Now that the holidays have passed I have a half of a second to catch up on some overdue blogging! First, Thanksgiving!
This year for Thanksgiving we went to Yosemite! Part of our goal to visit one National park a year! I wanted to get away to somewhere with cooler weather vs the 85 it would be here on Thanksgiving so it would feel a bit more like fall to me! It is amazing that within a 5 hour drive we can be surrounded by a whole new dimension of God's creation. If that doesn't inspire GRATITUDE on Thanksgiving, I don;t know what would!
YOSEMITE OR BUST!
First stop, hitting Bravo Farms on the way in Traver, CA! This little farm is a gem and the best place to stop if you are traveling anywhere in the area! They have the coolest things to look at, chickens to feed, a petting zoo, fresh cheese you can watch being made, yummy food and a cool atmosphere!
And a cool 7-story tree house you can tour for a quarter! Best quarter I have spent in awhile!
Then off to Yosemite Valley! As this was a last minute trip, most hotels/cabins were booked and we did not want to camp in the cold time of year as we only have beach weather type camping gear! But luckily I found an amazing little lodge right outside the park - Yosemite View Lodge - that was $80 a night and had an amazing view and only 10 minutes outside the park and had a kitchen for use and had an indoor swimming pool I knew the kids would love! On the next trip I would also love to stay at Yosemite Bug or even Curry Village!
We arrive to Yosemite Valley! Wow!
We bundled up and hit the Valley for a few awesome hikes! The kids were amazing on this trip really pulling their load and hiking with minimal (of course I would not say none at all!) whining! We did the Bridaveil Falls hike and the Yosemite Lower Falls hike! Although the falls were sparse because of the drought in California the past two years, there was still beauty all around! Sentinel Dome (By Curry Village and Cooks Meadow Loop) is the best place for sunsets in the fall we were told but we did not make it there.
Note to self and hiker families with kids - get the kids a hiking stick and it makes hikes 10x more enjoyable for the kids!
Love this view too! The kids were always fighting who got to walk with daddy and this was the best compromise!
We also found a small trail somewhere by Curry Village (Cooks Meadow Loop I think) and found a few deer grazing. They would come right up to us and were not very afraid of humans.
Half Dome in all it's glory!
Walking across the valley to get a better view!
And stopping at Tunnel View is an absolute must for this View of El Capitan and photo op! We used this photo on our Christmas cards this year!
Then off to Sequoia National Park to Mariposa grove! First stop, the Fallen Monarch! Amazing! There were some Japanese tourists there who did not believe it was a real tree!
We also made it to the Grizzly Giant and the California Tunnel Tree!
The next day we headed to Wawona Hotel and Pioneer Village. There is a lot of neat history there and it was cool to visit the Pioneer Village on Thanksgiving! First we stopped at the beautiful Tenaya Lodge to do some Ice Skating for the kids. This lodge was awesome and so cush for with kids sledding, horse back riding, etc for the guests. Would stay there too if budget allowed.
In a pioneer cabin at Pioneer Village at Wawona.
We were lucky that they opened the Sugarpine Railroad train for the Thanksgiving weekend as it had already closed for the season, but we got to take a ride afterall! The kids enjoyed the ride on this Steam engine!
Final family photo of our fun trip! Hope to come back again soon! Next time to visit the oarts of the parks we did not see - Kings Canyon, Nelder Grove maybe in Mariposa and do some bike riding around Mono Lake or Tuolomme Meadows!
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