We began our day at a WalMart in Kalispell, Montana. After running into WalMart for “just yogurt and sandwich meat” and coming out with a whole lot more than that as well as Charlie having to make a quick repair to the cable that hooks up the camper breaks and lights, we were finally on our way to our campground where we dumped our camper so as to head off into Glacier National Park.

We had a nice picnic beside a quiet lake, but we were attacked by large black flies, so we didn’t stay for long. It was nice to have flush toilets in that area as much of what we have encountered within national parks are pit toilets aka vault toilets. We headed off to the Visitors’ Center to get information on area hiking. I learned that Glacier National Park had an estimated 150 glaciers in 1850. Today they are down to 24 glaciers and are estimating that the glaciers will be completely gone from the park by 2030. We were all a little disappointed that we wouldn’t actually be able to get close to a glacier. The hikes that allowed this were not in our ability.

After we decided where we wanted to hike, we made sure we read all the safety information regarding bears as grizzlies and black bears are common in this area. We finally went on a hike to Avalanche Lake that was about 2.5 miles in. These hikes take us forever due to one little boy who is very pokey and distractable. Even his younger brother will hike quicker than he does. When we finally get there, we are rewarded by seeing three waterfalls coming down the side of the mountain behind Avalanche Lake. The kids had a great time skipping rocks on the lake and putting their feet in the cold, glacial water. On the walk back I became very curious about the green and purple rocks that we were seeing in abundance. I shall definitely have to ask a ranger about that in the future. We saw a big doe that liked to wander along the edge of the trail. Some of the kids and Charlie even saw a black bear further up in the woods. I just tried to hurry the littler kids along and continue to make a good deal of noise so it wouldn’t want to come close to us. Making noise for us is, obviously, not a problem. Towards the end of the trail we ran into another large family and stopped to talk with them. They were a local family with 10 children and had another family with 6 children visiting and hiking with them. Again, we enjoyed visiting with another family with similar values and life situations.

After we finished our hike we began our drive back to our campground. I was fortunate enough to see a black bear at the side of the road – the perfect place to view a bear is from the safety of my van. We made it back pretty late, but we all fell asleep quickly tired from our adventures.

Blessings,

Rebecca

 

   

 We started off this morning from a WalMart in Yakima, WA. We drove across eastern Washington which continued to be desert. I knew that eastern Washington was a good deal drier than Washington on the western side of the Cascades, but I had no idea that it would be desert. We finally made it through Washington and into Idaho. The aridness began to change around Couer d’Alene, ID as we entered a beautiful national forest and drove beside the Couer d’Alene River for just a bit.

 

 While driving down the interstate in Idaho, we had the most marvelous experience. We saw a state park sign for The Old Mission. Charlie and I both wondered what that was, and then I saw a beautiful old church located just off I-90 east of Couer d’Alene where we were driving. I asked him if we could get off and take a look. It turned out that this was The Old Mission. I got out and went to investigate. I quickly discovered that this was an old Catholic mission church established by the Jesuits. I gave Charlie the thumbs up for everyone to hop out so that we could go find out what this was all about. What a jewel we did find!

 We went down to the information center first where a lady explained that there was a nice museum explaining some of the history of the Salesh Native Americans and the Jesuits in the area. Fr. Pierre-Jean De Smet arrived here to evangelize to the natives, and eventually the Sacred Heart mission church was built along with a residence for the priests. After Charlie came in, we realized that we only had about 1 hour to take all of this treasure trove in. We spent about 20 minutes in the museum, 20 minutes in a film, and 20 minutes seeing the church and rectory. We learned that the church was built between 1850 and 1853 by members of the Coeur d’Alene tribe and Catholic missionaries. Today, it is the oldest standing building in Idaho. Each year on the feast of the Assumption, the Couer d’Alene tribe makes a pilgrimage back to the Sacred Heart mission church for an outdoor Mass and celebration. I wish that we had had more time there. Ryon was really taking the time to read a lot of the exhibits in the museum, and I really hated rushing him through that. The old church was so beautiful. The pews were no longer there, but the beautiful wood floors and walls were there (Dad, you will have to tell me what kind of wood that was – I think it was probably some kind of evergreen tree). It was such a blessing that we found it.

 

   After departing from the old mission church, we continued driving east through Idaho and into Montana. The area was just so beautiful. In Montana, we finally left the interstate and began driving up a highway along a gorgeous river with these beautiful railroad trestle bridges. It wasn’t long before we were in country where there were large tracts of land with cattle grazing. However, the land was once again fairly dry. Anything that was green was being irrigated.

The kids are doing pretty decent on this trip. We are still having the usual bickering between certain children who shall remain nameless. It would also be nice if some of the older children would act a little more mature and quit picking on some of the other children. However, sometimes you here kids just having a great time together in the back. I enjoy watching some of the older kids encouraging the younger ones in whatever they are attempting to do. We have been enjoying some read-aloud books while Charlie is driving. I’ve now finished a couple of them and am beginning to think that I probably didn’t bring enough read-alouds with us. Of course that just gives me an excuse to pick up a book or two somewhere for us to enjoy.

Blessings,

Rebecca

Last night Charlie and I were sitting outside while the kids were going to sleep. I looked up at the sky and said, “Really?” There were a couple stars out shining very brightly. After another day of cloudy weather obscuring the view of Mt. St. Helens, the stars were going to come out the night before we leave. So of course we woke up to bright blue skies this morning. We talked about driving back up to Mt. St. Helens so that we could finally see the mountain from the overlook, but we decided that it would just use way too much time and we didn’t want to have to drag the camper back up there with us since we had to be out of the campground this morning. We compromised by driving across the street to the Visitors’ Center and looking at the famous volcano on the computer monitor. Although the picture was much clearer, it still wasn’t a perfectly clear view, so we were glad that we had decided against making the drive back up there.

So, we pulled out and began our journey back east. We drove east on US 12, which went between Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier. I was hoping that we may be able to catch a view of Mt. St. Helens on that highway, but no such luck. According to a woman I spoke with, we were pretty close to the base of each mountain, so we weren’t going to be able to get any great views without driving closer. There were too many other mountains blocking what we wanted to see. Oh well. I knew we would be coming close to Mt. Rainier National Park, so we kept driving. We decided to drive into Mt. Rainier National Park, have lunch, and do some hiking.

I was trying to use my AAA book for information on Mt. Rainier to decide where we would be able to drive with a camper in tow. We didn’t want to get into a situation where the roads were really too curvy for us. Unfortunately, don’t rely on AAA for that kind of information. I thought we might be able to stop at the entrance to the park where we would show our National Parks pass and ask a ranger questions, but you actually had to drive into the park for several miles before encountering the fee station with a ranger. There was a Visitors’ Center that I thought we would be able to get to, but the signs indicated that the road wasn’t suitable for our length. No mention of that in the AAA book (I think I need to find some RVing books). We did finally get to a fee station where the ranger indicated that we would be fine on the road ahead. We drove for a little while until we found a beautiful view of Mt. Rainier where we pulled over and had lunch. After lunch we drove to a hiking trailhead called the Grove of the Patriarchs. We took a beautiful riverside trail into an old growth stand of trees consisting mostly of Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar, and some kind of hemlock. We had a wonderful time on the trail playing in the river, jumping on the suspension bridge, reading the informative tree signs, and seeing the beautiful trees. Of course, like on any good hiking trip, the heavens opened up and poured down rain while we were looking at the trees (the farthest spot on the trail from the van). Thankfully, Charlie had brought along our supplies backpack despite the fact that this was a short, easy hike. In the backpack were ponchos for each of us, so after we decked ourselves out in our ponchos we finished our hike in relative dryness. Note to self: buy a couple child-size ponchos because Dominic and Damien’s were too long for them to walk. We used my belt to hold Dominic’s up, and I carried Damien the whole way out (talk about a good workout for my arms – that is one heavy little boy!). We came out laughing and having had a great time.

After our hike, we needed to move on so we continued to drive east. When we reached the eastern side of the Cascades we saw some beautiful buttes. Next we noticed that we must have entered some of the Washington apple country. There were apple farms everywhere despite the fact that this was a very dry area. It looked like much of this area was irrigated to be able to grow anything. Still driving east, we realized that we were back in the desert. Much of this area looked just as it had in New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and eastern California. I have definitely decided that living in the desert would not be high on my priority list. I enjoy trees and gardening too much.

One of the things that I am hoping to do over the next couple days is to find a place to go pick huckleberries (first I need to find out whether or not they are in season – I don’t even know what a huckleberry is). I also want to find a local farmers’ market on Saturday and see what local food is available for us to try. I really wanted to try an elk burger at Mt. St. Helens, but when I drove up there to get one, they had already closed. I’m hoping some moose will be in my future!

Keep the comments and suggestions coming! We so enjoy reading them. You are all such blessings to us! We pray for your intentions daily and ask for your continued prayers.

Blessings,

Rebecca

I woke up this morning all excited because we were going to be able to go see Mt. St. Helens today. (This was a very moving thing for me to see when Charlie and I were out here in the summer of 1998). The weather was supposed to be more clear, according to what we heard a couple days ago, but when I stuck my head outside, all I saw were clouds. We drove across the street to the Visitors’ Center to see the live picture of Mt. St. Helens on the computer monitor. It could hardly be seen at all due to the fog, but we knew today was our last day to give it a try, so we headed up there. By the time we reached the Johnston Visitors’ Center at the overlook to Mt. St. Helens the clouds had still not cleared. We were able to see a nice view of Windy Ridge and Spirit `in the distance. (Spirit Lake was devastated by the volcanic eruption. It was filled with ash, the water level was raised a lot, and it is now ½ as deep and much wider than it was. In 1998, it was filled with fallen trees.) We had a nice time at the Visitors’ Center and were able to see good pictures of how Mt. St. Helen used to look and how it has changed to look now with the northern flank of the mountain missing because most of it slid down the mountain and into the rivers and valleys below. After we finally reached the Johnston overlook, I realized that we weren’t seeing the degree of devastation that Charlie and I had seen in 1998 and that was because today we had approached the volcano from the western side. The fallen tree forests and devastating views of Spirit Lake were more evident from the eastern approach that must have been what we took in 1998 (a friend was driving on that trip, so we paid no attention to the maps and such facts as which way we came to the volcano). I also realized that we missed the opportunity to see the lava tube caves that were a result of previous explosions and could be reached from the southern entrance. Those other entrances would have taken a 4 hour drive or a 2 hour drive from where we were, so we missed them entirely. I was so disappointed that we weren’t seeing some of the things that would have been amazing to see, but as Charlie says, it all gives us a reason to come back.

We also stopped at a Visitors’ Center that was built by Weyerhauser. Weyerhauser is a forestry company that has a lot of forests growing in the area and that had a very informative visitor center with a lot of hands-on exhibits for the kids. We were finally able to touch some pumice and see how light it was and be able to see other volcanic rocks like obsidian and basalt. Unfortunately, most everywhere we were happened to be inside of protected areas where we weren’t able to get down to the rivers and see some of the volcanic rocks and such. They had some amazing pine cones on display there that we were able to pick up and hold also, one of them included the Coulter Pine. I asked the gentleman there supervising the learning center where we could find Coulter Pines to see them in the wild. He said that they weren’t very common but could be seen in the Sierra Nevadas. Robert III, I believe that it is now up to you to go take pictures and collect Coulter Pine cones for everyone back in South Carolina. Otherwise, I guess we will have to make another trip!

We went back to the campsite early so that we could get to bed at a decent time as well as to get some laundry and cleaning done. We are doing laundry about twice a week – not really going through all the clothes we brought, just because we need more cool weather clothes (not having brought enough of those) or because we have the opportunity to do it and aren’t sure when the next opportunity will be. While I did the laundry, the kids cleaned the camper, packed things away for pulling out the next morning, ate s’mores by the campfire, and watched a rare movie in the camper. We all got to bed at a decent time for once. Not being rushed through our day was such a blessing!

By the way, we haven’t been revealing our destinations in advance, usually, for online safety reasons, but that has also kept us from being able to take advantage of some of the destinations that some people have recommended to us in the comments (of course, it doesn’t help that I have been getting these out a couple days late at times). However, we have decided that we can reveal some future destinations as long as we aren’t giving away too much info. So, if you have any recommendations for things to do around Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Mt. Rushmore, or anything in between (especially great Catholic sites to see) please let us know. Hopefully we will be able to take advantage of others’ experiences. You are all such blessings to us!

Blessings,

Rebecca

Last night we did some research to find out when low tide would be on the Oregon Coast. We wanted to see some tidal pools at the beach as Charlie and I remember being able to see cool starfish and sea urchins and such in the tidal pools. All the recommendations we found were to make sure we get there an hour or two before low tide so as to have plenty of time to explore before the tide started coming back in. Our research showed that low tide would be around lunch time, so we got everyone up nice and early for our drive to the coast. They were all so excited because we were going to the beach. We kept reminding them that this beach was going to be different than what they were used to. It rained off and on during our drive, but we were going anyway.

We drove to Ecola State Park on the Oregon coast, just a little south of Astoria. We had decided not to bring any bathing suits because we were all just going to be wading around. Of course, I didn’t bring a change of clothes for everyone either. Will I ever learn? The one thing we did do right was that everyone brought their sandals that were able to go in the water. Those were great for climbing around on the rocks. When we first got there, it was quite chilly, rainy, and overcast. After a while, it began clearing up some. Despite the wet clothes, everyone had a great time. I don’t think anyone wanted to leave, except maybe Ryon who can’t quit talking about how he wants more food. We all really enjoyed climbing over the rocks to get to more tidal pools and seeing what wildlife we could find. We didn’t find any sea urchins, but we did find starfish and sea anemones as well as some beautiful shells and small sand crabs. The kids loved playing in the water. We never let AnaClaire out of her backpack, so she missed out, poor thing. I just didn’t want her getting cold. The things you miss out on as a baby…

After our wonderful time at Ecola State Park, we decided to hit some outlets that we had passed on the way in. I had been wishing that we packed another pair of pants for everyone, so we bought pants for several of the younger kids. As we were leaving the outlets, Charlie saw a Claire’s store and decided to stop. We had told Alex for her birthday a month ago that she could get her ears pierced, so I took her in to mark it off our list. She did fantastic! She was a real trooper. I believe she now feels like quite the young lady. Charlie even decided to come in to witness it – he is struggling with his first girl getting older, but he is doing a marvelous job!

After the outlets, we went over to Fort Clatsop. This was where Lewis and Clark spent the winter after reaching the mouth of the Columbia River at the Pacific Ocean. They built a small fort there, which is no longer in existence. However, a replica has been made from the detailed journals that were kept by members of the Corps of Discovery. I am a real fan of the Lewis and Clark expedition, so this was fascinating to me. If anyone is interested in a good book on the subject, I read Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose a couple years ago and loved it. Annette, Isaac, and Amelia once again did the Jr. Ranger program and received their badges. Everyone enjoyed the movie and the museum. Some of the littles were even able to dress up as members of the Corps of Discovery. As we were leaving, we visited a little with another large family from Vancouver, WA, who were expecting their 11^th child. It is always nice to visit with people who have a lot of the same experiences in life as you do.

We finally headed back to the campground, about a two hour drive from the coast. The kids are now making comments like, “A two hour drive? That’s nothing.” God blessed us with another wonderful day together. The kids and I are really enjoying having Charlie around for our entire day. I think he is too. He certainly hasn’t made any comments about being ready to go back to work. If only we could find a way to do this for a living…

Blessings,

Rebecca

WalMart camping again. We stayed at a WalMart in the Vancouver, WA area after having driven from Crater Lake on Saturday. We drove a little further north and pulled into a campground to stay for a couple days while we go explore the Oregon Coast and Mt. St. Helens. After settling in at the campground, we head over to one of the Visitor Centers to learn about the explosion 35 years ago at Mt. St. Helens and the aftermath. Annette, Isaac, and Amelia worked on the Jr. Ranger program to earn their badges. After they completed the program, the ranger swore them in as Jr. Rangers and made them promise to brush their teeth twice a day or clean their rooms once a week. After touring the Visitor Center, we took a walk through a natural area they had along the edge of Silver Lake. We were able to hear woodpeckers and see waterlife, lily pads, various flowers, etc. The kids had a great time running around and enjoying the natural area.

While at the Visitors Center, we learned about how the Toutle River was dammed in different places from the sediment from the explosion. This created new lakes and changed the course of the Toutle River. The river is still a gray color, which makes me wonder if it is gray from all the ash that was deposited in the river. I read that the river had anywhere from 6 to 600 feet of ash deposited in it. How the landscape of this area must have changed so dramatically.
One thing that reminded me of home was the many rhododendrons they had in bloom. They don’t seem to grow wild in the mountains out here like they do in the Blue Ridge, but many people have them planted in their yards, and they are blooming beautifully right now. Unfortunately, I never seem to make it up into the mountains at the right time when they are blooming, so it has thrilled me to be able to see them blooming here, even if they aren’t wild.

I have to tell you about what Charlie calls, “little God moments.” Just prior to pulling into the campground, Charlie pulled over at a gas station to buy an iced coffee for me (while I sat in the van working on a blog). When he gets back in, he tells me that he doesn’t think they made the coffee the way I wanted (absolutely no sweetener at all!). So I taste the coffee and discover that it is full of sugar. I told him that I would run back in and have them make it correctly. He didn’t really like this idea because he was ready to get to the campground, so he started to head out. Well, I finally convinced him to let me run in and have the coffee made correctly. He let me out and went back up to where he had parked with the camper originally. When I returned to the van, I saw something on the ground that looked familiar. I bent down, picked it up and realized that it was ours. If we hadn’t gone back to get my coffee made correctly, then it would have been gone forever, and the loss of it would have caused a great deal of stress. What a blessing to have found it, especially when we didn’t even realize it was missing yet. God is good!

Back to the campsite for dinner and a bonfire. I was able to read to the older kids by the campfire while the littles were going to sleep. How I so enjoy doing that!

Blessings to you all,

Rebecca

We pulled into a WalMart last night in Klamath Falls, OR. It seemed like a nice area, but it evidently was a teen hangout. There was a lot of loud music, laughing, and carrying on. We were worried it would keep us from sleeping well, but we had no problems. We awoke to a quiet environment this morning. Charlie went and got the oil changed in the van while we finished up breakfast. We finally pulled out and headed up to Crater Lake.

When we got into Crater Lake National Park, I wanted to head to the Visitors’ Center first so that the kids could get there questions about how Crater Lake was formed, how deep it was, etc. answered before actually seeing it. The kids were so excited to see the snow when we arrived at Crater Lake.  We spent a good bit of time at the Visitors’ Center, and several of the kids even decided to do the Junior Ranger program (which is a commitment for us as those things usually take a LOT of time for us to complete – so many little kids want to do it, and they always need a good deal of help). After finishing in the Visitors’ Center, we went out to the camper for lunch. The kids were able to run around and burn off some energy, and we were all looking forward to a 2 mile hike on the rim of Crater Lake.

Back into the van we went to drive to the trailhead of the hike and to finally see Crater Lake. Well, we made it up to the trailhead, and there was nowhere to park the van and camper. It was so busy that probably a dozen cars had all parked in the RV parking spots, so there was no room for us. We got just a little glimpse of the lake and decided to drive further up the mountain and around the lake a little to find parking. Unfortunately, just about as soon as we started driving up the mountain, we encountered fog. We kept thinking that we would get out of it or it would lift, but no such luck. We did find parking, but the fog was so thick that you couldn’t see the lake at all.  We were even driving by snow that was taller than the van!  The road finally led us out of the park, and we just kept going. I was so disappointed. The kids were mostly disappointed that they weren’t going to be able to turn in their Junior Ranger booklets. I told them that we would mail them back. How disappointing though…there was nowhere to turn around, and we knew that once we had given up the parking at the Visitors’ Center that there was no way we were getting back in because it had really filled up since we had arrived. Once again, the weather was keeping us from seeing much. Oh well…I’m going to assume that God had different plans for us.

Driving again and once again unsure of where we want to go next. We were trying to decide between going to the Oregon coast and going to Mt. St. Helen’s. We just started driving north and knew we would make a decision on the way. About 5:00 we decided to look up Mass times for the vigil Mass. The only option that we could still make we knew would put us there a couple minutes late, but we decided to do it anyway. We stopped at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Cottage Grove, OR. Charlie had explained to the kids that we were running late and that they needed to hurry out of the car and into the church. It was so comical watching everyone trying to hurry out of the van. Just picture it… First of all, there is only one door on a 15 passenger van for the kids to get out of, so we open the door and everyone is trying to get out as quickly as they can. However, we also keep about 6 gallons of water, each in 1 gallon jugs, sitting at the sliding door. So, as soon as the door is opened, there is at least 1 gallon jug falling out of the van and into the parking lot. Then, there is always at least one child scrambling around trying to get the jug while there is usually another jug being knocked out of the van by someone else. We are also trying to get Damien’s shoes on and put AnaClaire in the baby backpack on my back – which she absolutely did not want since she was ready to get down and move. Isaac had his shoes on, but they weren’t tied, so I started trying to tie them. Instead, Charlie picks up this rather stocky, almost 7 year old and carries him to the church in order to speed us up. Of course, this is how it always is, trying to get out of the van, for us, but everyone is not nearly this fast on a normal excursion. Anyway, I was about to die laughing because we were all trying so hard, and it just looked so crazy. We finally did make it into Mass, and they had just begun the Psalm, so we weren’t too late.

Hopefully tomorrow the weather will be nice enough for us to spend some good time outside experiencing whatever we decide to visit next.

Blessings,

Rebecca

Despite our late night last night, littles still had us up nice and early this morning: 6:40am. At least they slept an hour or so after sunrise. Showers and laundry were on the to-do list this morning. After all were showered, laundry completed, and camper cleaned, we hooked back up and headed north. This is a travel day with our destination for today still to be decided.

We are travelling on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains again, so much of the scenery is desert again. We are even getting to experience rain in the desert. Out here we see many more solar farms than we are accustomed to seeing. The Sierra Nevadas are still beautiful, and we see a beautiful rushing river. We even see two spots that look like they are supposed to be lakes (and according to the map, they are), but they are nothing but big areas of sand. There isn’t a drop of water in them. I’m not sure if they will fill up with water in a rainier season or if there is just so much drought out here that the lakes have totally turned to desert. At first we weren’t sure if they were supposed to be lakes, but then we noticed on the map that there was supposed to be a named lake just beside the road we were on. These would definitely have been some of the shallowest lakes I have ever seen though.

We finally get off US 395 and take a smaller state highway farther north into California. Although it is still dry here, we are finally seeing more trees.

The kids are catching up on writing some postcards, and Ryon is working on his journal. I am finally caught up for now on blog posts, with the help of Charlie and Nathanael. I’m caught up on laundry too. There isn’t much to do other than write, stare out the window, or pick up some needlework.

We are still loving our trip. I feel as if I could do this for a long time. I did finally pick up a tree book, so hopefully I won’t have to rely on my dad to tell me what all the trees are in my pictures!

Blessings,

Rebecca

Day 2 at Yosemite

Today we arouse to a beautiful morning, however that was the calm before the storm. As we entered the park it was snowing just a little bit. That was to be expected because at that high of elevation, you expect some flurries, at least I do when it is cloudy with a chance of rain. Inside at the lower elevations of the park, there were just a few rain showers, at least until we got out of the van and on our way to the bathroom (again), a little heavier showers started.

We walked to the post office and purchased our postcard stamps. There we showed the kids the old architecture of the post office where they still had the PO boxes without keys, just combination style locks. It was really cool. Next, of course, was the gift shop, where the kids enjoyed looking at all the trinkets and gadgets. They made their purchases, and of course, now it is a down pour (guess that means no hiking today). So our next adventure was to watch the film on Yosemite, which I, Charlie, did not watch, as little kids just could not sit through the film, so we played outside under the awning. After that we headed back to the van to eat our lunch and come up with a new game plan.

After looking at our options, we started back to the camper in Lee Vining when the real adventure started. THE PASS IS CLOSED DUE TO THE WEATHER. Estimated time to drive around the park was 4 to 8 hrs. With Rebecca driving, we begin travel around Yosemite headed to Sonora to find that that pass was closed. Sonora had a beautiful downtown though. Well we got to the next pass at Angels Camp and it was open. Three and half hours after exiting the park we are on our way over the Sierra Nevada Mountains heading toward Lee Vining via Ebbetts Pass thru the Stanislaus National Forest (HWY 4). Thus far, it was a beautiful trip around the park. As we drove closer to the mountains, the clouds grew darker, and it began to rain. The road thru the park began to get winding and narrow with no markings for center lines and temperatures now in the mid 30 degree range, however the views were incredible. As we got to around 8000 ft. the snow flurries began, the temperature was near freezing at Mosquito Lake and the road got very steep and curvy. This went on for more than 20 miles, as I was a wreck going down the steep, tight and narrow curves. Right as it turned dark, we then got on another pass called Monitor Pass (HWY 89) through the Toiyabe National Forest that at least had center lines on it. As we are going over the mountains it began to rain hard, and the fog grew thick, but the road was much better.

Although this was not a planned side trip, it was a complete gift from God as it was some of the most beautiful land I have ever seen (I truly loved it). We finally made it to HWY 395 at 8:50 pm more than five and half hours later with still more than an hour to go. Soon after heading down HWY 385, we saw a sign that said “Tioga Pass, Open”. We began to be a little frustrated but how can we be for the trip had astonishing views of the mountains, streams and valleys. As we continued on HWY 395, it began to snow once again. We finally made it back to the camper in Lee Vining just before 10pm. Home, safe at last. Wow, what an adventure today was; I would not have traded it for the world. The kids were great troopers too. We are looking forward to our next adventure.

There have been many lessons learned thus far on this trip:

1. Follow your instincts; they are usually right.
2. Pray often; let God handle the rest.  He works it out for you.
3. Stick to major highways; it’s easier to find places to stay for free (Walmart).
4. Enjoy whatever comes your way; it’s an adventure.
5. Don’t drive large campers thru national parks (the roads are tight and not really designed to handle large vehicles towing as ours at almost a total of 52 feet).
6. Make sure you have twice the water you think you need. It takes about 5 to 10 gallons for our family everyday.
7. Always remember: where there is one deer, elk or whatever it is, there are usually more.
8. Heading west after Little Rock, AR make sure you stop and get gas as many times as you see a gas station on I-40 pulling a camper. You are heading up in elevation the entire way to the Colorado Plateau and towing a camper sure does drink up the gas.
9. Do what your biggest priority is first; there may not be another chance due to weather.
10. Always carry blankets in the car just in case unexpected things, like bad weather happen.  (We were not totally prepared for this adventure.)

Please keep praying for us and sending us all the comments. The kids beg us to read the comments all the time. We love hearing from you and miss each and every one of you.

Thanks and God bless,

Charlie

This morning we had a nice breakfast of bagels and fruit, and then got into the van to venture out into Yosemite. When we entered Yosemite, we were at an altitude of 9945 feet. There were snow covered peaks everywhere and we were in an alpine zone. Charlie stopped soon after we got into the park at an overlook spot. I was able to learn about the various zones that you see in Yosemite. At the northeast corner of the park, where we started out, you are in an alpine zone (altitudes of 9500 to 13,000). A few hundred feet above us, you can see that trees do not grow due to the rugged, dry landscape, wind, and intense sunlight. There is still a decent amount of snow, or at least what we would consider decent in SC.  As we travel along the Tioga Pass through Yosemite, we are able to see many different elevations from the sub-alpine (8000-9500 feet) down to the upper montane (6000-8000 feet) then to the lower montane (3000 to 6000 feet) and finally down to the foothill zone (1800-3000 feet). I loved seeing the vegetation change as we descended in altitude all the way down to the lower montane zone at. I haven’t yet bought a good tree book, although I have looked for one. I will definitely be getting a tree book of some sort while in Yosemite (I keep a book of eastern trees in the camper, but I think many of these trees aren’t the same that we see in the eastern part of our country.)

After we received our park map, we decided what we wanted to do. We had previously decided that we wanted to see the Giant Sequoia trees here at Yosemite since we had decided to skip Sequoia National Park, so we decided that the Sequoia trees were our first priority. We drove to the opposite end of the park from where we started in order to see the trees. It was a good 3 hour drive to get down there. We had no idea it would take so long, but we got a good feel for how big Yosemite National Park really is. Of course, there was also road construction going on, so that slowed us down a good bit. Going from the rocky, snow-covered peaks of the Sierra Nevadas, to the granite cliffs, then all the way down to the valley beside the Merced River, and finally to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias was one beautiful, unique vista after another.

When we finally made it to the Mariposa Grove where the Giant Sequoias grow, we got out of the van ready for a hike. All that time in the van had us ready to stretch our legs. The children were awed by the size of the Giant Sequoias. They definitely impressed me too, but I was also impressed by the size of some of the pine trees that grow there. We hiked around the forest for about 2.5 miles seeing some of the Giant Sequoias that are in Yosemite. I learned that Sequoias and Redwoods are not the same tree, although they are both in the cypress family. Sequoias reach a huge diameter in their trunk and grow in drier mountain climates but do not grow as tall as Redwoods. Redwoods do not grow as thick as Sequoias and grow in more moisture-rich coastal settings. We also learned that many of the largest Sequoias were fenced off from us walking in close proximity to them because they have very shallow root systems that can be damaged by too much traffic over the top of them. After a wonderful hike, we were back in the van for the LONG drive back to our campground on the opposite side of the park (that only took us about 3 hours).

Dinner was ready for us in the crockpot when we got back, so we had a delicious soup and went to bed anxious to see more of Yosemite the next day.

Blessings,

Rebecca