One of the reasons we're willing to pay through the nose to live in California: old-school-pack-the-kid-and-the-dog-in-the-van-(or-SUV)-and-hit-the-road trips, baby!
With winter coming to a close (I know it doesn't feel that way for some of you folks, my condolences), we decided to hit Yosemite so we can soak in mother nature's wintry goodness and our 2-/4-legged kids can have a romp in the snow. Well, as the best-laid plans go, of course someone got sick, and it snowed gloriously as we started our drive home, and all we had was pretty much black ice and slush.
Oh well. But we did hit jackpot with this hidden gem of a vacation rental we found on vrbo. Shhhhhh... just between friends, you know?
This rustic-modern cabin sits on its own 17 serene acres, complete with a little red barn, a personal observatory, and moo-ing cows on rolling meadows just across the road.
It's totally chilaxing cow-gazing on the porch. This is the view from the porch (Eva says "mooooo" every time she looks at this photo still):
Not easy to get the "kids" to cooperate for a group photo...
Gotta sneak up on them when they're not suspecting- one napping and one watching Curious George while sipping Pedialyte...
Bryson much happier when we get to stroll around the grounds...
And yes, this is the personal observatory on property. How cool is that?? The owner apparently is a huge astronomy buff, there are also multiple telescopes around the house, complete with detailed instructions. But by the time it got dark and we had time to put Eva down and read the instructions, the clouds rolled by and the stars said goodnight. Boo...
Yes! It's my first finished quilt! Ta-da! It's made a few cameos in previous posts, but I never got around to write about it. I was hoping to take the quilt to some exotic location for its own photo shoot, and what's more perfect than a rustic little barn? Stay tuned, I've decided it deserves its own post, so more on that later.
Nothing more relaxing than a nap by the fire after a looooong day...
And here, our snow-bound adventure in Yosemite:
The famous half dome above, topped with a thin layer of snow. And Yosemite Falls below, this is probably the most water I've ever seen, since we've always visited during summer, when it's invariably dry and disappointing. Not this time!
Michelin girl :) It actually wasn't that cold, it was around the high 30's inside the park during the day, but when the wind kicks up it's still pretty chilly.
And despite of National Parks' reputation of not being dog-friendly, Yosemite is actually surprisingly hikable for doggies. They're allowed on all paved trails as long as they're on-leash, and for better or worse, there are actually quite a few of that in the park where you can take in the major views.
This is our hike to Mirror Lake, which would only have taken about an hour during summer time, but took us almost two between pushing the stroller on ice and trying not to fall. I ended up pushing the stroller the whole time, not only do I need some upper body exercise, but as it turns out, a loaded stroller makes an excellent walker in the snow :)
It's incredibly tiring being pushed in a stroller, apparently...
An "illegal" off-road excursion... shhhh... we were just 10 feet away and he was only there for a split second, I swear!
Are we there yet....
Mirror Lake!
Backside of the quilt... The bottom fabric is actually more of a gray than purple. So happy my quilt get to see the light of day, hee hee!
Oh deer! There's this herd that hangs out in the meadow below where a lot of traffic goes through. They're incredibly adorable, but at the same time, it's a little heart-breaking as we can smell the fume in the air, and they're not the least bit afraid of humans. Note to self: if we ever go back without Bryson, we'll have to try out the shuttle system.
I HAD TONS OF FUN!! BYE-BYE YOSEMITE!!
For more pix of our trip, check out our Flickr album here. Enjoy!
