Year: 2015

We had a grand adventure at Yosemite National Park in California. We arrived on a very crowded Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day Mom! The first thing we saw was lots of really big waterfalls.

Uncle Matt stopped at some near vistas and we got to see what names Yosemite Valley famous. The trees were a welcome break after weeks in the desert.

The waterfalls seemed to get bigger and bigger as we explored.

 

We visited the village area and checked out the museum and learned about Native Americans. I learned a lot about obsidian and tool making. It was cool that they used part of a deer antler to shape the obsidian! We also got to hold a real atl-atl.

Up next we hiked the Lower Falls Trail to the base of the waterfall. Matt and I braved the rocks a bit to explore closer. I worked on my Jurnion Ranger badge by cleaning up trash as we walked along.

Some people were nuts and walked right out to the raging waterfall and slippery rocks. We played it safe.

There were some slack liners over the upper falls but we couldn’t get a good photo of those nutty people. We looked a park relief map and saw how many hiking trails were in the park.

There were many trees down across a section of a smaller river. I begged to cross the river.

 

I made it all the way without falling in or even getting my shoes wet.

Yeah me!

We took a trip out of the south entrance to see the Mariposa Groves aka Big Trees.

This is a giant grove of sequoia trees. They are very fat but not that tall.

I was tuckered a bit and lagged behind at my own pace for a long time.

Finally catching up at the Grizzly Giant. It was gigantic!

 

There is even a tree that people used to “drive” through with horse drawn carriages.

More Big Trees.

We earned ur Junior Ranger badges and patches.

The badges are made of WOOD! No plastic like the other parks.

We had a nice drive around Lake Tahoe stopping at some amazing views and fun places to hike.

We even found snow in some of the higher elevations.

There was a beautiful waterfall that I wanted to walk across but Mom wouldn’t let me.

There were lots of huge rocks to climb.

We got stuck in an annoying bike race that closed down the roads in both directions for only 84 cyclists.

We hiked up Eagles Peak for a spectacular view.

We skipped rocks in Lake Tahoe.

Uncle Matt was an excellent tour guide.

I ran across the shore of Lake Tahoe. Not as good as the photo in the banner of my blog but this is the same place that photo was taken.

We went to a rock and gem show in Reno and I learned how to pan for gold. I am learning how to identify different rocks and gems.

We did some crafts and I made a long beaded necklace.

We spent a few hours at a place called Crystal Peak Gem Mine digging and smashing rocks looking for quartz crystals. We found a few small crystals but many larger nice pieces that we thought were pretty.

I liked the sledgehammer approach.

It was a fun outing and I would love to go back and spend another day!

Uncle Matt taught us what to look for to hopefully find the best places.

We will clean our rocks and gems and then take them home with us.

We drove to the summit area of the ski resorts and hunted snow. It flaked a little at the campground and at Matt’s but more at the higher elevations. We had fun making snowballs.

We got to throw a FEW at Uncle Matt then Mom changed the rules to only at the kids!

The snow throwing continued all around the parking lot.

Emmerson is quite mean with snow! He can dish it out but has a hard time taking it.

We drove around Donner Lake. The view was beautiful but the wind was piercing cold.

Back to Uncle Matt’s for down time. Which means playing on his giant yoga balls.

I took a “nap” for all of about 45 seconds. I claim it was a POWER nap.

We visited the Donner Museum today. The exhibit hall was closed due to a remodel but we watched the video and learned all about the Donner Family. Apparently through Mom’s side of the family there are distant relations to the Donners. We also learned that one of the families that survived were the “Reed” Family. I wonder if I have immigrant trail blood on both sides of my family?

We hiked a short trail around the woods and across Donner Creek. I climbed every rock I could find to get up.

E and I found little tiny fish in the cold river.

Which lead to me wanting to cross the river via the giant rocks.

I made it safely across.

Check Emmerson’s blog to see how he did!

I went with Uncle Matt back to his house while Mom and Grandpa John went to visit the camper. I worked more of a structure I started in the morning.I have been hauling all the branches that have fallen in the side yards down to my fort area. I even fashioned a flag out of a branch and some twine!  It is now the Donner’s winter shelter. I am hoping it snows tonight so I can see how well it works!

We had a nice time with Grandpa. We haven’t seen him in about 6 years.

The drive back to the camper from Uncle Matt’s was very pretty. The sun was peaking through the rain clouds and the snow on the mountain peaks was glowing white.

 

We have landed in the mountains with green trees, water and peacefulness. We are staying at Truckee River RV park and it is very nice. We have grass outside of the camper and there are LOTS of birds to lay in the grass and watch. We saw Uncle Matt and he helped us celebrate adding California to our state map.

We dropped Dad off at the Reno airport so he can fly home for work. We got the truck washed and ran a few errands in Reno and then spent part of the day at a place called The Discovery. It is a hands of all ages science museum.

We saw a trout hatchery in the tanks. They will release them into the Truckee River in a few weeks.

We practiced weaving fake baskets.

We explored all the history of the area.

There was a lot of technology and we had a great time playing, building and exploring.

I made a cool airplane while multitasking watching a 3D printed make a tiny cupcake!

 

We have lots of plans for this area and will update in a week or so as the internet at the campground isn’t the best. We are borrowing signal from Uncle Matt to upload everything! 🙂