Eastern Sierra Nevada's

We just got back from our annual trip to the Eastern Sierra Nevada's. This trip was a blast! We broke through to a whole new level of fun with the kiddos. We had many great adventures; they are now so into hiking and exploring. For our first night Peggy followed us up and stayed one night. It was good for her to get away for this short time, and it was a treat to have her.

Day 1- We went up to Red Meadows and hiked the  Devils Postpile National Monumet trail. The kids were amazed by the formations; they were so excited to see one of our nations geological wonders.

Later that day after Peggy left we took the kiddos fishing at Mammoth Creek. I sat on a rock for a while trying to catch a fish that I could see staring at me. To my left you have my boy in the brightest shirt and clumsy water shoes tromping through the water coming towards me. I figured I will let him have my spot since it was clearly completely disturbed. Jake jumped on the rock that I was sitting on dropped his line and in seconds he was reeling in my fish. The kid just has that kind of luck with fish!

Day 2- We headed back to Red Meadows to hike the Rainbow Falls trail. It was such an eerie trail with all the burnt out trees everywhere. 

Here are the kiddos in one....

Because of the fire that came through this area in 1992 we had a major lack of shade on this trail; hence complaints from the kids. Once we got to the upper view point for Rainbow Falls we were struck by the beauty of it along with the spay from the mist. We were instantly cooled off! We hiked to the bottom down by the river and had ourselves a picnic.

The view from the bottom...

Day 3- We took the kids to Mammoth Mountain, road the gondola to the top and hiked down. While we were coming down the trail a young bald eagle took flight right over us from the nest. It was amazing! As soon as we got down from the hike we filled our bellies at the German pub. Right after lunch the kids zip lined and rock climbed until they couldn't take it anymore. After our time there we met our friends the Silva's for pizza, the kids were so happy to see friends! After we we back at the RV for the night Tim and Laurie can to visit us, we enjoyed a fire and smores with them. Yum!

Here are the kids in front of Mammoth Mountain..

Day 4- Happy Independence Day! As we traditionally do we went to the Mammoth pancake breakfast and met up with the Silva family. We all walked around the art fair then it was off to our seats for the parade. The kids always have such a good time with these activities. 

Here they are on the parade route with their zinc oxid faces, lol...

After the parade we walked up to the park and watched the orchestra perform. It was so good, this was the first time we have done this, and now will not be a last! After the show was over we went back to the RV and got on our bikes and headed off to the Volcom Brothers Skate Park so Jake can get his skate on. David and Jakob both skated, Dave was feeling rather confident and tried to drop into the big bowl. Needless to say he landed with all his weight onto his shoulder, was not very good!

Here is Jake doing his thing.....

Day 5- Today we drove to show the kiddos the beautiful hot springs; the colors were so pretty. After we left the hot springs we headed off to Mono Lake, it was such a beautiful afternoon. This was such a visual & educational visit. After we visited the tufa's we went to the Mobil station for lunch. Sounds odd but it is really a great restaurant! On our way back we stopped at Lake Shasta for a swim.

Here we are at Mono Lake....

Day 6- We were Yosemite bound! We left Mammoth first thing in the morning so we could get a good start on our day. I forgot how pretty the drive is going in. On our way in we came across this lake that still had a bit of fog on it and the sun was rising up over the mountain. I got a little lens flare but I kinda like it!

We stopped at all the view point areas on the way in and the kids loved all the sights. While driving we even got to see a bear eating berries. The kiddos love it! We went on many hikes and took the tram all over the place. I cannot wait to take the kiddos back during off season!

Here is one more shot....

Day 7- We woke up early and went to one of our favorite places; Convict Lake, I just love the way the mountains shoot up just behind lake. We had no luck with fish, but we enjoyed our view and company. We spent the afternoon swimming at Horseshoe lake, then off to the Village for a little shopping and ice cream.

Here is a shoot from Convict...

Day 8- I have to give a back story to this next one. At home we watch a show called Man Women Wild, the kids love it. In one episode the wife is afraid of encountering a bear, so to scare them away from the area she repetitively yells "Bear, Bear, Bear!" Also she has a cute little English accent. So the whole trip the kids were mimicking her by yelling "Bear" with their own version of an English accent.

Dave and I were packing up the RV and Jake starts up with the "Bear" thing again. I tell Jakob to please stop it is driving me nuts, I was done with it at this point. We he looks at me eyes bulging out of his head and tell me "No mom there is a bear in our campsite!" Well that was a surprise! In all the year of camping in the Sierra Nevada's this was a first, and we all loved it!

Here he is getting away...

After all the excitement we finished packing and departed the mountains.  It was such a great trip for all of us. As we were driving through the desert the RV had kind of some funny issues. It didn't get really bad until we cam to the stop in Mohave where you stop and turn left. Once we stopped all we had was first and second gear. We seemed to have lost third and forth gear. We went 40 miles an hour to try to at least get to Acton where my mother in-law lives. We got off at her off ramp and we have lost the entire transmission.

Here is how we ended up.....

On a flat bed tow!!! Yikes, thank God for AAA RV package! It was all covered.