By this time I really had no idea how many days we had been gone, how many were left or even, what day it was. I was fully in vacation mode! We spent the day, hanging out in camp and the "guys" went fishing out on the lake. They rented a boat and had a great time, and did not catch any fish. It was a mellow and relaxing day.The next day we moved to our new campground. VERY level and very nice, but still with no hook ups. We took a walk across a stream and visited the Mammoth Consolidated Mine. An old abandoned mining village with dilapidated houses and rusting mining equipment strewn around. We walked to the entrance of the mine and looked beyond the steel bars preventing our passage at the small railroad tracks that led inside and around a bend. You really know where Knott's and Disneyland got their ideas for the mine and railroad rides... That night we took showers with the last of our water and said goodbye to "clean" for a while.
Friday, August 24th (I asked someone what day it was and reset our clock accordingly) We headed out in the morning to visit "Earthquake Fault". It is a giant rip in the ground, like in the movies, when there's an earthquake... well... it really happened! When I was a kid there were Rangers who would take you down into the crack and tell you about it.... it is now completely fenced in with LOTS of signs telling you to stay back from the edge. It was still pretty cool.
Next we went to the Adventure Center to board a bus that would take us down into the valley. We took a short walk to Devil's Postpile which is an amazing geological formation and then decided to take what will forever be known as "THE HIKE". Off to Rainbow Falls! It was a little over 3 miles round trip and lots of it was flat, some kind of hilly, but not bad. BUT....there had been a forest fire several years earlier and ALL of the trees were burned so there was NO shade. The gray pumice sand mixed with ash and the trail reflected the sun onto our faces, as we trudged along. Gavin decided to cool his feet in a stream along the way, WITH HIS SHOES ON! He did not seem to mind, even though he developed some small blisters. We got to the top of the falls and looked at them, longing to jump into the water and cool ourselves, but it was another 2 miles round trip to the bottom and back. NO WAY! The dog was tired and Andy had Ella in the backpack, not to mention that we ran out of water! We trudged back to the bus stop and have never been more happy to load up! We were all FILTHY and EXHAUSTED and headed toward town and our campsite. I realized that I was far to tired and starving to cook, so I told Andy to pick a place to eat. A small joint called "Burgers" caught his eye and a plan hatched. We walked in looking dirty and disheveled with 2 kids, they seated us in a back corner. Andy and I ordered the most enormous $9 burgers that you can imagine and we devoured them in their entirety. The kids wolfed down giant cheeseburgers and with belly's full, socks dusty and chins greasy we headed back to camp to crash.
4 comments:
My Dad always went hiking/camping every summer ever since I can remember. He was always taking along scouting friends and boy scouts as he was indelibly the Scout Master at church. I think I would enjoy a motorhome more than a tent anyday! Anyways, I know my Dad has been hiking in or around Devil's Post Pile as I've heard him talk about it. I did go camping in a tent probably at least a dozen times with my family. We just didn't do the hike it in on your back type for over a week...like my Dad loved to do every summer. And, I always went to Girls' Camp with the youth group every summer...and my Dad was usually there with us too. He was always in charge of anything camping at church! We usually stayed in cabins at Girls' camp...hey we're girls, we like cabins better! I was even the camp director over Girls' camp when Matt and I first got married and I had to *help* organize and take 20 girls to camp in the mountains for a week! Me!?! I ALMOST forgot about that. That's when we lived in Brea.
My Dad LOVES fishing too and we did that almost every time on those trips we took as a family. My Grandpa Harold and Uncle Ray took me fishing out on a boat one summer and that was super fun...I think I caught more fish than they did and I was only about 7 years old. But, they were always taking so much time putting the bait on my hook that I got more fishing time in. Good memories! Waiting to hear more.
Hey, just curious... did you read about my blog name change? I got no comments, and didn't know if it got skipped, or nobody had anything to say. You would probably like a motorhome.. it's fun! Maybe YOU could teach Andy how to fish...hee hee hee...
Oh yeah, i read about your blog name change. Sometimes I'm reading blogs while Matt washes up the kids...sometimes I have Madelyn in my arms while reading, so I don't always have the chance to write something. By the time I got back around to reading there was a new post...so I responded to those.
It's definitely a good name for your blog. You are always on an adventure with your family somewhere...vacationing or planning fun outings. And, motherhood is definitely a mountain to climb! Everyday!
I had to think about my blog name for a while too...it took me a few days and then I started my blog. I made mine rhyme and figured my blog would be a "mecca" because I was hopeing everyone would visit and read often!
I think I remember fishing with marshmallows as bait sometimes...the colorful ones. But I definitely remember buying worms and red jelly looking stuff with my dad at the camping store! Last time I went fishing I was a teenager and my dad had a bobbing thing on the line with bait that looked like a fish but wasn't really edible. I wish I could tell you what that's called...it's on the tip of my tongue. But, that was fun because you have to throw your line and then pull slightly and reel in and then pull again because it makes the fish chase after the bait. My dad is really the expert, not me!
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