I'm a little behind in the blog posting.... but that's ok! So way back in April :) we went to Yosemite National Park with Mom & Dad Jones and the Pratt family. Chris and I left late, a little too late, to drive to Yosemite. We drove on the foggy, windy road in the dark into the wee hours of the morning. We thankfully arrived safe and sound. We had an unheated tent cabin, and while it was sunny and warm in San Jose, we discovered quickly that it was a lot colder there. We had good sleeping bags, extra blankets, etc. so we didn't freeze, but we were a little shocked at how cold it got at night.
First group hike! We had a fun time hiking together. Aren't my nieces so cute?
My nephew is cute too :)
The best part about visiting Yosemite in the spring is the waterfalls. At this time of year they had lots of flowing water.
Half dome! I think it would be fun to hike half dome someday. You have to have a pass to hike to the top now, but it looks like you would have a beautiful view.
Walking toward the visitor center we saw a group of deer just hanging out, looking for food. They didn't mind all the attention they were getting.
On the second day, the four of us went on a quick early morning hike and got to see more pretty waterfalls and gorgeous views.
Hard to capture in a picture, but the rising sun was lighting up the waterfall way in the distance. Very picturesque. We wanted to hike closer to the waterfall, but the trail was closed.
Chris found a big rock to climb. He loves big rocks.
After our early morning hike with mom & dad Jones, we met up with the Pratt's for our big hike of the day. We packed up lunches and headed off. It was not an easy hike, but all the kids did really well. They are all good hikers.
It took a couple hours to make it to our destination - the bottom of the upper falls. We stopped and took pictures, played in some lingering snow near the trail, and ate lunch. As we were eating lunch it started to rain. It rained just a little at first, but then it started coming down harder. We quickly packed up and put on our jackets and started down the trail. We were trying to hike as quick as we could because the rain was coming down harder and harder and we weren't prepared for rain. We ended up breaking into small groups of 2-3 and hiking as fast as we could down the trail. I was paired up with Claire, and that girl can hike! I was supposed to be helping her hike down in the rain, but she was practically pulling me along as we both hurried down the trail. The trail was wet and slippery, but no major accidents as we hurried down. Though we were all soaked through and cold once we got to the bottom, we were all able to laugh about it -- though dry clothes and lots of hot chocolate sounded great!
