The next day we drove from Newport to Sequoia National Park -- it was an all-day trip. We pulled into the campground around 6 p.m. and it was C-O-L-D (this from an Alaska girl, right?)! A nice change from AZ, but honestly, it was chill-ay. We registered and drove to the campsite, only to find a big snowdrift there! Thankfully it was not IN our site, but we carefully situated our two tents in between the small tributary of melting snow and the drift itself. Then we built a big fire to sit by all night! We had originally planned to just drive through Sequoia on the way to Yosemite, but ended up changing our plans and staying there. So worth it! Of course the kids had plenty of time to complete their Junior Ranger requirements, we saw a bear and tons of other wildlife and did some exploring.
Stop 5: Yosemite National Park
If I could have changed only one thing about our visit to Yosemite, it would be that it WASN’T FREE WEEKEND AT YOSEMITE. It seemed like all 10 million residents of Los Angeles decided to visit that very weekend. We had no idea it was free weekend when we planned our trip, and it was a not-so-pleasant surprise. Look beyond the crowds, though, and you’ll find some of the most awesome (and I mean that in the true sense of the word, not the 80s Valley girl sense) scenery. The snowmelt was still running strong so the waterfalls were huge. Everything was so green and lush. We took the kids on a hike up the Mist Trail – a little steep by children’s standards – and we encountered just a bit of whining. OK some full-fledged whining from all four kids after we passed the halfway-up point. The highlight of the hike was when, on our way down, I heard a father of two girls about the same age as our older kids turn to his daughters and say, “Look at those kids with smiles on their faces (referring to our four – smiling because we were almost DONE!) – if they can do it so can you!” He had no idea what we had endured on the way up. We spent two days in Yosemite, and of course I wish we’d planned at least one more day. Without 10 million of our closest friends.
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