Day 15 - 19: Yosemite

Hey Everyone!  Sorry for the delay in posting.  There was no internet access in Yosemite or Sequoia, so we have been a bit out of touch.

We arrived at Yosemite early Monday morning.  We didn't have reservations, but there are a lot of first come - first serve sites in the park.  Jen found a great campground to try, and we ended up with a great spot!  We set up camp, then headed to one of the villages in the park.

The first thing we did Tuesday was drive to Glacier Point.  Words, or even these pictures, can't describe how breathtaking the view is.  

 

 

After that, we hiked up Sentinel Dome.  It was a nice 2 hour hike, and Erin did a great job with it.  Here are a few pics.

 

The next day, we hiked up to see Vernal Falls.  Once again, pics just don't do it justice.

It was about a 4.5 hour hike.  We were pretty tired after this one, so we went back to the Shasta and crashed!

Thursday, we spent the day letting Erin complete her Junior Ranger requirements.   Each park has a program for kids.  When they complete the program, you take it to a ranger station and the kid gets a small badge.  Erin is loving collecting badges from each park.  We even got her a pink hat to put them on!  Here is a pic of the Ranger that led Erin's activity group.

We woke up Friday, visited Glacier Point one more time, then headed to Sequoia!!!

Day 13 & 14 - Saying Goodbye to the PCH

We left early Saturday morning from Jacqui's and headed North to Big Sur State Park.  We hiked to the top of one of the peaks, found a waterfall and played in the river that runs through the park.  The Colonial Tree in the first pic is the largest tree in the park.

After Big Sur, we decided to head North up Hwy 1 and see what we could find.
 
We found a beach with dozens of Elephant Seals.  It seems they come to this area every year.  It was fun to watch them play.....and sleep!

 After the seals, we found a water cave!!!

After we left the cave, we drove for a while, and ended up in Gilroy, CA.  We boondocked at the Wal-Mart there with several other of our RV brothers and sisters.  We woke up, went shopping for supplies and got some coffee.  Then, it was on to San Fransisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.  The road along Highway 1 and 101 (along the coast) has been spectacular.  Here are just a few pics of hundreds we have taken.

 

We made in into San Fransisco.  It was interesting to see how the city was built with all the hills.  We saw Alcatraz and went across the Golden Gate Bridge.

After SF, we left the coast and headed towards Yosemite National Park.  We are currently in a small county campground about an hour away.   We don't have reservations, but there are first come - first serve campsites at several of the campgrounds.  We checked this evening and there are open spots.  Hopefully the crowds left on Sunday!!!  We plan on getting up early and heading to the Park.

I'm not sure if I will have WiFi for the next few days, so don't worry if you don't hear from us.  I will be taking plenty of pics, and will update this blog as soon as possible.

Day 10, 11, 12 - Santa Barbara and the Whales

Good Morning!  We have had a restful stay in Santa Barbara, and are back on the road heading to Big Sur State Park.  Here's a recap of the last few days.....and of the WHALES!!!

After we left the Santa Monica Pier, we ended up in a nice little park overlooking the ocean.  It was a little pricey, but the view was worth it!

Here is the view from our front door.

Erin's hat is watching you!!!

We packed up and headed to Santa Barbara.  Jen's Great Aunt Jacqui and Jen's Mom had made reservations for us a few weeks earlier in Santa Barbara's only RV park.  We dropped off the RV, and headed up the mountain to Jacqui's beautiful home.  She is a wonderful host, and always makes sure we have a great time.  Erin even got to take a bubble bath!!!

The view from her home.

Erin's Bubble Bath

We got up Thursday morning and lounged around for a while.  Jacqui and her friend Carol entertained Erin.  We eventually got moving, and headed into town.  We ate lunch on the beach, scouted out some parking spots for the RV while we were on the boat, got some GREAT strawberrys at a farmer's market, and bought our tickets to go whale watching!!!

Some of the sailboats at the beach

Erin and Jen hunting for crabs on the rocks

Friday morning we packed up early and said our goodbyes to Jacqui and Carol.  We picked up the RV, and headed to the Marina.  Jen has been wanting to go whale watching for the 10 plus years she has been visiting Jacqui.  So, WE DID IT!

It was a great trip, lasting about 4.5 hours.  At first, the fog was not cooperating, and the captain was having trouble finding the whales.  But, after about 2 hours, the fog broke, and we found 8 humpback whales to watch, along with thousands of common dolphins and hundreds of sea lions.

Here is a video of two whales surface feeding.

edit - the quality of this video is not very good.  I will work on getting a better video posted when we get to big sur.

I will be posting more of the whale trip as I get the videos edited.  We have much more video than pictures.  Needless to say, it was a great trip!  Afterwards, we headed North up Highway 1, enjoying the scenery along the way.  Big Sur, here we come!!!

Day 9 - The Perfect Day

DISCLAIMER - This post is going to be a selfish Daddy post!  You've been warned....


As a parent, there are many days that seem to blur together for me through the course of the year.  While I try my best to enjoy each day, and enjoy the doing more than the getting it done, sometimes life just gets in the way of me spending quality time with Erin.

But, then there are some days, just a select few, that you remember forever.  The days you look back to as you watch your child grow, and wish you could have them that age again, just one more time.  And...even though Erin is only 7, I know today will be one of those days.

It started off simply enough.  As always, Erin got me up at the crack of dawn.  We had breakfast, and decided to go on a hike.  Point Mugu State Park had been damaged by fire not long ago, so I didn't know what shape the trails were in.

Now one thing you need to know about Erin is that she loves to climb.  She always has, so just walking on a trail is ok, but she likes to climb some pretty challenging trails.  We got about .5 miles into the hike, when we saw a small trail heading straight up the mountain.  While it was steep, it didn't look dangerous, so I decided we would give it a try.

You can see the campground in this picture.  This was about the point we headed straight up.

 

The climb was tough, but Erin did great.  We didn't give any thought to what we would see at the top, but, we found this...

Needless to say, her reaction was very something I'll never forget.  Here are a few more pics.

We hiked along the ridge for a while, then headed back to camp.  Jen was up, so we packed up and headed out.  Jen suggested we head back down to the Santa Monica Pier.  We didn't tell Erin, so you can imagine her excitement when she saw it, and figured out that was where we were going!

It was a beautiful summer day, and we were all having a great time.  Then, after about 30 minutes of riding roller coasters, Erin looked at me and asked if she could ride alone.  I smiled and said yes.  The park was small enough I could easily keep an eye on her.  But, I knew right then I was on borrowed time.  I spent the rest of the day trying to take in every smile, every skip, every laugh.  We even talked Mommy into a little extra time, even though she was getting tired.  

But Mommy saw it too.  Saw a little girl growing up, even if just a little bit, in one simple question. 

Some rides she wanted me there.  Some rides she did alone, with friends she made at the park.  We laughed and played.  All three of us had a great day.  

 

We left as the sun went down, and found a nice little park in Malibu Beach.  Tomorrow we head to Santa Barbara to stay a few days with Jen's great Aunt.  I'm sure we will have a wonderful time.

Erin was asleep by the time we got to the park.  

She was back to being Daddy's little girl...for now.  It was the end to a perfect day.  A day I will never forget.  

Borrowed Time.