Wednesday, April 23, 2014

yosemite take 2


Yosemite has sure become one of our family's favorite places. This week is spring break. A few weeks ago Spencer asked me what we were doing over spring break so I got online and after hitting refresh for a day or two, saw that two nights were available (campground) in Lower Pines. So we booked our trip to Yosemite but didn't tell the kids because we wanted to watch the weather and possibly have an "out" if we needed it. About 10 days before we decided we would go no matter what. I mentioned it to my dad and a few days later he was coming too! He just retired, and with that is a certain amount of freedom. We were excited to meet up with Papa. It was so fun to reminisce about Yosemite with someone who had more memories and could help me remember things from ~24 years ago.

Sadie was excited to go...
We got there and within a few minutes she had broken the campsite in.
Papa came and we had Easter dinner (ham, funeral potatoes, rolls, and salad). Then we went on a bike ride around Curry Village and up to Mirror Lake. We saw several deer.

It was amazing to see how much higher the water was than last year when we were there in June (we were sitting in the middle of this pool last year...on the "sand").

On Monday morning we hiked up to Vernal Falls. Last year when we did it, it was 30 degrees warmer, and it was definitely harder then. This year my dad was there to carry a kid (yay!) part of the time. Last year the falls seemed full but we only got misty for a minute and it felt wonderful. This year the waterfall was bigger and more wind made us WET as we went up as well as down. It was cold. Still fun. Tyler hiked with a sprained ankle!






After Vernal we were pretty wiped so we rested at camp for an hour and then headed out on bikes to the Visitor Center and Yosemite Falls.

The kids got their junior ranger stuff and worked hard that night to get their badges before we left the next day.

On Tuesday morning it was cold and rainy, and it even hailed! Dad got ready to go home because the weather was ridiculous, but his car battery was dead. We jumped it but the weather cleared and then he decided to stay a bit longer with us (check out was at noon) and we are so glad he did! We went back up to Mirror Lake and then parked near Yosemite Village to do a few more things before heading out.


What a fun 42-hour trip! We love this place. (Dad's picture.) Can't wait to go again!


1 comment:

Carly said...

Dang it is so pretty there!