yosemite..!

having lived in cali for 2+ years, we figured it would be a shame to move out of the state without visiting yosemite. so we tacked a stop to the park on to our trip to tahoe. we are definitely glad we did.

as you can see, this trip took all the room our new vehicle had to offer...and then some. i worked the overnight just before we left and when i awoke from my morning nap, we slogged through the task of putting the finishing touches on the packing amy had gratefully done in the previous days.

the drive to the park became a study in patience. abby is a known yorker. she struggled with motion sickness 2 years ago on our first trip to big bear on the 'rim of the world highway'. she hadn't had problems since, but she had yet to be tested to the degree the yosemite trip would test her. at one point, abby kept crying at regular one minutes intervals for 10-30 piercing seconds at a time. amy and i were starting to reach our wits end as we couldn't find a single reason why she would be assailing our eardrums at such regular intervals. however, it soon became sadly apparent what she was feeling...nausea. as her crying reached a crescendo, she threw up all the raisins, string cheese, crackers, juice, water and whatever else we'd been stuffing her with to keep her happy. as the smell and the crying from the vomit filled the vehicle with amy and me frantically stopping everything (including driving) to catch the remains of her heaving, bekah looked over horrified at her pale, queezy sister and started vomiting herself. this dual yorking exceeded our ability to catch and contain. amy and i gave into the stench and mess with the next 45 mintues filled with trips to the trucker's bathroom, cold wet clean girls and scrubbing of carseats.

soon we were on our way once more--with a renewed sense of adventure and excitement.

one of my favorite moments was after entering the park in a caffeine induced state of wakefulness and stopping for a bathroom break with michael. i felt like i was stopping for a break on a road-trip with a boy whose company i cherish. we steppeed out into the crisp night in awe of the star-filled sky and the clean federally maintained bathrooms (classic government work--clean, reliable, but not flashy and no soap.)

that night we pulled into the 'housekeeping' campground in the yosemite valley. we drove into the park in the dark of night. we noticed the beautiful trees, but could not see a single rock formation with no moon. we unloaded our camping equipment as can be seen below. we worked as quietly as possible since all the tarp tents were open to the night air and the exclamations of excitement and protest from our kids as we got them ready for bed.

the girls and i slept in two sleeping bags zipped together with a neighbor's bag (thank you brian) over the top. the girls loved it (more than i?) as they pawed and kicked me out of affection all night.

on awakening, we were met with beautiful scenes right out of a movie. the beauty of this campground was stunning. it was a really nice time with the kids that morning as they screamed, and waded through this beautiful campground.



this picture catches the whole family in front of the quaint river with a sandy beach that is all covered with water to overflowing in the spring.

amy and i managed some quiet alone time in front of this gorgeous vista that appears when you emerge from the western entrance tunnel while the kiddos watched nemo in the parked car just feet away.

michael let nemo go for a few minutes to come out as well to enjoy the view.


the other photos i included of ella enjoying the view aren't posting for some reason, but she was there too and thoroughly enjoyed herself.

so anyway, yosemite was everything we thought it would be. while in future years we may find ourselves in yosemite attempting an altogether type of vacation (long hikes, crazy rock climbing etc.) this idyllic one-night camping trip with views from the road suited our young family just fine.