Yosemite Trip: Days 4-5

Day 4-Monday: The day started off with waking up at 3:00am and wanting to leave by 3:30.  Of course, in true McKown fashion, we didn't leave until 4:00am.  My mom drove as she didn't want to get car sick again, but her driving got the rest of us a little sick! We just couldn't win on those windy roads.  We got to the starting point and started hiking at about 6:00am.  It doesn't matter how much you read online about a hike, nothing compares to actually hiking it.  I was very surprised by how steep it was right away.  My mom was nice to let me use one of her walking sticks and it was my saving grace.  I wouldn't have done as well as I did (which really wasn't that well) without it.  When we arrived to vernal falls (I think that's what it's called), my entire back was soaked with sweat!  There were these evil stone stairs we had to climb to get there.

I know that I'm hiking a mountain and you have to go up, but I felt like I didn't get much of a break from going up.  I ate really well and my legs felt fine, but I used up a lot of energy going up the mountain that it made going down difficult.  Hiking the small dome was tough so that when you got to the top, it made wanting to hike to the very top less enticing. 

Nevada Falls

That's what we hiked. Ugh.

We rested for a minute at the top of small dome before going up the cables.  You need gloves to climb and I guess we got there at a busy time because it took almost an hour to climb the cables as you had to wait for the people in front you to move. People were also coming down so you had to take them into consideration also.  Going up the cables is rough! There were sections that were a little scary to climb and at one point, my left shoulder almost popped out! That really impacted me as I looked around, realized how high we were and started having a panic attack! I was crying and gasping for breath.  It was really scary, but my brother Aaron was great in helping me to calm down.  I made it to the very top of half dome and it took me a minute to truly relax.  We spent about 30 minutes up at the top before taking another 45 minutes going down. 

Honestly, those cables took everything out of me.  Going down was the worst!  It took forever and all of us were hurting.  I was shuffling so slow at the end that I bet other people (who didn't hike as far) thought I was crazy.  Aaron and I got done at the same time and waited about 10 minutes for mom to show up and then 10 more minutes for Brianna and Kyle.  I know I'm repeating myself, but we were exhausted!!  No one felt good and no one was happy.  Kyle drove back and on the way to exit the park, we saw a sign saying that there was a fire in Oakhurst and roads closed.  We weren't sure what that meant, so we continued driving to the exit.  The rangers in the park really didn't know much except that the one and only road that takes us to Bass Lake was closed.  So, we had to turn around and drive all the way through the park again. Mom got sick on the way and we had to pull over so she could throw up.  We had to take another road to get us to Oakhurst which added at least another hour and a half to our drive (but I can't really remember as driving anywhere after hiking felt like 20 hours).  Mom was still sick so she hated all the extra driving we were doing.
     The other scary thing about the fire is the fact that I couldn't get a hold of Scott!  He stayed behind with Kylie all day and I just wanted to make sure they were okay.  Even though we got cell reception in Oakhurst, Scott didn't have any at the chalet.  I looked up the number to the resort and got connected to our chalet so I was able to talk to Scott.  He gave us a different route to take to Bass Lake, but we missed the sign to get there, got lost and drove another extra half hour.  At this point, things were just ridiculous.  We hiked a ridiculously hard hike, were exhausted, starving and mom was throwing up.  I just want to get to the chalet!!  I want to take a shower and go to sleep and try to forget about this horrible, no-fun day.  And that's what I did when we got there (except the shower part as everyone else took one and I didn't care to stay up any later. Problem with only having one shower).

Day 5-Tuesday: Even though we were leaving today, we all slept in.  We stopped for some breakfast at Pete's Diner and then headed out. We wanted to have breakfast at Tanaya Lodge (where Scott and his siblings worked), but since the road was still closed due to the fire, we couldn't.  We also couldn't drive through the park which is the faster way home.  So, we went up to Sacramento and through more of Nevada.  This route took longer and the drive was long.  Kylie watched Frozen again and we stopped about 3 times again.  We didn't arrive home until 3:30am.  It was a long day and we were glad to be home.
     If you think there was a lot of complaining in the post, then you're right.  I don't feel bad about complaining as I've never been on a vacation where so much went wrong.  It is one that will be used as an example to never do again.  I've also decided that hiking is not for me.  I just don't get enjoyment out of it like others who hike. I felt this way before this hike, but this experience just solidified it.  I'm glad that it's over and that cute Kylie was there to make things better.  Hopefully next vacation goes more smoothly, especially since we all decided it will be at a spa. :)

Just talking to the wildlife. :)

Frozen is now her favorite movie.

Yosemite Trip Days 1-3

Well, this vacation is definitely one to remember, but not in a good way.  Instead of a vacation full of fun and relaxation, it was one full of problems and stress.  There's a lot that happened, so here we go.

Day 1-Friday: We left to drive to California at 7:15am (even though we were supposed to leave at 6:00am).  It was an early morning for all of us.  Kyle and Brianna rode with us and were a great help with Kylie.  We stopped 3 times and Kylie did great with the long drive.  The other times we've driven for 10+ hours, we drove through the night so we didn't have to worry about Kylie as much.  She only fussed when she had to be put back in the car seat after being taken out.  To help pass the time, we set up the Ipad and Kylie watched Frozen (the only movie we have downloaded).

She is becoming a Frozen fanatic.  We had to drive through Yosemite National Park to get to where we were staying.  I had no idea the park was so big or the roads so windy.  I never usually get car sick, but I started to feel nauseous which was not fun for the 2 hour drive through the park.  We stopped and took some pictures at the most famous view of Yosemite.

Half Dome. We climbed that. Ugh.

Most famous view of Yosemite National Park.

On the way to the Pines Resort, our car stopped at got dinner at El Cid's Mexican restaurant. Mom and Aaron were too car sick to join us.  Because it was dark, we got a little lost and drove around Bass Lake twice.  The chalet wasn't exactly what we were expecting especially with the pictures we saw online.  Since it was such a long day, people got a little frustrated with how the chalet looked.  The place worked, but I wish it would have had two bathrooms instead of one.  Also, there really were no kitchen supplies to where you pretty much have to bring everything from the utensils to the pots and pans.  It was kind of cool that we were right next to the lake.  We only had to walk a little bit and we were right there!

Day 2-Saturday: Woke up at about 8:30am and we all hung around the chalet resting from the drive yesterday.  We went down to check out the lake and skipped rocks.  The water level of the lake was really low as California is in a drought.  It was pretty and it's a shame we didn't spend much time really enjoying the lake (especially since we were right on it).

Hubby's eyes match the lake.

After lunch we headed into the park as mom wanted to make sure where the entrance was for the hike.  The hike to half dome is all the way at the end of the park, so we had to drive through it again.  There are so many little hikes you can do in Yosemite, but I felt like all we did was drive through the park.  Yes, we hiked half dome, but I didn't really get to enjoy Yosemite, in whole, as a park.  Things would have been more enjoyable if we went and just did those little hikes instead of one big, exhausting one.  Maybe Scott, Kylie and I can try going there again and I can change my mind about the park because right now, I don't like it.  We stopped to see the small visitor center and Aaron and mom wanted to see another lookout point.  Our car was super low on gas, so we headed back.  Another thing that was annoying was that no one had cell phone service!!  So, we couldn't get a hold of mom to let her know that we weren't following.  It was just super frustrating to not have a way to communicate.  The only place we got cell service was Oakhurst and we stopped to get Chinese food there on the way back to the resort.  We played Settlers of Catan and then went to bed.

The wind was blowing so hard the water from the waterfall was going backwards!

Kylie had a blast playing in the bark.

Day 3-Sunday:  We tried to go to church in the morning, but a squirrel hit a power line and church was cancelled for a power outage.  Scott went in and talked with the new bishopric who said that the power came back on pretty quickly after they had already cancelled.  Oops!  Scott was a little sad because church was the one place he could have caught up with everyone from when he lived there.  After church, Scott, Aaron and I went to go see Scott's old home in Ahwahnee (which is right next to Oakhurst).  While at the gas station, our car overheated so we had to buy more coolant and wait for it to cool down. We are lucky it happened at a gas station instead of in the middle of the park.  Scott's old house seemed to be turned into some sort of resort/bed and breakfast type place. No one was there and the place was locked, but we were able to check out the land (5 acres worth!) and new pool.  Scott was most surprised by the pool and it did look really nice.

After seeing his old house, we went back to the chalet to have lunch and pack our hiking bags (which took longer than necessary).  We (except Brianna & Kyle) then headed off to dinner which was so graciously provided by the Burrow's. The Burrow's were a good family friend and Josh was Scott's best friend.  Scott had a blast catching up and talking with everyone.  Their house was very large with a lot of unfinished areas.  There was a hallway with smooth pebble stones that Kylie loved running on. Besides when she ate dinner, you could catch her running up and down that hallway.  We had a delicious dinner with home-made ice cream and cake for dessert.  It was very nice of them to have us over and that was the highlight of the vacation for Scott.  After dinner, we headed home, went to the beach again and tried to go to bed early as we had an unexpected long day ahead.

Look at Kylie run!

Cute picture. :)

Here daddy, kiss this.