family – Page 21 – Lemon Drop Pie

During our trip to the Painted Desert last year, we learned that we should have brought raincoats.The day started out sunny, clear and hot, at 94 degrees, just the kind of day you would expect to experience in the desert. As we explored the petrified trees and historical sites, however, we began to see dark clouds in the distance. The temperatures began to drop. Our plan was to be in Petrified Forest National Park for only one day, so we raced against the storm clouds, trying to see as much as we could before the storm started. When the lightning started to get too close for comfort, we spent some time in the Visitor’s Center.

After the storm, it was cold and drizzling. But this was a place that we would probably not visit again for years, and I had to walk among the blue mesas. In sunny weather, anyway, they look blue. In the cloudy gloom, they were layers of greys and browns. The girls and I only had sweatshirts on. While our walk was well worth it, we got soaked. It took a while to warm up, and swimming in the outdoor pool was not going to happen!

As many of you know. this past summer we ventured into Sunny California, which has been in a drought for three years. But still, based on our desert experience, I decided we all needed to bring raincoats on our vacation. For the most part, we didn’t need them.

But then…we did.

On our drive from Yosemite to Death Valley, we made a stop in Bodie State Historical Park. Bodie is high in the mountains; it used to be a gold mining town. Now it is a abandoned ghost town. Everything is left as it was left, so most of the building are locked because they are unsafe to enter.

We wandered around the town with other tourists, and could see the rain clouds approaching. Pretty soon, it started to sprinkle. I was so glad that this time, we were prepared!

We weren’t as prepared as we thought, however, because then it began to do something we really didn’t expect to see in California in the summer in the middle of a three year drought.

It began to hail.

What unexpected things have happened to you when you’ve traveled?

I was the first to wake up in our beautiful rental house, and the first thing I did was open the front door. We had arrived in the dark the night before, so I hadn’t been able to see our surroundings. The house looked out on a field with grazing cattle and a forest beyond. The air was cool and inviting, so the first thing I did when I went back into the house was open the kitchen window as I began to prepare our picnic lunch for that day. That’s one of the great things about renting houses or cabins on vacation; we make our own breakfast and lunches, and also have the option to eat dinner “at home.”

We wanted to get an early start to the day, because it was going to take up to two hours to get to Yosemite due to the fire and road closings. Normally, the house was only half-an-hour from Yosemite. We hadn’t brought coffee with us, so we stopped at the grocery store/gas station down the street to get our caffeine start to the day.

Jackie, the awesome cashier working that morning, told us that the store closed at 6:55 that evening. She said she had a heck of a time getting the locals to understand when the store closed, and they were always rushing in that the last minutes to buy groceries! I wanted to stop back on the way home to buy something for us to grill for dinner.

After driving that torturous mountain road again, we finally arrived back in Yosemite Valley. What I didn’t expect was how crowded it was. When I think of National Parks, I think of wide-open spaces, wilderness, and quiet. But this was summer, peak tourist time. So we found a parking spot and took advantage of the National Park’s shuttle service.

One advantage of being in the middle of throngs of tourists is that there is always someone who will offer to take a picture of your whole group if you return the favor. I took a lot of photos with other people’s cameras! I hope they all turned out as good as this one did:

Due to the three year drought, Yosemite Falls was a little on the thin side, but still beautiful. A nice man with a British accent took this photo.

The girls were working on their Junior Ranger books, so we went in search of a Ranger Walk. We found one at Happy Isles! It was hot that day and so our hike was not very long, with frequent stops. The ranger talked with the girls about the importance of water, and we went into The Fen, where it was cooler. Water came bubbling up from several springs, and it was green, lush and full of life in the Fen. And we were the only ones there. Even in such a busy place, Yosemite is so huge that there are quiet places if you know where to look. We didn’t know, but the ranger did.

At the end of our adventure, Lily and Emmy received their Junior Ranger badges.

We knew the day would be a hot one, and we also knew that there were a couple of beaches on the Merced River. Ed and I had planned ahead of time to bring swim suits and towels so that we could take the girls swimming after our hike.

Remember how I wrote yesterday that entering Yosemite Valley is surreal?

Swimming in a river surrounded by such beauty is surreal. I only wish my pictures were clearer, but smoke still filled the air that day.

After splashing in the river for far less time than we wanted to, we needed to head back to the house. The grocery store closed at 6:55, and I didn’t want Ed driving on 49 to Coulterville in the dark! We made it to the Greeley Hill Market just in time to buy some steak and salad for dinner. Perfect!

Category: family

Rainy Deserts and Mountains

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Yosemite, Day Two

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