4 Wheels 4 Girls

May 10 we were camping right next to the Pacific Ocean. It was very blue and had large waves. It sounded like the wind. We saw an animal in the Pacific Ocean. I thought it was a dolphin. Daddy and Stella thought it was a sea lion. It was black and it had a big fin.

We went on a very cold bike ride. It was very hard to bike in the wind. We rode our bikes to the beach. I did not get wet like the day before. I did get a lot sandy. It was hard to push my bike in the sand.

Then we rode our bikes to a pizza restaurant. We were really cold when we got there. My sisters didn’t know we were going to get pizza. I knew, but I kept the secret. It was a nice surprise for my sisters.

Warm pizza on a cold night

We got a cheese pizza and a pizza with cheese, canadian bacon, and pineapple. They were good. Cheese pizza was my favorite. I liked it because it was warm and it had good crust. We also got a salad. I didn’t like the salad because it was too cheesy and the croutons tasted icky.

Then we rode our bikes back home. The ride home was more cold. I was so tired that I did not have a very good surprise because we had to go uphill to get to our campground.

Done.

May 9, we came into San Francisco. As we kept driving down the street, the Pacific Ocean came into view. It was bluish green and really, really big. It was so big that when I looked out on it I could see the curve of the earth, and when it seemed that the ocean ended I couldn’t tell the ocean from the sky. I could hear the waves crashing into the sandy shoreline, even through the windows.

We drove along the beach for a couple minutes, then pulled into a parking lot to go check it out. When I got out, (and I was first AGAIN!) I was kinda cold because I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and flip-flops, but I had purposely worn Summer clothing. I wore such little clothing so I would get such little clothing wet. I was planning to splash around and play in the enormous waves for a while. When I stepped onto the warm black sand, I slipped my shoes off and bolted for the green-blue waters. Ellie, Greta, Ana and I played, “outrun the waves” while Jean and Dad watched from far back. Once, Jean stepped up too close and the waves drenched her ankles and feet before she could even try to outrun it.

My sisters and I kept having a blast. We would try to jump up onto this big, long pole that went out into the water before the water could snatch us in. Greta decided she’d start taking pictures so she told us to line up on the pole, and when a big wave came, to jump in. She got ready to take a picture and then a huge wave came. I was about to jump in but when I saw what happened to Ana after she jumped in, I decided I’d better not. Ana had jumped in and fallen over onto her side. Here’s the picture Greta took when Ana was in mid-air. Doesn’t it look pretty cool, though?

Our first encounter with the Pacific Ocean. It took us almost three months to get here!

She wasn’t hurt, just soaked, but Jean and Dad said we had to go back to the RV. What a ruin of fun.

The view from our RV

That night we found a campground, and it’s the one I’m at now. It’s pretty much an extremely nice parking lot, (with really nice bathrooms) and our slot that we’re supposed to be spending two nights in is about ten feet from the edge of a drop-off. There’s a sign right in front of the RV that I’ll write for you: WARNING!!!!! SHARP DROP-OFF SUBJECT TO EROSION! PROHIBITED AREA! San Francisco RV Resort. Isn’t that kind of a severe sign? I’d think so.

Sunset on the Pacific Ocean

Anyway, we had a lot of fun at the beach. I really hope we can go again!

On May 8th we left Yosemite and headed west to Merced, CA to visit some of our favorite relatives. It had been several years since I had seen Mike, Judy, Rebecca, and Pam, and it was great to see them again, to introduce them to our family members they had not met yet (and vice versa), and to get the chance to catch up. I had forgotten what a beautiful place they have, nestled below the Sierras. Ellie was very excited to discover that they have horses. Ana was very excited to pet the very friendly neighborhood cat.

Our favorite relatives in Merced, CA

On May 8th we woke up and it was Mothers’ Day. Happy Mothers’ Day, Mommy. I love you so much.

When I got out of bed I got paper, markers, and color pencils. I wrote a card. Then we went for a walk into Yosemite Village. We went to the Yosemite Cemetery and we searched for some people that we needed to find out some things about them for our junior ranger badges. It was so boring. We went to Caleb Clarke’s grave and saw that he had planted giant sequoia trees around his own grave. We also learned that there were two girls that were best friends. There names were Florence and Effie. Florence died at age 17 and Effie died at age 14. They died a month apart.

After that we went to the to the Curry Village to go get breakfast. When we got there we asked a lady where the buffet was and she said it was closed so we went to the store and got bread and milk. Then we went back to the RV and made french toast.

After that we got out and went on a walk back to Yosemite Village. Daddy did not come on the walk with us, he stayed home. We went to the store and got Stella two bear key chains and got Ana a pencil case. We went to the museum.

Ana and John Muir. Dad says they are contemplating the Sierras, but I think Ana is just posing for the picture.

In Yosemite Valley, we saw waterfalls everywhere. They were pouring down and you could hear them very clearly. They sprayed water everywhere. Sometimes it sounded like huge boulders coming crashing down. When you got some mist on you it felt like needles raining down. It hurt a little. My favorite waterfall was called horsetail. I think there were 100 waterfalls in that park. I had so much fun there.

After Ranger Karen’s great talk about bears, we decided to take a hike to see Vernal Falls, a great waterfall that roars the most in the spring, hence the name. It was a 4.2 mile hike, and we were prepared for it… at least I was. We started up the trail, which was unfortunately a steep uphill all the way, but hey, we had a long downhill to look forward to on the way back. After hiking about 0.8 miles, we could see the falls, but at about 1.2 was when it started to get really wet. I had brought an extra shirt and a sweatshirt, but Dad was the unlucky one; he told us all to bring an extra shirt and of course he forgot his own. Silly old bear/Dad, whichever one you like. So anyway the trail got super duper steep and slippery and cold and wet. Water from the falls was spraying on us at full force and it was all sloshy, so my feet got all wet despite my good hiking shoes. When we finally reached the top of the waterfall, we ate a big handfull of trail mix and enjoyed the fabulous view of the falls. Here’s a great picture of Vernal Falls:

It's absolutely gorgeous, am I right? The tiny dots next to the top of the falls are people.

We changed out of our wet shirts and then started on our way back. This time we would be taking a different route, the John Muir Trail, which went up over a ridge and back down to the valley floor. It added on almost another mile to the trip but no one cared since it was so beautiful. We got a great view of another waterfall, Nevada Falls, on the way:

Which one do you think is more amazing, Vernal or Nevada Falls? I can't decide!

You can see in the photo how much water comes down from the snowcaps in the spring; even our trail is a stream. The John Muir trail gave a great view of Yosemite Valley. The only quirk was that the path was still covered in snow! At some parts we had to climb down the wall and skip part of the trail ’cause it was too snowy.

Despite the snow, the trail was SO pretty. To think that only four days earlier we were sweating in Death Valley!

The rest of the hike back down was a breeze because of the downhill. We finished off the trail mix when we were almost done with the hike.

It was quite a long hike, but it was well worth it! We were sure hungry for dinner… 😉

On May 7th, we went to a ranger program at Yosemite National Park. It was the Bear Walk. It was a walk with a ranger about bears. We learned about the bear traps, where a bag of fish guts is hung inside and the trap door closes when a bear tries to get them. One bear learned how to stick his leg out when he gets the fish so the door can’t shut and lock.

The ranger told us about a bear called Orange-5. She would go into campgrounds to find human food, and the rangers would chase her away. She would sneak back five sites down and try again, and they would chase her all night long. The rangers would yell at her, “Drop it, bear!” and then they would chase her.

We learned that bears would break into cars and RVs. They learned how to open the doors using the handles. So, don’t forget to lock your car every time you go to Yosemite and other places with bears, too.

We learned that bears like apples and apple blossoms. They climb up into apple trees to eat them. So, don’t forget to not park under an apple tree where bears like to eat the apples. The ranger told us that there was a nice car parked under an apple tree with a bear in it, and the bear pooped on his car and then hopped down onto his trunk when he was ready to leave.

In a bear trap, a ranger was fixing it and the door slammed shut and he was trapped. He had no radio with him. The ranger called for help when people walked by.

The ranger told us where the bears are usually at. They are usually at a fen, which is really a lake.

On May 5, after we saw the giant trees, we drove down into Kings Canyon along the Kings River. Kings Canyon was named by spanish explorers. Momma says it was named for the three kings in the christmas story.

Kings River was going fast, and it looked like it was going backwards, because it was full of waves and they looked like they were going backwards. There were so many waves because the water had to make its way over rocks and to the left and the right of the rocks. It was a very long river. It went all the way through Kings Canyon. The river was wild all the way up into the canyon, and then where all the trees were, it was calm and it looked like a lake, but it was a river.

We stopped for a short walk to Grizzly Falls. It was a big waterfall and it had a lot of melted snow coming down. It was like a big thunderstorm. We couldn’t walk right up to it because it was too wet and the air was full of cold water. Instead, we walked up to a rock along the side of the falls where it wasn’t so wet.

Happy and wet in the mist of Grizzly Falls

We walked to Roaring River Falls. I heard water. I smelled the smell of water. I saw a lot of rocks and a waterfall and a river with rapids and two lizards fighting on a big rock. I was careful near the rivers because I didn’t want to fall in. It would be scary and cold and I would drown maybe.

Sitting on the banks of the Roaring River in Kings Canyon

May 5th, we drove into Sequoia National Park. I really liked this park because of all the awesome trees… But I didn’t know about the Giant Sequoias on the first day. Well, I saw one Giant Sequoia that was only about 30 feet around the bottom, plus a giant stump, but that’s all we saw before we made it to our campground. But before the campground…

I was surprised when we came to a sudden stop. Dad told us to get our shoes on and hop out, so I did. I was the first one out (again) and I walked along the the sidewalk until I spotted the giant stump Dad had told us about. I walked over to it and stood by it, waiting for the rest of my family to come. Finally they came out and we got ready for a picture. Dad said, “Who can touch the top?” None of us could. It was at least 10 feet tall, maybe higher. I tried to kinda climb up it a little, but of course that didn’t work. It was just a giant stump with no branches and nothing to grab hold onto except the woodpecker holes. But we walked around back and there were way more woodpecker holes, bigger ones too. Greta tried to climb up and made it, so I decided I could make it, too. I did. When I stood up on top and walked to the end so I could see the family on the other side, Dad asked, “Could you camp up there? I mean, with a tent and everything?” I answered, “Oh, yeah, definitely.” And Greta agreed. It really was huge up there, but we didn’t have a camera up there to take a picture, and we were too high up to have Jean or Dad hand us one.

The Big Stump

The campground we stayed at was a pretty nice one, at least I thought, but it didn’t have showers, water, electricity, or any other hook-ups. We left early in the morning, and headed towards the Visitor Center. We made it to the Visitor Center and I was the first one out of the– (AGAIN!!!)–RV. I went down the street to the building and went inside. There was a cool museum in there. The parents didn’t give us enough time in there, but I guess I got a good enough look.

Later, we headed off to the Grant’s Grove Trail. I liked the Grant’s Trail. It was really cool ’cause of all the HUGE trees, and I do mean huge when I say it.

That's Jean and Ellie at the bottom of those giant trees.

There was this one tree that was 107 feet around the base. Now do you think I mean HUGE??! I know I was actually there, so even right now, when I’m writing about it, it’s easy to picture, but try to picture a tree that huge… Here’s a picture to help you out.

The giant sequoia behind us is called General Grant, and it is the second largest living creature in the world.

In Grant’s Grove, there were also two FALLEN Giant Sequoia trees, and they were definitely my favorite things on the trail. They were at least 250 feet long, and were hollow inside so you could walk all the way through them. It was awesome!!! There was one flat on the ground, and the other was laying on tilted ground, so if you wanted to go through it, you had to climb up-hill the whole way. When we went in that one, we climbed all the way up to the other end. When everyone else made it up, Ellie, Greta, and Ana threw pinecones down. It was really funny to see how far they would make it. And they had fun doing it too.

Inside a giant sequoia

Everything at Sequoia National Park was fun. You should go there someday too!

May 3, we drove out of Death Valley and made our way across the Sierra Nevada mountains. Along the way, we caught a glimpse of Mt. Whitney and its neighboring giants along the east face of the Sierras. Our next stop would be in Sequoia National Park, so we chose a pass through the mountains at the southern end of Sequoia National Forest.

Oftentimes we pick smaller roads, which might yield a more scenic view of the country. This time we learned–when it comes to mountain passes–the bigger roads are often a wiser choice. Our little road was beautiful, but the RV really struggled to climb up through the endless twists and turns in the forest. We thought the pass would never come. On the bright side, we did spot a bobcat crossing the road along the way.

We camped in Three Rivers, CA that night, next to a wild river, gushing over its banks and boulders, full of spring snowmelt.

The next day, we entered Sequoia National Park at the Foothills Entrance, planning to drive up through the park from the south, to see the grove of giant sequoias, one of which is General Sherman, the largest living creature on Earth. Instead, we learned that our RV was not allowed up the southern road through the park, and that we would have to turn around and drive back down out of the mountains and north to another park entrance, missing General Sherman altogether. Sigh.

So, we missed General Sherman, but General Grant, the second-largest living creature on Earth, would be waiting for us at the other park entrance.