After a short night (thanks to the HP marathon) we had a VERY sleepy L on our hands, totally ready to explore the park once more (NOT!).
But after another jacuzzi bath her tired body woke up ... a bit (however the dark rings under her eyes didn't wash off and she looked a bit like she could play a part on Voldermort's team ;)
We had a quiet breakfast,
L worked on writing cards,
Papa soaked in the tub and I was getting lost, trying to decide what trails and locations to see.
Clearly there was no way we could see even half of it on one day.
LUCKILY, we have reservations for Curry Village in the summer. We'll camp for 4 days smack-down in the middle of heaven :)
One last look out of the window
... yup ... still breathtaking!
... and off we went.
I don't even remember what made her laugh so hard, but it sure must have been funny as heck.
Apparently little L didn't think it was funny at all!
First stop was ... the gas station.
Which is, if you are in Yosemite in the winter, a bit tricky to find (or at least one that sells gas).
For whatever reason the rangers decided to keep the one most north of the valley open (instead of the one right in the middle???).
So up we went ...
The higher we went the more snow we found ... much to the excitement of the little people in the back seats.
On our way down Pat hit the breaks hard when we came around the corner to this view ...
Holy smokes ... it literally takes your breath away.
Thank you Mr. Rosevelt for protecting these sacred grounds and saving them for our enjoyment, that of our kids and their kids and so on ...
We stopped by here ... for uncle Saschi na-course!!!
One day we'll take you here!!!
And then we found this awesome Sequoia tree trunk display.
Magna Carta!!!
Declaration of Independence
Civil War
WOW!!!
Meanwhile the little one found "her castle" and told us she was the "ice princess" .
Blowing us poor servants a kiss :)
And then we just wandered around the park.
Checked out "here" and "there".
And then made our way to the Lower Yosemite Falls.
When the Ls started to get cranky and tired,
Pat came up with this wonderful game of "Follow the Papa" :)
It totally worked ...
... for about 10 minutes.
Then it was no fun anymore and they realized that we had just tricked them into walking further into the park.
Wahahahah ... evil parents that we are!!!
But just as they were going to melt down we found the falls and their little minds were just taken by the "big water" and it's beauty.
This is a keeper for sure!
I LOVE this pic!!!
L took this picture ... my super junior blogger!
... and then they went off to climb the rocks and discover.
... and I just kept staring at the falls, remembering the last time we had been here.
10 years ago we took my little sis here.
It was one of our first camping trips and we dragged her all over the park.
We laughed about it ... boy she was sooo grumpy when we made her climb up the falls but she earned her name "Jukelelia" and Brownie-Bear and I have many fond memories of that trip! ... Du auch Kleine, ne :)
My three favorite people in the world :)
Plumber Bum :)
We stopped for some hot soup and coffee
(for me NOT the Ls :)
And then I totally broke the rules and gave the Raven a treat to lure him closer to me and my camera.
Trust me, I paid dearly for it!
Lulu gave me and ear full and a half about "NEVER BREAK THE RULES MAMA!!!". ... little does she know that I am a born rule breaker and my blood runs in her veins :)
After we saw the falls we were going to head to Glacier Point (but that route is closed in the winter) so we opted to head down south and see the giant Sequoias.
This is what L had wanted to see very badly and we kept telling her how cool and HUGE these trees are.
However, the way down south the park was rather CURVEY and not just one, not just two, but all three CZ girls got rather car sick.
We stopped half way, dispensed Dramamine and barf-bags and hoped for the best.
Dramamine has two effects, it calms your stomach and ... makes you TIRED (drowsy).
By the time we arrived at the Giant Trees both Ls were out and I was barely able to take these pics ... and shortly thereafter crashed too :)
Poor Pat was left with driving us home instead of seeing the big trees.
And since we had decided to head south, our way home was a "wee" bit longer than we had expected.
We drove right into the sunset ...
This was the perfect ending for our first "out of town" trip!
We arrived home late and hit the sacks ASAP.
This morning Papa headed off to work and the Ls and I had to drive 1 1/2 hours ONE way to pick up Dork from his Pet Resort.
He peed himself when he saw us and then barfed all the way home, all over his crate.
The smell of his ... and the left over skunk on the side of the road made us reach for our barf bags once again ... but we made it home safely (except for the Dork ... he was covered from head to toe ... just the way we know him and love him :)
When Pat came home he howled for 5 minutes straight (Dork ... well and then Pat too :) and now everybody is happily reunited.
This sums up our first "out of town" trip and we are all eagerly planning the next one ... except the girls don't know about this one yet :)
It'll be a double whammy ... high scores will be reached :)
