Fourth of July BUST!!

On Saturday, we drove to the base of Yosemite Park. You can't come all this way to go to Yosemite without actually getting to the base of it. It was about a 30 mile drive. Back home, when something is 30 miles away you get there in about 30 mintues. Not here. No sir. It took us about 1 1/2 hours what with all the winding roads. What beauty around these parts!! Again, it was too amazing for words.
We hiked to the base of the small Yosemite Falls (I know I'm not naming everything correctly.) and basically just stood in awe and appreciation of what surrounded us.

I'm so glad to have been able to go there but it was WAY too crowded for my liking. Too much traffic and too many people.
We got back to our cabin around 2:30 and Bob, Logan, Emmy, and I took a hike to a swimming hole and waterfall. Nothing is close by out here. Everything requires a decent hike or drive. This was no exception! It was a 1 1/2 mile walk through some great woods to get to our destination. Again, no complaints since the scenery was so great! We finally made it to the falls, although I nearly turned back when it go very, very steep but I'm glad I conquered my fears and continued.
Once at the falls we just climbed around on the rocks, played in the cool water, and refilled our water bottles with some pure spring water. It was a lovely adventure.

We had dinner at the restuarant at the lodge and had our evening smores. That particular night the lodge was showing Ice Age on an outdoor screen so Bob and Emmy hung around for that. We've had such a nice trip.
Sunday we got packed up and headed back to SF for our Fourth of July celebration.
We arrived back at the hotel and hung around for a few hours. We headed back in to the city early to get good seating at the fireworks.
We decided not to drive thru that mess of traffic but to take the city's rapid transit system, called the BART. We paid the nearly $100 for round trip tickets for the 6 of us and got there 2 hours early for good seats. We had been told the fireworks would be going off on Treasure Island so from anywhere on the dock you would be able to see them. After waiting for 2 hours in the cold wind they started. They were setting them off on Pier 39 which was WAY down the dock from where we were. There were thousands and thousands of people there and there was no way we could get to Pier 39 in time so...we missed them.
We were severely disappointed to say the least. I know how much my kids and Bob and I were looking forward to this once in a lifetime experience and we were pretty upset.
So here it is, our last day in SF. We still have a few things on our list to knock out, with hopefully, no more disappointments.

Yesterday,

Thursday and Friday

We had to do a little re-thinking once we realized we were leaving SF on Thursday and not Friday. We still had a lot of things on our list to do and see there.
We checked out of the hotel and first drove to some neighborhoods we HAD to see. Bob had done a little research and located the row of houses they show on the opening of the 1980’s show Full House. It was so cool! The architecture of some of the homes in that area is amazing to me and I would have loved to have gotten to go into some of the homes there.
Our next stop was the intersection of Haight and Ashbury, the start of the Revolution. It was so much fun to find that intersection and to take Jenna’s picture beneath the street sign. We even saw some real-life hippies! J
During our first few days, we hadn’t gotten to check out the really, really steep streets in SF. But we did yesterday. Wow! It was like being on a roller coaster. There was a lot of screaming going on in our van when we descended. Of course, we had to go down Lombard Street, too, sight of the most crooked street in the world!!
Then it was time to leave SF and make our way to Yosemite. We expected it to be about a 3 hour trip but it ended up taking us about 4 ½ hours. We made a few stops along the way for lunch and supplies but it seemed we drove forever, up and down, round and round, on and on. Maybe I’m naïve but I didn’t expect how much of a climb it would be. We were driving along when I noticed a sign that told us to turn off our air conditioner for the next 8 miles. I had no idea what I was in for. Twisting and turning and climbing up the mountains. I had my eyes slammed shut and was holding on for dear life while everyone else was loving the scenery. I think I hate roads like this because of the many times I tried to climb up my parent’s drive way in the winter and didn’t make it all the way up. My memories of sliding down backwards hoping not to slide off in the deep ditch on the one side still haunt me. What a chicken!!
We are staying at the Evergreen Lodge just outside the gates of Yosemite. Its so peaceful and serene, except for the occasional bickering of my children. I know how difficult it is for all of us to be cooped up together in small spaces so I’m trying to put up with it.
Today we all slept in until about 8. It felt good to not have anywhere to be or anything to do. There is so much we could have on our agenda but we need to remember we are on vacation and have some down time too. As part of our money saving plan we brought along our own food for breakfast and some things for lunch. So now we are off and as I’m typing this we are in Yosemite Park itself, enroute to some crazy big trees. More later.
We’re back at our cabin at Evergreen. What a lovely day we had!! We drove to the area called Tuolumne something. We hiked probably about 2+ miles round trip to see some serious sequoia trees. I’ve always tried to imagine just how big they are but was not even close. How do you describe something so magnificent? Its hard to understand that well over 2500 years ago these creatures were just little saplings and that through God’s design they are such monsters now. It was amazing to see them firsthand.
Our travels today also took us to a few spots that pulled us off the road to take in the views. I feel like what my family saw today is indescribable. To say that it was a multi-level waterfall or to say we saw babbling brooks just doesn’t seem good enough.
They are simply that…indescribable. Even if I tried, there is no way to convey the beauty and how it amazed us. After what we saw today, I was humbled that God has provided for my family to be able to take such trips and to show these to our children. I thought that God could have just given us desert to live in everywhere or just flat grasslands but instead He allows us to see His handiwork and just be flabbergasted and awed at the beauty. I am thankful. What a Creator!!
So here’s another day at its end. At 7:30 we will go up to the main cabin for our nightly s’mores and plan our day tomorrow. It’s been a great day!!