Well, we're back from our whirlwind "California National Parks Tour 2006"!! We had SUCH a good time. The kids did wonderfully on the drive. It helps that I stocked up on audio CDs the few months before we left. We got 4 new Jim Weiss CDs, a new Mr Henry CD and Susan Wise Bauer's Story of the World Vol 1 on audio too (which the kids really enjoyed & highly recommend). It was neat to hear 7 yo ds E clamoring for more history CDs--at least at first. I don't know any other moms who have to holler "Stop bugging me about listening to history!! We're going to listen to some music now!! Sheesh." :) Gotta love it.
So I was thrilled to hear that the Tioga Pass Road, at Yosemite's east entrance, opened the week before we were to leave on vacation. I had been wanting to go up the eastern side of the Sierras becasuse it's so much more interesting & pretty (imo, of course) than plugging through the Central Valley. I am SO glad that we went that way! E had a great time identifying the geologic features. We saw cinder cones, volcanic craters, ancient lava flows, and even stopped & did a little hiking at Fossil Falls, an area where the Owens River used to flow through the volcanic rock (a VERY little hiking--it was 102 degrees!). *Very* interesting!
We stayed in Bishop the first night, and had breakfast the next day visiting our favorite bakery in the world, Erick Schat's Bakkery. We decided to escape Bishop's 100-degree heat by driving up the Bishop Creek Canyon to over 9000 feet of elevation at South Lake. What a gorgeous drive (and drop in temperature!)! We played in the creek's snowmelt along the way, then spent about 45 minutes extricating a splinter the size of a toothpick from our 5 yo dd's foot. OUCH! South Lake was an awesome testimony to God's creation & creativity, and spawned E's favorite new phrase: "That's AMAZING!!" Now, if only I could get my sweet dh to upload the 700 pictures we took to the computer, maybe I could post a picture. Alas, you'll have to wait!
After Bishop, we headed to Lee Vining--the Mono Lake area. Mono Lake is an alkaline lake that has freshwater springs under it. The calcium in the springs react with the carbonate in the lake, and precipitate out into calcium carbonate. This forms towers, similar to stalagmites that you'd see in caves. Over the years, as the water level in the lake has dropped (due to L.A. diverting water from the watershed), these "tufa towers" have been exposed. Click on the link to see pictures of them (not our pictures, though we were there at sunset & got some pretty good ones). We had a gourmet dinner at the Whoa Nellie Deli in the Tioga Gas Mart. Don't laugh, it really was gourmet! I had one fish taco with mango plum pineapple salsa, the other with ginger coleslaw, served with Brazilian black beans; Mike had jambalaya. It was all very very good.
First thing the next morning (first thing for the Adams Family means about 10 am), we headed west up the Tioga Pass Road toward Yosemite. Wow. We quickly climbed in elevation, and were "wowed" at every turn at the waterfalls cascading down the hillsides, at the snow hiding under the trees, and at the amazing views of the granite domes & cliffs. The only damper in our drive was dd R, who occasionally has issues with heights, and who would scream in terror every time I pulled over into a turnout for a photo op--she'd beg me to stay on the road! (I drove most of the way so that Mike could take pictures, and boy did he take pictures! We came home with over 900 pictures!) We prayed with her & asked that God would take her spirit of fear from her, and other than a few other incidents, she did great the rest of the trip (which was good, as we did a lot of turning out!).
There was an amazing waterfall just outside the eastern Yosemite Park gate that we couldn't find on any map. It was gargantuan, and parts of it were covered with a snow bridge. The thundering could be felt & heard by us at our vantage point high above the falls. Amazing, just amazing.
Once we got over the Tioga Pass (9945 ft elevation) into Yosemite, we gradually started going downhill, through beautiful pine forests, with the Tuolumne River rushing beside the road. We stopped at Tuolumne Meadows for a short hike, and had a nice walk through the grass to a little stream with wildflowers blooming all along it, and even saw 3 deer!
We stopped at Tenaya Lake for a picnic lunch. The trail down to the lake was too boggy to maneuver with our brood, but we had a nice lunch under the trees, and let the kids play in the piles of snow. We had to stop at the turnout to capture some photos of the beautiful lake with the mountains behind. There was snow all around the lake & people were fishing from the shore.
I was very appreciative of all of my Uncle Keith's suggestions regarding our trip. One place that he recommended stopping was Olmsted Point. We did, and were very glad! We got a unique perspective on Yosemite Valley, with Half Dome on the left and the Valley curving away behind it. We also got to see a badger (at least, we think that's what it was) cruising around in the trees beneath the point.
There was a neat afternoon thunderstorm that we enjoyed as we drove across the high Sierras, especially since it cooled things down a bit. Then the road turns & starts heading more steeply down toward Yosemite Valley. It was a bit toasty down in the valley (in the high 80s), but there was SO much water that every time we even approached a waterfall, the mist blew over us & cooled us. I've never seen so much water in Bridalveil Falls! We stopped there for a walk to the viewpoint & photo op. The mist blowing up from the base of the Falls was quite refreshing! We let the kids play along the creek for a bit and cool off. There were a LOT of people there, it being Saturday afternoon. After doing a short drive around Yosemite Valley to gawk at the sights, we headed to our hotel. To get there, we took the road that follows the the Merced River, which was roaring & foaming with all the snowmelt. What an awesome sight & sound! After we got checked in, we explored the grounds of the Cedar Lodge & bit, and got some dinner at the on-site diner, then went swimming. The river was just across the street from the Lodge, and we could see it from our second floor balcony, and hear its roar. What a great day!
My one "downer" for the day was that since we entered Yosemite on a Saturday, the Valley was quite crowded. I think I can unequivocally say that the bathroom at the Bridalveil Fall viewing area was easily the most disgusting bathroom I've ever used. I had to hold my nose to keep my lunch where it belonged. There was also graffiti all over the place, and gangsta-wannabes driving their lowriders through the parking lot with their stereos bumping for everyone to "enjoy". I'm all for open access to the parks for all people, but what about respect for one another? It was very sad to see the way the place was trashed--in our two days in the park with 4 little people in tow, I had many occasions to do bathroom surveys, and most of the time, the bathrooms came up wanting. All I can say is YUCK.
The next morning, we headed into Yosemite for the day. We drove around a bit, enjoying the sites, then plastered ourselves with bug spray (they like all that water!), and had a lovely picnic in view of El Capitan & Yosemite Falls.
Well, I was going to do the write-up of our whole trip, but I got distracted, looking at panoramic pictures on this site and need to head to bed now. I'm going to be hurting tomorrow (today?) as is!
To be continued....
