea, not dad's! Imagine that!  What was I thinking?!)
 They played some more along the way...
 And then we saw this breathtaking view!  Isn't it beautiful?!
 And check out this rock sculpture garden that someone started!  Isn't it cool???
 So they had to add theirs, of course!
 He added his a bit lower so it was hard to see.
 Then off to play some more.   If you know my children you know that this is normally what she will do...
 But these two... they have other plans!
 They like to get really wet!!!  And can you imagine how cold the water is?  BRRR!!!!
 That night, after their showers, they enjoyed a very nice meal!
 Everyone ate well!
 And everyone was very happy!!!!
The next morning they witnessed another deer sighting. This photo was taken by MG:
 We had a casual day of strolling around and relaxing....
 Vince and I sat, relaxed....
 While they all played!
 He climbed and jumped....
 But they all kept busy!
 She found some pebbles to grind!  They are very creative children! :)

On our last day, MG took these pictures:
Welcome!
 Farewell!
 We went on one last hike with Uncle Jim (who showed up 2 days after we arrived).  He brought along Corinna and his nephew  (Gert) and wife (Svieta) from Germany.
 We hiked to Vernal falls!
 It was a lot of up hill walking!  (E partnered up with Corinna.  She was so good with him!  Thank you Corinna!)
 But stops along the way helped the children.  Here, Corinna is helping MG identify a plant that Dad said was okay to eat... errrr, I'm not sure about that Dad, but okay.  ;)
 The boys found a small water fall.  They drank from it.  E wanted to fill his water bottle.  I'm sure you know  by now that MD is already wet from this small waterfall, right?!
 She found some acorn caps and filled those with water to drink!
 Then we arrived!
 Another family photo taken by Corinna.  Thanks Corinna!  :)
 After a quick lunch,  we drove home...  I couldn't help but admire these beautiful tree blossoms. I'm not sure what they are, but they were so pretty -- purple blossoms!
 And I kept asking Vince what those orange specks were on the mountains... turns out they are orange California poppies! Isn't that just so amazingly beautiful?!
It was a great four days of "high society" camping for the Quach family!  (Although the tent was not heated - that cost extra!, the showers were nice, the faucet had hot water, and the nearby cafeteria had reasonably priced meals - since cooking was not allowed in the tent cabins!)  We will be back!