Month: May 2023

King’s Canyon National Park

In the morning we packed up the car, said goodbye to Clark and Swathi’s gang, and headed to King’s Canyon National Park. The drive to the park strongly reminded us of Greece. There were olive and orange groves everywhere, and the landscape looked like Naxos!

Once we got close to the park, the giant sequoia forest and the misty air took our breath away. It was the most gorgeous park entrance I have ever seen.

At the visitor center I couldn’t believe the pictures of what this year’s snow did to the park!
We did a very short hike around General Grant’s tree.

After the hike, we debated going to Sequoia National Park, but because of this year’s snow, most of the roads in both King’s Canyon and Sequoia National Park were closed. If we had gone, it would have taken two hours and we wouldn’t have seen any sequoias.

Instead, we opted to drive straight to our magical Airbnb in Hollywood. We drove through the central California valley and were stunned at how much food is produced there! It was just farm after farm after farm.

Orange Groves
At a rest stop

In Hollywood we loved our airbnb but didn’t take pictures! It was a darling house hidden behind rose gardens and towering shrubs. We were so grateful to have a washing machine because Clarissa and Ammon were having so many accidents, and we were getting very low on clothing.

We ordered Ethiopian food for dinner, and it was okay. We always remember an amazing Ethiopian dinner we had in Tucson, and that is hard to beat.

Mist Trail

In the morning we headed to the Mist Trail. It was an absolutely stunning hike! The views were incredible, and because of the epic snow this winter, the waterfall did much more than “mist” the trail. When we got to the waterfall, we got drenched! Everyone but Abe, Swathi, Soren and Ammon turned around. After helping Clarissa back down with me, Jere turned back around and joined them all at the top. From there Abe, Swathi, Soren and Ammon hiked back on the loop while the rest of us went back the way we had come.

These pictures somewhat capture how crazy wet it was on the mist trail.
  • Tom was amazing getting Clarissa to walk!
  • Ammon and Meera were so cute hiking together
  • A Stellar’s Jay
  • A view from near the top of the waterfall

Clarissa and I went ahead, and I enjoyed spending one on one time with her. We looked for spots of sunshine and made it to the bottom of the trail about thirty minutes ahead of the group. That gave us a lot of deep time together to look at the river. Clarissa threw a couple sticks in and watched the way they bobbed downstream.

After the hike, we all had lunch in Curry Village, after which we had ice cream. We talked to a ranger there who told us a lot about different species of wildlife in Yosemite.

After that we took a shuttle to the visitor center, and from there we walked to the big general store. I bought some t-shirts because we were running low on clothes.

Then we walked back to the car. The walk was as stunning as the hike!

After we drove home Clark and Swathi cooked us all dinner and cleaned everything while Abe and I did nothing. Well, Abe napped on the floor and I sat on the couch. It was our anniversary, but more than that we were pooped. I am so grateful for my amazing brother who just saved the day for all of us. What a gorgeous day full of beautiful images!!

First day in Yosemite

In the morning we drove and hiked to Mariposa Grove. The road was closed so we actually had to hike over a mile to the trail head. It was a very pretty hike.

The grove featured the tree where John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt first envisioned our national park system! Incredible.

After our hike we walked back to our car via the road. It was also so pretty.

Papa spent a lot of time being Clarissa’s walking buddy, which was very sweet and not always easy (as she doesn’t always want to walk).

Then we had lunch back at our condos. After a couple hours of rest, we headed into the valley. The view at the end of the tunnel was absolutely stunning.

And then we hiked to Lower Falls. Apparently the water is five times as much as any other time Jere has seen it!

After that we watched the sun set by El Capitan. Abe was googling the person who free-climbed it and remembering a documentary he had seen about that. It was so impressive.

What an amazing introduction to Yosemite.

Driving day

On Saturday morning we learned that yet another campsite had cancelled because of flooding. So we rejiggered our entire trip and packed as fast as we could, and we finally pulled out of the door around 11:30am. We hardly stopped except for a couple bathroom breaks and to grab some food. We arrived around 1am in Yosemite, which felt amazing because we kind of suspected we’d arrive closer to 3!

Lydia’s 6th Grade Graduation

Today was Lydia’s 6th grade graduation. I was feeling very crunched at work and did not go, but I am so glad that Lily got photos and a video. I am so proud of Lydia and who she is becoming. Just today a mother of one of her friends effused to Lily about how good of a friend Lydia is for her daughter. She has grown up right in every way and we couldn’t be more proud. It is also really fun to see Lydia’s classmates. Her friends at school have been very important to her and have been a huge part of her life this year. There are such wonderful people in her class and her teacher, Mrs. Mason is truly fantastic. Here’s to new adventures for Lydia!