Day 2...

Just as we got the kiddos into bed after day 1 and had just turned out the lights... the smoke detector started chirping... the battery was dead…good thing we know how to change a battery since they front desk couldn’t change it until they had another person present... lovely.

This morning we were trekking our way through the rest of Nevada and were really glad that we had borrowed “Madge” aka the talking map because we found ourselves in the midst of Carson Valley days and the main roads through town were closed!! Plus it tells you expected arrival time... which helps with the asking of “Are we there yet?” We did quite a few detours but finally made it to California and had to go through an Agriculture inspection…

it was here that we noticed that the pass we were to take was closed…and were told to take another route. (found out later that there was an avalanche and the pass is under 40 ft of snow)

Along the way we went through a town called “Walker”..

where everything from the stream to the general store was named Walker. Our little Bug though that it was super cool…and couldn’t believe so many things were named after him.

The pass that we went over was 9624 ft at the top... the snow along the sides was taller than the car... we stopped for a stretch, a feel and a quick picture.

Was interesting to see  a Marines camp up there as well, it literarily feels like you are in a war area seeing the soldiers with guns... and tents set up along the way.

The pass was very winding ..in fact 3 out of the 4 McFarlands were feeling sick... one more so than the rest... resulting in socks being thrown away at the very next available garbage. Most used word so far along the trip…Urpy!

We made it to Yosemite Valley had an “Oh My” moment when we first saw Half Dome... nothing beats that first glimpse of a National Treasure... I get goosebumps every time.

Grabbed the kiddos Jr. Ranger books at the visitor center and headed for a bite to eat…the view out our window... OMG

It took us 2 hours to get through the traffic and finally get a bite to eat…there are gobs... and gobs of people here. I feel like we are at Disneyland more than at a National park…and most of the cars are from California. Before we got into the traffic we did have an exciting moment... a bear walked right across the road in front of us... was one of those surreal moments... he was there one minute and gone the next.

The Campground was a bit of a trek in and out of the park…over an hour away but setting up the tent this year was nice... a huge difference in ages this year the kiddos were willing to help out an listen!!