Day 68 Yosemite to Lake Tahoe.

We left our lovely home that we shared with the squirrels so we could drive through Yosemite on our way to Lake Tahoe. The drive was nice since we had already done part of it yesterday. It was also great because we got to see new places. Once we got into the Tuolumne Valley. It was really pretty again with big Granite rocks and awesome looking climbing areas. I wish I could climb here. From there we headed out of the park and past Mono Lake (a dead lake kind of like the Great Salt Lake, just not as big). Then it was through some farm land and up the road into Tahoe. We checked into our hotel at Timber Lodge and wandered the area for a little bit before having dinner, ICE CREAM MONDAY, and then shower and baths. We all desperately needed a good cleaning after being tenting dirt bags for the past 4 days. It was also nice to have a good bed to sleep in rather then the tent (even though I didn't sleep much due to watching Purple Rain until almost 3am). 
For Dinner we ate at a place close to here called Base Camp Pizza. It was pretty good. Michelle and I had a couple of drinks and it was nice because we just walked back a whole block to the Hotel.

Adult Root Beer

PASTA.

cross-eyed-freak

one of the last views of Yosemite

awesome pizza

 

"bearcat"

basket of Tahoe Goodies.

Thanks Dan and Timber Lodge activities team.

Spicy Blood Orange Margarita

Ice cream

Day 67 Yosemite

From base camp at Yosemite KOA we headed to the park.  We stopped at the visitor's center to pick up Jr. Ranger books for the kids.  We looked in the newspaper and found out there was a Jr. Ranger walk at 10:30 and we had to get moving since it was about an hour away.  We got there and found a parking spot and headed to the walk.  The kids walked with the ranger and learned about different habitats and senses the animals use to hunt and protect themselves.  They also played a couple games.  When the walk was over they all received a Jr. Ranger badge.  After that there was a hike not too far so we decided to take a hike.  The hike was up a pretty steep trail to a bridge to see a waterfall.  There were a lot of people on the trail.  The kids picked up trash as we walked so they could keep working on their Jr. Ranger badges.  It was 1.6 miles total. 

We then took the shuttle up the Yosemite Village.  Looked around the shops and the kids earned another Jr. Ranger badge.  This one was really cool.  It is made of wood rather than the standard plastic.  We took the shuttle back to the van and headed to Glacier Point.  We stopped to take some pictures along the way.  The scenery is breathtaking.  On the Glacier Point road there was a bit of a traffic jam because of this guy.

About a minute later we saw a deer along the road.  Then a minute after that we ran into another larger traffic jam.  We thought it was a bear but couldn't see anything.  So we continued and as soon as we turned the corner we saw a cub.  We couldn't get a picture and we didn't want to get out of the car to get a picture.  We also saw one of the most amazing views when we turned the corner.  We went to the end of the road and turned around and went back, the bear was gone so we stopped and took some pictures of the view.  When then drove back to main road and head towards town.  The coyote was still near the road but he had moved to the other side.  We went back to town and stopped at Denny's for dinner.  The KOA was playing a different movie called long shot so we headed up to watch it.  It was a good day. 

Day 66 Yosemite KOA

We packed up camp and headed to the Yosemite KOA.  It was only about a 2 hour drive.  When we got there and they assigned us our campsite, we discovered we had to share it with squirrels.  It was super dry and the facilities weren't great but they had to work.  We then decided to head to town.  We did a little shopping and decided to stop at a Mexican restaurant.  It was THE WORST MEXICAN food we have ever tasted.  After the disappointing meal we headed back to camp for a shower.  The kids decided to play a game with the van an a squirt bottle full of water.  The campground had a family movie called "Puppy Party".  We took our chairs up there and watched the movie.  The kids enjoyed it. 

Funny for the day.  Sora and Nakai were talking about Lego's and Sora had an idea and she told Nakai about it, then she said "Did I expose my brilliance?"

 the frog in the men's room

 sunset at the movie

Day 65 Sequoia



Today we set out to see the sites of Sequoia. We stopped at the Visitor's center for Jr. Ranger Books then we headed to the General Sherman trail. It was a loop trail with several large Sequoia trees.  General Sherman being the largest. General Sherman tree is the largest tree by volume in the world.  We also hiked around and found a great overlook on top of a huge granite rock. After spending some time at the trees we made our way to Crystal Cave for our tour. It was about an hour drive and a 20 minute walk. The cave was pretty cool, but a couple of the people on the tour were unbelievable.  There were 2 boys on the tour that interrupted the tour guide several times and she could not walk anywhere with out them being right under foot. There were also 2 women on the tour that thought they didn't have to stay with the group and could do what they wanted. The tour guide had to stop the tour and got back and get them. They told one of the other people on the tour that they weren't in kindergarten and they could do what they wanted. After the tour we went back to the campsite for some dinner and then went to another campfire talk about fire. The kids also were awarded their Jr. Ranger Badges.

 

 

 



Day 64 Sequoia Camping

 

 

 

We got up and drove to Sequoia National Park. We decided the first thing we needed to do was find a campsite. There was a first come first serve campground, the catch was you could only stay for 1 night. So we decided to go for it. We were right next to the bathroom, which was good and bad. We got camp set up and put all of our food in the bear locker. The kids found a rock in the campsite that they affectionately called Giant Jeffery. We walked over to the visitor's center and shop. We also stopped at the campsite check-in and they told us to come back at 8 am to get a spot for tomorrow night. The kids played on the rock while we cooked dinner. After dinner we headed over to the amphitheater for the campfire talk on the stars and constellations.

 

 



Day 63 San Jose to Tulare

Today we started with a great breakfast at the hotel.  It was the best hotel breakfast we have had on the trip. Then we headed back to the room to pack up. The kids opened another pack from Aunt Yvonne and they both got new lego sets to play with. We decided to start by going to the garlic capital of Gilroy, CA. We went to Garlic World to see if there was something we couldn't live without. It turns out, there was a lot. We then headed to Tulare. We checked into our hotel and decided to go for a walk and out for some dinner. The front desk recommended a pizza place within walking distance. We walked around a shopping center and then went for pizza. 

We then went back to the hotel for an early night in. Tomorrow we will head to Sequoia National Park. We may not be able to do a blog post as we are hoping to camp.