Gearig Up to Ski!

Well, the deed is done. I put away the bathing suites, goggles, towels and flip-flops we used in Palm Springs, and got out the hats, gloves, coats and ski goggles! Each of the kids was allowed their choice of what to do and, not surprisingly, the boys both chose skiing, and Lacy chose to snowboard. We are now on Mountain time so it is 12:30 a.m. our time. Bright and early the group will be up and the kids will be headed to school...ski school that is! Thy hit the slopes at 9:00 a.m. and will be in school until 3:30 p.m. Ted will head over to a course that Aesculap is offering over at Snowbird while the kids are in school. Me? Well I will just have to think of something to do in the peace and quiet of an empty bus tomorrow before Ted comes to pick me up. :-) Goodnight!

And the winner is...Park City, Utah!

We are staying right around the corner from the Mormon Temple, which we went to see tonight. Our timing was perfect getting in, so we headed up to Snowbird. As we ascended up the mountain, we noticed it was still 68 degrees! That is going to be slush. We start pondering getting back on the bus and heading on to Colorado. Then, Ted recommended I check conditions on the other side of the mountain at Park City. Would you believe it is over 20 degrees colder in Park City? So down the mountain we went and up the mountain to Park City where we staked our claim and bought our tickets!

Lacy-Bell

The plan last night was to leave early so we could get our ski gear and lift tickets ready for an early start the next morning. When we leave really early, the boys sleep in our bed, Lacy is on the cot, and Ted and I are on the fold-out bed. In the morning, we move Lacy to the couch, and off we go. Here, Lacy has gone back to sleep and she, her blankets, her animals and Pepe are enjoying their commute!

Wal-Mart Run!

Yesterday was one of those days where we left Yosemite and had no real idea where we were going to end up. We knew we were headed to ski, but not sure exactly where. We stopped to see interesting things along the way, and here we stocked up on more goodies. It was interesting to us how we left the wonder of Yosemite and snowy Northern California and went across the desert end of California and Nevada. Here, we had just started into the snowy part of Nevada where you can kind of see the meeting of the desert and wet mountains. It was neat.

Snow, snow and more snow!

We drove from Yosemite to Winnemucca, Nevada yesterday. The kids saw their first snow plow (I think it is mine too!) so the roads were nice and dry for us. We passed through many snow drifts that were taller than our 13 ft bus! We also went through many canyon passes where they warned against noise and stopping because of avalanche risk. We saw that this time of year when the snow is beginning to melt is a particularly risky time. The constant pressure changes going up and down the mountains caused everything in the bus that was sealed to "blow up" like this chip bag that Connor is holding! All our bottles and bags had a little poof when we opened them. We drove through Lake Tahoe and learned it is both in California and Nevada. Ted told us about all the places he had been skiing in the area. It was one of the most fascinating rides I may have ever been on.

Ted's Office Break

On the drive yesterday from Yosemite, Ted needed to take a break to concentrate on a business matter he had. We stopped at a great Vista Point in the valley below Yosemite. The kids and I had a great time walking the railing!

Goodbye Yosemite!

In this picture, you can see El Capitan over Kris' head! Many movies and commercials are filmed here. The latest was the one with the lady rock-climbing when her cell phone rings. Her bank is letting her know she is almost overdrawn. That is here at El Capitan. I can't imagine any climbing these cliffs. They are sheer walls.

What an adventure these last few days have been. We grew and learned from this experience; and it turned out to be a very good one indeed. Tonight we are in Winnemucca, Nevada and the drive here was breathtaking. So much Snow! It was unbelievable. Many of the snow drifts were taller than our bus. Tomorrow we leave very early (7:00 a.m.) to drive to Snowbird, UT. Aesculap has a meeting there that Ted was encouraged to attend when we were at AAOS. That is fine with us because we plan to put the kids in Ski School and ski for a couple of days.

Victory! And it was worth the walk.

These trees were amazing. The ranger said their roots can grow 50 feet out from the tree. Never have I imagined something so amazing. These are the very big trees, but all around this area are exceptionally tall and wide trees. On the LONG walk back, we entertained ourselves by pretending we were in Narnia. This is what it seemed like!

Ever-ready bunny to the rescue!

We were prepared. We had waterproof hiking boots on and layers of cloths (which we quickly shed off), sunglasses, and determination. But before we were even TO the grove, the kids started to poop out. Poor Evan was just on a heap on the ground. So sweet Ted scooped him up and carried him much of the way up. The walk down was much easier.

Put this in the "what were we thinking" category!

OK, here is what happened. We wanted to see the giant redwoods in Yosemite and learned it was about a 45 minute drive. We drove out there through curvy, slow roads only to find that the road to the grove of trees was snowed in and closed. If we wanted to see them, we would need to walk the 2 1/2 miles there and 2 1/2 miles back, up hill...in the deep snow. We were up for a challenge and all saw the most snow we have ever seen! (notice I am standing at the top of this standard street sign!)

Yosemite

We only stayed five minutes from the park so it was very convenient to spend the day at Yosemite. We had a wonderful time. They had a snow storm here three weeks ago and we were fascinated by the process they go through to open roads and dig out homes. Many roads were not yet open, like the one I will tell you about in another post!

Where in the World are the Kings?

Oh do we have stories for you! The short version is that we drove up a mountain, through winding, hair-pin turns, 4000 feet up (see picture) to reach a 1000-Trails resort at Yosemite. When we booked the reservation, they failed to mention the resort's bridge had been broken by a cement truck and it was CLOSED! Let me tell you, Ted is an incredible driver. I was not nervous when he was driving, in fact, I was comfortable enough to stick my head out and take pictures! Anyway, they put us in a strip of public RV parking in what we eventually called "the Enchanted Forest". Just look at the picture of the tree. Our 13 foot RV is at the bottom of that tree! All the trees around here are just enormous! However, we had no cell, no internet, 30 amp service (which is far less than our coach requires - we used flashlights!), and we felt we were in another world! Once we got over the shock of our situation, we made the best of it and enjoyed our time there.

We saw the light...

...the neon light, that is, that says "Hot Doughnuts"! Even on the west coast my K-Dar was up and that light beckoned me from afar! We scarfed down a dozen there and took a dozen back to consume on the bus tomorrow. The perfect ending to a perfect day!

Muir Woods National Monument

Muir Woods is the beginning of the Redwood Forest and is an amazing place. A battle in Star Wars was filmed in the Redwood Forest where the troopers were flying in and out of the tree trunks. We picked a random tree and all five of us tried to hold hands around it and we did not come close to touching. It is just impossible to capture in a picture what these look like. In the picture with the kids, they are all inside the tree; it is not two trees! We hear our next stop, Yosemite National Park, has the giant Redwoods too!

The Trolley Ride

The kids had a blast on the Trolley. I had forgotten just how "white knuckled" that ride going straight up and straight down can be! I was surprised that there were no rules about how old you had to be to hang your body out of a moving vehicle with traffic all around!

Ghiradelli Square

We spent part of today in downtown San Francisco walking, eating and riding the trolley car. It was cold, sunny and FUN!

Time with old friends

We met up with Tom and Maureen Hudson this evening. Tom and Ted met about 20 years ago on the island of Martinique and have maintained contact all these years. Tom is a native of San Francisco and was a wealth of information. He and Maureen grow their own grapes and make their own wines. How California! It was so good to see them and catch up.

Daddy's Home!

Ted returns from his day at the AAOS meeting in San Francisco. This is the largest orthopedic meeting in the world. The kids are hovering around, just waiting for him (the fun parent) to get back!

Deadliest Catch - California Style

I guess too much Discovery Channel made the boys want to try Alaskan King Crab legs, so here they are! Unfortunately for us, they loved them. Dad...does this remind you of anyone at that age? I guess it runs in the family. We told them that if they wanted to make it a habit, they can do it on their own dime!

Cupcakes in Pacifica

Lacy and Evan enjoy treats at a local bakery within walking distance of where we are parked. Today, we saw a pod of porpoises slowly swim in front of our bus. It was beautiful to see them swim..