We finished our drive in Oakhurst, where we stayed Thursday and Friday night at the Best Western. Our dinner was delicious, at Crab Cakes, a seafood restaurant. The kids were so excited to swim in the pool afterwards! We all went in, except Caroline, who sat in her stroller watching us all. ;)
Friday morning after breakfast at Katie's Country Kitchen, we drove to Yosemite. All was going well, despite getting a later start than Brian had hoped. But that's what happens, when you have all these little kids to take care of. ;) The road from Oakhurst to Yosemite is windy, a mountain road. Lauren, sitting with Austin in the very back seat of the van, suddenly said, "I'm going to trow up...," and proceeded to do so. All over herself and car seat straps. Thankfully, it did not get on the car seat cloth cover!! As it was I had to clean the straps the best I could with baby wipes. Which, also thankfully, we'd filled to the brim before leaving home. And, thankfully, the incident happened just before a hotel, where some friendly housekeepers said we could clean Lauren up in their employee restroom. I keep a clean change of clothes for each kid in the car for emergencies such as this, and this is a time I'm glad I do!! They may not be the cutest outfits, but good enough to be warm and clean. ;) You'll see Lauren's interesting ensemble below. What a start to the trip.
On to Yosemite. No sooner after we enter the park, Caroline thinks she needs to nurse. And indeed she did, as it was her time. Ha ha. Brian leads our mini caravan of us in our van in the lead, with my parents and Julia and Austin, following in their car. He thought the Mariposa Grove of Sequoias would be a good place for me to sit and nurse the baby while the other kids could run around. And it would have been a good idea, except, lots and lots of other people decided it would be a good idea to go to the Mariposa Grove too, and we couldn't even park right away. We had to wait in a long line of cars to even get in the parking lot! Neither of us had seen so many people at Yosemite before. Right then it felt more like Disneyland to me than a national park in the mountains!! We were going so slow, barely going at all, that we decided I should nurse the baby in the long line of cars. Yes, we did take her out of her car seat. Shhhh... So at least that was taken care of.
We only walked around the big Sequoias for a short time. My mom and dad said they'd rather see waterfalls and cliffs, and there were so many people in that area! Anyway, here I am, with the kids in front of part of a giant Sequoia. Notice Lauren's sweatsuit with a dress underneath. It was a little chilly, and that was what we had for layers for her. Austin is on a fallen tree, later, after lunch, near our picnic area.
After the Mariposa Grove, I said I'd like to see Wawona, an area with pioneer cabins and buildings, a covered bridge... Brian wasn't thrilled with this idea. But it was close to the Mariposa Grove, so he agreed. It was interesting to see, and something new we hadn't visited at Yosemite before.
Finally we drove to Yosemite Valley. By then it was lunch time. We were all hungry. And most of us were cold. There was only one picnic table in the sun, and we didn't get it. After lunch we all went in sunny spots to warm up! Do you like our ice chest? It was Brian's grandpa and grandma's, years ago. Kind of fun, huh? I like the vintage look of it, and it still works to keep food cold!
After our lunch and potty break, we continued our drive through Yosemite Valley. We parked and then walked to a visitor center where we looked at displays, and watched a movie about Yosemite. The movie nicely coincided with Caroline nursing again, though she didn't want to nurse, as it was much more interesting to watch the movie on the giant screen!! Austin and Lauren wanted to sit in the very, very back row, at the top of all the seats, and they were glad to go up there by themselves, just the two of them. Brian did go sit with them during the film, though. At the end of the movie Caroline and stayed by ourselves in the theater (no distractions then) while everyone else went out back to explore the Indian village. The Ahwahnee people lived in Yosemite Valley first, and in the village were Indian houses and displays, signs telling how they lived.
Here is Yosemite Falls, Upper Yosemite Falls, that is, while driving through the valley, and Caroline sitting on a big rock in the Ahwahnee village. (Lest you think we are endangering this poor child, taking her out of her car seat while the car's moving, and now sitting her on a rock by herself--Brian was holding her from the back. :D )
We drove to Yosemite Falls trail next, and hiked to it. There were patches of snow here and there in the park, first picture. And in the second picture, tiny little us in front of just part of Lower Yosemite Falls. You can't even get it all in the picture, or even see Upper Yosemite Falls. It is too tall. Very impressive! Of course the movie and displays at the visitor center talked about glaciers forming the cliffs and moving rocks, but we know God made them that way, and put the rocks where He wanted them. It is always the same story at those visitor centers: "Twenty million years ago such and such happened and the glaciers came through and broke the rocks apart and the ice melted and carried other big rocks to 'unnatural' spots and 'left' them there..." Maybe God used glaciers somehow, or maybe not, but I'm not buying the 20 million year story. Goodness. Give credit where credit is due! But they don't, and I don't think that's going to change soon. I thought it was cute Caroline was so focused on the waterfall. Who cares about yet another picture?! Ha!
Grandpa and Grandma with the kids, on the walk back to the cars.
It was about 6:00? 7:00? I think, when we left Yosemite Valley. We had to drive an hour to get back to Oakhurst. So we ate dinner late that night. I know, the first restaurant that we tried to go to dinner at, closed at 8, but they still had the door unlocked and let Austin and Grandpa use the restroom. ;) We were all tired (all three younger kids slept part of the drive back) and hungry, and the kids wanted to swim in the hotel pool, so we ended up back at Katie's Country Kitchen for supper too! That's the first time we've eaten twice at the same restaurant in one day. The food was ok, but mostly we didn't want to get stuck with no restaurant open, as it was only getting later, and Katie's was close to our hotel.
They were having karaoke night, and Grandpa and Julia both sang! The owner was very pleased to have them participate. I think they must have pretty much the same group every week, because they were sure urging my dad and her to choose songs. My dad told them he sings Gospel music, and they asked if he knew May the Circle Be Unbroken, that they quickly found in their selection book. He did, and sang that with a couple of the regulars. I don't think the regulars knew much Gospel music though, as they did ok, but didn't seem familiar with the song. The first song he sang was Elvis' Can't Help Falling in Love, and Julia sang Catch a Falling Star. She did well too, and it was cute. :)
Our dinner was so late, that we decided to not swim that night, but told the kids they could swim the next morning. Lauren was not happy about that! I think Julia and Austin were maybe a little relieved, as they were so tired. We had planned to return to Yosemite for a few hours, but they were more eager to swim and play at a park with a playground (what good is a park with no playground, even if it is a national park with amazing scenery...). After the throwing up incident and knowing we'd have to drive an hour to Yosemite and back again, Brian and I thought we would skip it on Saturday. My mom and dad left to drive home, back to WA, that morning.
Grandpa and Grandma with the kids, on the walk back to the cars.
It was about 6:00? 7:00? I think, when we left Yosemite Valley. We had to drive an hour to get back to Oakhurst. So we ate dinner late that night. I know, the first restaurant that we tried to go to dinner at, closed at 8, but they still had the door unlocked and let Austin and Grandpa use the restroom. ;) We were all tired (all three younger kids slept part of the drive back) and hungry, and the kids wanted to swim in the hotel pool, so we ended up back at Katie's Country Kitchen for supper too! That's the first time we've eaten twice at the same restaurant in one day. The food was ok, but mostly we didn't want to get stuck with no restaurant open, as it was only getting later, and Katie's was close to our hotel.
They were having karaoke night, and Grandpa and Julia both sang! The owner was very pleased to have them participate. I think they must have pretty much the same group every week, because they were sure urging my dad and her to choose songs. My dad told them he sings Gospel music, and they asked if he knew May the Circle Be Unbroken, that they quickly found in their selection book. He did, and sang that with a couple of the regulars. I don't think the regulars knew much Gospel music though, as they did ok, but didn't seem familiar with the song. The first song he sang was Elvis' Can't Help Falling in Love, and Julia sang Catch a Falling Star. She did well too, and it was cute. :)
Our dinner was so late, that we decided to not swim that night, but told the kids they could swim the next morning. Lauren was not happy about that! I think Julia and Austin were maybe a little relieved, as they were so tired. We had planned to return to Yosemite for a few hours, but they were more eager to swim and play at a park with a playground (what good is a park with no playground, even if it is a national park with amazing scenery...). After the throwing up incident and knowing we'd have to drive an hour to Yosemite and back again, Brian and I thought we would skip it on Saturday. My mom and dad left to drive home, back to WA, that morning.
1 comment:
I've nursed many a baby (well, just my two! ROFL) in a car and yes, in a moving car - going down the interstate even. Bad, I know. We didn't want to stop while traveling; and it was only when we were traveling, not during feedings while we were at home out and about or anything.
That is so cool that you live that close to Yosemite. I get tired of the "twenty million years ago" stuff too. (insert eye rolling smiley! ;)) My kids will even comment when they hear that. In fact, Elizabeth sort of got "into it" with a boy at school who believes in evolution.
Did you get a video of the karaoke? Oh, that is so fun!
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