Month: May 2015

 

Daddy flew home for 10 days so we got to travel and hang out with Uncle Matt. We miss Dad a lot and wish he were here to share our adventures.

We drove the twisty roads towards Yosemite. Mom got car sick but recovered. When we got to the park it was packed because it was Mother’s Day.  He enjoyed driving and stopping at the view points and seeing all the waterfalls.

Yosemite valley was very different from anything we have seen so far on our trip. There were lots of trees!

The waterfalls were so beautiful.

 

We went to a museum and learned about native americans and how they used obsidian to make tools.

They even had a hands on area. We worked on our Junior Ranger books throughout the day.

Part of the Jr Ranger program was to clean up trash again. We filled out green bags.

We hiked the Lower Falls trail and climbed the rocks up part way to the waterfall. They were wet and slippery beyond that so we stayed safe.

Some people went nearly up to the water. There were signs warning of broken bones and skull injuries if you go on the wet rocks.

They had cool displays about the topography of the walls and trails.

 

I found more cool huge rocks to climb up and around.

We managed to find paths behind all the boulders.

We drove to the Big Trees area. It is a huge sequoia grove. The trees were so big around yet kind of short. This big one fell down centuries ago.

Some fell from fire or naturally and then burned. 

HUGE!

 

We saw a group of 9 deer playing and resting in the woods.

The Grizzly Giant was gigantic!

They even had a tree that you used to be able to drive a wagon through.

I thought these were very pretty but Uncle Matt said they are a fungus. He called them Snow Flower.

A few more BIG trees.

 

We stopped at the visitors center and took our ranger pledge and turned in our books and received a badge and patch.

The badges as Yosemite are very cool. They are made of wood instead of the normal plastic. We had a great time with Uncle Matt on our adventure.

We had a nice day driving around Lake Tahoe. We stopped at a lot of cool places and did a few little hikes over rocks.

 

We walked out to a waterfall.

 

I could not get enough of the large rocks and loved climbing up and down them.

 

The views were amazing as usual!

 

There was a “huge” bike race going on around the lake and we got stuck in the traffic twice from the race. There were only 84 cyclists but hundreds of police blocking off roads.

 

We climbed to a place called Eagles Point. It was an amazing view down the mountains.

 

We tried to skip stones in Lake Tahoe.

Uncle Matt is a great tour guide. He even found a place that sells quesadillas for lunch and I gobbled mine right up!

 

Another day we went to a rock and gem show. I had fun learning to pan for gold and the guy told me I was really good at it. I got a LITTLE bag of gold from my pan.

 

We also got to make necklaces, paint rocks and spin a prize wheel. I won a few pieces of petrified wood and some other shiney rocks.

 

We spent one morning at Crystal Peak Gem Mine knocking through some rocks and dirt looking for quartz crystals. We found a few small pieces but had an awesome time hunting.

I worked with many different tools. I wore my goggles to keep safe the entire time.

We will clean up the rocks we found at Matt’s later in the week. We started some other ricks he had for us in the vibrating bath to get the dirt off.

Uncle Matt trapped a mouse in the garage and we let it go outside in the fort we are building.

 

We had a good time playing in the snow at different ski resorts. Snow fell last night but only really at the higher elevations. I almost rolled into another river (run off area). 

 

I pelted Uncle Matt.

 

I was rather mean towards Breigthon.

 

He got me back a few times.

 

Sneak attack!

 

Hit him when he is down. Yes, I am a mean little brother.

 

We enjoyed the pretty views but it was very cold and windy.

We drove around Donner Lake and then headed back to Matt’s to warm up and hang out.

I enjoyed playing in our fort some more and making a few enhancements.

I think that everyone needs a giant red yoga ball!

I FINALLY gave in and curled up with Mom for a much needed nap!

\We hung out with Uncle Matt a bit this morning and waited for Grandpa John to arrive. We then visited the Donner Museum. I was sad that the exhibits were closed but we had a nice time walking the trail and learning a little about the immigrant trail and this that passed through this area.

 

B and I enjoyed climbing and jumping off rocks and fallen trees. I was really enjoying myself in the cooler weather.

 

B and I found fish in the water and then raced over the bridge to Mom on the other side to see more fish.

We thought it would be a good fun idea to hop the rocks across the river. B went first to make sure it was all safe. I was doing great jumping and stretching across.

Almost too easy!

A few rocks later my foot slipped and fell int he icy water. I looked over my should to get oriented and pull my foot up and I rolled right off the rocks and into the icy cold river. I was SOAKED! Crying! Sobbing! Mom went to snap a photo and I charged her and nearly knocked her over.

 

Mom and I stayed behind while everyone else continued down the trail. She took off my pants and sweatshirt and gave me her sweatshirt to wear. I was angry and wouldn’t move.

 

 

Finally I began my walk along the trail back to the visitors center to watch the movie about the Donner Family journey and bad winter. Mom wrapped me in a beach towel to warm me up and I was fine then.

We stopped at the camper on the way back to Uncle Matt’s and I got changed and dried off. Thankfully I have extra shoes so I was nice and dry and happy. Mom cleaned the clothing and all was right in the world again.

We had dinner and hung out with Grandpa an Uncle Matt for a while and then called it a day. I am slow to warm up to people like always and it has been a long while since I saw Grandpa John. Maybe next time I see Grandpa I will give him a high five or a hug. Mom said at least I sat by him at dinner and even talked.  I still stick tightly to my “I have to meet you three times to really interact with you”.

 

After the desert for so long we were happy to see trees again. Uncle Matt came to visit the campground and celebrated adding the California sticker to our map.

We dropped Dad off at the airport today and he will come back in a few weeks to voyage on with us. We visited a cool science museum in Reno called The Discovery!

We had a lot of fun playing.

 

I was obsessed with the horseshoe ring puzzle. Mom eventually broke down and showed me.