making memories

Geeking Out

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img_3994Our time on this journey is sadly coming to a quick close and times like these in the picture below I am savoring and getting super sentimental about. My prayer is that we don’t fall into the ways of this world, the “normalcy”, or the busy busy life ever again. The connectedness we have alongside the unbusy is what I’d like to maintain when we return “home”. The “norm” will never be our norm again, with the grace of God!

Off to Washington state we went after Oregon. Once again, I couldn’t have imagine the gloriousness of another state in our great country. At this point I don’t think I would ever have the desire to travel abroad…well except for a warm island with drinks in coconuts or pineapples of course.

I’m going to totally geek out here, but we stayed in La Push, Washington. Anyone catching on? The Quileute tribe from Twilight that Jacob Black was from is real tribe located in La Push just like the movie and next to Forks where Edward Cullen, the vampire, lived. We used hipcamp.com to make our reservations and stayed on someone’s land (with electric and water hookups) there for super cheap which was awesome! While staying there we visited the Olympic National Park. What a surreal place made up of four ecosystems: coast, forest, rainforest, and mountains.

Our first day in the park we hiked through the rainforest and up into the mountains, two of four ecosystems. The water was a light turquoise color. We learned that the color is caused from the snow melting on top of the mountains, flowing down toward the river and bringing sediment into the waters…wow mind blown! Our second day we went to the coast, three of the four ecosystems, at Rialto Beach to see Hole in the Wall, Haystack rock, and the driftwood made of whole trees. We collected rocks from the shore, putzed along the tidepools stemming with ocean life and balanced beamed along the driftwood. The third and final day we went to Second Beach and to get down to the beach we entered the fourth and final type of ecosystem, the forest. We hiked one mile through forest to get to the beach which was super cool and a little bizarre for this East Coast fam, especially when we saw a banana slug on the trail. This beach had bigger tidepools but less beachcombing to be done but was a fun finale.

Next, we headed to Whidbey Island to our campground so Shaun could paraglide along a most spectacular state park bordering a bay in Fort Ebey. Long story short, the wind was sadly not with him during our time there so no paragliding happened. We checked out a pier and tried crabbing, investigated Fort Ebey, an old fort used for coastal defense during WWII, and drove over Deception Pass (not for the bridge hater like me!).

Next a super duper shmooper exciting mention in this post…we headed to Glacier National Park to celebrate Brie’s EIGHTH birthday!!!!! How my baby turned 8 is so beyond me because in my mommy mind she was born two years ago and should still be in a stroller when we go places. We surprised her with our friends, the Youngs, showing up to join in the fun. On her actual birthday we rented kayaks and enjoyed the glacial waters on Lake McDonald. Brie and I even swam in the crystal clear and freezing glacial waters! Then we got ice cream (Huckelberry is the specialty flavor of everything in these parts and is even an ice cream flavor), bought some souvenirs and headed back to the campground. She opened presents and enjoyed her double chocolate cake with dark fudge icing and chocolate sprinkles.

The following day in Glacier NP we also hiked to three different waterfalls in one trip: Baring, St Mary and Virginia. They were all different from each other but St Mary Falls had the most turquoise water I’ve ever seen inside the US and Virginia Falls was tallest and went down along the rocks in a picturesque way. Our final day we took the kids into the park to get their Junior Ranger badges, shopped a bit around St Mary and got the kids ice cream. The whole park is astonishing and it was such a blessing to see the glaciers because they predict that in ten years they’ll all be gone unfortunately. If you get a chance…GOOOO!

This was the end of our time in Washington and Montana. Next we headed to Yellowstone, which is mostly in Wyoming but some parts are in Idaho and some in Montana as well. Deets on our time here in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons in the next post because we are still here and there’s so much to tell!

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Not so SoCal

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So last post I was feeling soooo SoCal, well since then we’ve moved not so SoCal. The journey is taking us slowly north up the Pacific Coast. Since Santa Barbara and Hobson Beach, we have parked our home and moved in to what I am now calling The Holy Trinity of National Parks…Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite. img_2746

Leaving Hobson Beach Park, a state park in Santa Barbara, I was a little heartbroken. Living next to the beach, listening to the waves crash at night with the windows open instead of our white noise machine, combing the beach each morning, and meeting some great people while we were there was really hard to leave. However, it was time to get back into the national parks and see the things.

As soon as we arrived at our campground near Sequoia, I knew I needed to be back in the nature of trees. Our campground was along a river with big willowy trees swaying in the breeze encompassed in Spring blooms. After walking down to the river, feeling the breeze, dipping our toes in the freezing cold rushing river, and quietly listening to the sounds, I was completely at ease. img_2633

Our first day in Sequoia National Park we happened upon some Petroglyphs, one of my journey obsessions (along with cacti, heart-shaped nature, dead trees, and Pelicans diving into the water). First we did the “must dos” and conquered the General Forest. We saw the General Sherman Tree along what we thought would be an easy hike since it was the most popular but going in we knew it would be harrrrd getting back out because it was allllll downhill. However, the tree was massive and awe-some!

After that crazy hike we drove up and through the Tunnel Log….twice. Once so I could go through in the truck and once so I could take pix. Then we hiked up Moro Rock, which is no joke! You go up, up, up and include some stairs and major drop offs and get to the most beautiful panoramic view of a national park. Then you climb down and cross the road and climb up another killer hike to see the Roosevelt Tree (if you’re tired or not in the mood, worth skipping it and just another big tree in my book).

The next day we spent finishing our journey planning, Gilmore hung outside sunbathing, and letting the girls play basketball, tether ball, and skip rocks in the river. A good day had by all essentially. Finishing our planning, contracting campgrounds/national parks, figuring out dates and then Shaun calculating when we’d ETA get “home” was super exhausting and even more depressing. I can NOT express enough how much I do NOT want to go home (except to see my loved ones) and would love to do this for just another year. I know many of you can not understand my drive but having my husband and girls in my business all of the time and seeing the greatness of America with them every day is completely priceless and AMAZING! Also, saving them and myself from the worry of what is happening in the world (not blinding them from it but protecting) and the current trends of young women is completely worth bubbling them in the RV and keeping the journey going.

Ok so after I depressed myself, blamed Shaun (not his fault but who else), and agreed on dates, we set off on a narrow, windy road towards Kings Canyon a day early. Why? A campground in-park opened that day and had campsites open that could handle our rig (our home, travel trailer is 36′ 11″ without the F250, which has to be perfectly straight when unhooking). So we moved….and QUICK! We didn’t, for the first time, have a campground ready and waiting for us to stay at and Shaun knew I was freaking out about this detail.

We got there and were probably the fourth person to park there for the day, aka the season. The site we parked in was the most amazing site we have ever parked in EVER! There was no one around us but trees. Oh, oh and the trees, I am in LOOOOOVE with the trees. They were giant, smelled amazing, and just encompassed the word beautiful!!!!! This is now where I knew I belonged. I want to be in the trees forever!!!! John Muir and I are one and we belong smelling, saving, dwelling, and living in the TREES!!!!! img_2706

So after I resolved to be one with the trees, we woke up cold and in the trees. We dressed and hiked from our campground right into the General Grant Tree self-guided hike (self-guided hikes ROCK) and loved it especially pre-Memorial Day rush. It was amazing and we loved it! Afterwards, we wentt home, made a massive fire and hung out as our amazing family does!

The next morning we woke up colder and damp. Propane was kicked on and I homeschooled to kill time before our hike. As we headed out to the truck to head to the Panoramic Point to hike up to the Fire Tower, that idea was quickly killed. The road was so foggy that none of us could see and we were just going to rise in elevation so we abandoned ship and headed back. We arrived to the campground and I whipped out my camera and Natalie joined me in a wet stroll along the Sunrise Trail next to our campsite and then Brie joined me afterwards. Photographing the trees and natural world during a post rain, condensation, and camp fire bound time was amazing to experience with my girls and such precious time for me to bond with them, one on one too.

Descending on the time to evacuate the chilly weather, we headed toward Yosemite. A scheduled campsite through our beloved Thousand Trails was pre-set and toward it we went. Knowing that there were long, hot showers with plentiful water running through our connected faucets (Berkey ready for filtering water), a river for fishing and playing, and another national park for exploring we ventured on. Originally we were supposed to be in Yosemite for a week but Shaun had an amazing opportunity to paraglide with an amazing instructor and we agreed he had to take it, so we shoved our Yosemite experience into three days of what we refer to as “active days” and I made everyone non-stop active the whole three days.

We were not far from the national park, which for an out of park campground is amazing. Monday we knew a lot of people would have off and so I planned an off-the-beaten-path hike. Hitting Hetch Hetchy toward O’Shaughnessy Dam and then Wapama Falls was not a hard but also not easy hike and walking through the falls, seeing all of the Spring butterflies, feeling the warm breeze, seeing the water at it’s best post-freeze, pre-dry season was amazing and priceless!

The highlight for the girls was walking through the waterfalls. Also, seeing multiple lizards, butterflies, and plants we couldn’t recognize but then meeting an amazing park ranger who found them all in a book she “couldn’t live without” was priceless. We hit the ranger station, bought the book, and it’s been priceless to us, The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada by (my buddy) John Muir Laws.

The second day in Yosemite, we decided to do the “must sees” as I call them. First we hiked to Bridalveil Falls, the largest waterfall in North America. Then we headed to Yosemite Falls, well hiked to the lower falls but could see both. We saw El Capitan, Half Dome, Cathedral Dome, and Sentinel Rock en route. Then we made our way to Cooks Meadow Loop which provided an amazing view of so many iconic spots, a beautiful meadow, and spring (especially the tadpoles under the boardwalk parts of the hike). After we decided to do the Mirror Lake hike so we can get into the heart of Yosemite and so I can photograph the rock formations in the lake. Well it was a pretty hike but the lake photography left much to be desired. We hiked in and quickly hiked out. The girls played in the Toulemene River at the campground instead while Shaun fished. Win win win!

The third, and final active day, we went to Carlon Falls. Three rangers recommended it, so how could we not?! It was a great hike, beautiful falls, vacant of people, farther than anticipated, and lovely. After we decided to hike to the Giant Sequoias in the Tuolumne Grove for a ranger talk to finish the Junior Ranger books with the girls. After hiking down, down, down, down into the forest we found the meet up point for the talk and ate our lunch because we were early. Our ranger was raring to go, informative, and taught us a lot about the trees and she was the most informative person we’ve ever met in the national parks/monuments/forests/etc.. We still had to hike up, up, up, up and after Natalie and I had to turn back in for her lost hat, gave up, and rehiked up, up, up, up and met up with Shaun and Brie we were beat (btw her hat was in the bottom of her backpack lol). The visitor center was our last stop in Yosemite National Park for the girls to earn their beloved Jr Ranger badges. Boy did they earn them after over 18 miles of hiking in three days!

After arriving back home we decided to pack up and get as ready as we could to leave early the next day so Shaun could go to his second paragliding certification course. It is such a blessing that he’s been able to work with this group of teachers whom know there paragliding info inside and out. He and I feel he’s in the best hands to prepare him for the best, worst and in-between when he goes out on his own in a sport that he loves and enjoys. It brings him closer to enjoying his down time and us supporting him in that.

While he did his training, the girls and I have slept in (which was needed after our Yosemite race), been to the beach, tried hiking but it was too hot, drove around seeing and looking for paragliders/aka Shaun, made new/awesome friends, homeschooled, read, made slime, biked, hunted lizards and more. We can get more done in our time in the RV then we could anywhere else. SIGH!

After this we headed to a national forest for a few days to wait, impatiently, until we hit San Fran with our family/BFFS! Peace out sauerkraut! We also celebrated Gilmore’s 2nd birthday!