It has been a few weeks but my family and I did go to Yosemite tent camping. We stayed just outside the valley which was hard enough to reserve a spot for on a Monday through Wednesday. I was a little worried on the first day when we are all getting used to being dirty. Once we got over being dirty I that the experience went much better. We did not see any bears or mountain lions but I was definitely ready to see them. They have metal bear boxes there at the camp sites to put all of your food and toiletries in. They do have bathrooms but just for hand and face washing. No extensive washing is allowed. We had a fire each night and morning which added to the excitement of each day.
The first day that we got there we set of camp and set off to do some hiking around. We saw a nature center and the views in the valley were more than breathtaking. I was taken back by the majestic beauty of these large mountains. It was also strange to be in California and feel like you were a minority to be from the United States. There were European people everywhere. We were pretty wasted after the first day of hiking around and carrying my youngest on my back.
The next day we were all tired and so we went to a central part of the park in search for museums and an art class for the girls. The sad thing was that eventually found out that the art class was completely booked out and it took all morning to do this. The afternoon was filled with wading and swimming in a nearby river where both the wife and I fell in. The rocks were extremely slippery and difficult to traverse. The wife got a huge bruise on her backside from falling. I felt bad as it was my idea to cross the river. I don't know that I would have crossed when I later heard on the news that two boys got carried away in the current and both died. They were on a day hike with their church.
The nights were hard as we tried to really hard to keep the tent and the kids as clean as possible. Plus, we forgot to bring a boom box which was a mistake. Luckily, we had my phone playing Les Miserables to create the right sleeping environment.
This really was a wonderful trip and I wish it could have lasted an entire week, but perhaps I would have been too burned out by then.
The next day we got up at like 6:30 AM in order to make it all the way to Occidental near Sonoma where we went zip lining. We got out there like an hour early. The place was called Sonoma Canopy Tours. The host at the base of the park was quite funny and youthful. The signed our release forms and left our phones in the car. We signed up for the high definition video which was a good choice. I had no idea how terrified my wife was of heights until that day. We got our harnesses and headed up to the trees. The first zip line was pretty simple and it felt good as the first trees were not redwoods. I had no idea that redwood trees swayed that much. The trees on the other zip lines moved and swayed quite a bit and the swaying of these redwood trees is supposed to be a sign of health. We gradually made it through the course and repelled back onto solid ground. For lunch we met my brother and his significant other for lunch. The food was pretty good. I got a goat wrap and my wife had something with pork. I was surprised as I could not even attempt to eat what she had it was really fatty. It really was nice to see them both and just visit. That evening we ventured down to Calistoga where I missed my wife's cooking again. We had pizza there but I was left wanting. I am not really that picky when it comes to food, but we just were not doing well in that regard on this trip.
