Happy First Father's Day Papa!

We started out this morning with breakfast in bed for papa, OK, it was only oatmeal, but we did eat it in bed. After spending way too much time this morning on the blog, we asked what was to do here, and we were told there was a nice hiking area where there were a few water falls to see, OK, that sounds nice, let's go take a look.

The drive to the McCloud River here in Shasta county was just a few miles down the road. We did the usual, we packed a picnic lunch, a lot of water, bottles for the baby, put on our good hiking shoes and set out. What we found was almost the most beautiful scenery we had ever seen! We hiked maybe only 2 miles round trip, but along the way we saw 3 beautiful waterfalls, the lower, middle and upper McCloud falls. It was so beautiful! Again the word "wow " seems so small! The rocks and the foliage, the birds and the flowers, the butterflies and the chipmunks! So beautiful! We found a calm area of the river, we sat down in the perfect spot and had our lunch. We saw three men fly fishing in all their gear, they never did catch anything, but who cares? It was so beautiful it didn't matter! We soaked our feet for a few minutes, the water was a little colder than the Merced in Yosemite, but it felt so good. The weather here is a little cooler than in Yosemite, maybe in the mid 80's so that was perfect too!

We were so happy with our discovery today, we didn't want to leave! When we finally did, we drove into the little town of Shasta, walked up and down Main Street, but everything was closed because it was late Sunday afternoon. We checked at the police station to see if it was OK to park on the street over night, and they said sure, so that's where we are at this moment. Sunday evening, the end of a perfect first father's day. We had a simple dinner of pasta, chicken and salad, Joshua is now eating his last bottle of the day, outside our rv, we have a view of Shasta Mountain and a cool delicious breeze coming through our door....life is soooo good....

Tomorrow....more driving....Portland, here we come! That 's it for now!

Northward Bound...

Saturday we got up early, packed everything up, found a place to do our laundry, and by 11:00 we were on the road...northward...we drove and we drove...400 miles and 10 hours we drove and made it to just outside of Shasta, we found a nice little RV place with all the hook ups any rv'er could need including....wireless internet...so here we are!!!!!

Yosemite - Such a Glorious Place!

We arrived just outside of Yosemite about 6:30 p.m. and found an RV park and set up camp for the night. Hot showers, a good meal and a good night's sleep and we will be ready for play!

The drive in the next morning took us about two hours to make it to the valley, this drive was much easier than the previous day. And such a beautiful drive! We passed a deer along the way.

Yosemite is so beautiful, and just the size of El Capitan and Half Dome, makes you feel so small!!!

The weather was surprisingly hot, it was in the mid 90's each day, but the evenings cooled off nicely.

We wanted to camp here for the night, so we checked into it and they told us they were full but they told us to come back at 3:00 p.m. and if there were any cancellations, we could get in. So we had a few hours to wander around and just gaze at all the beauty around us.

When we got back inside our RV we discovered that our balsamic vinegar had fallen over during our drive and it leaked ALL OVER! It was on the floor, the side of the cabinet, the door on the inside of the cabinet and on two shelves, one which is covered by carpet! What a mess!!! It took us about an hour to clean it up! The brand new RV has been broken in! Poor thing!

At 3:00 we were able to get a camp site, so we set up camp, we each took a nice little run, had some dinner outside and were able to read for awhile too, it was a very pleasant evening.

We decided to stay two more days here, there is so much to do and see, we didn't want to leave. On our first full day we took a walk down by the Merced River, we had a picnic there, and jumped in the really cold water, which felt good in the heat. We had a nap, we each took a run in the evening and had a simple dinner outside, watching all the children play, very very nice.

Our last day here was our favorite. We started out early, because of the heat, and we walked, and we walked, as much as we could to see as much as we could. We put Joshua in his backpacked, and he behaved so so well all day, he never complained once, he took a couple of naps and drank his bottles on his papa's back. We went as far as Yosemite Falls, what a beautiful place it is there too! There were several people there, so we got off the beaten track, climbed over several rocks, and found a place to eat our lunch with water rushing all around us, it was perfect!

After our picnic, we hopped on the free shuttle bus that takes you all over. From here we weren't sure what we wanted to do, but the bus was air conditioned and felt good. We took the entire route back to our area, along the way we saw a little brown bear off in the distance, he looked so sweet, we figured his momma would be somewhere close! Along the bus route we saw a beautiful place down by the river that we had to check out, it was near our home, so we went home, dropped off some stuff, and re-packed some new stuff, and started walking again! We found this beautiful spot, with a wonderful deep pool, and as Joshua slept in his stroller, papa and I took turns getting in the cold yummy water!

When we got back to camp, papa made us a delicious dinner! He cooked on the open fire a cornish game hen stuffed with apples, raisins and onions, mashed garlic potatoes, green salad and our home made bread that we discovered cooks well on the open fire. We shared a bottle of wine and sat outside and again watched the children play, we talked to a few people, the evening was cool, Josh behaved so well, he was a trooper all day, and thus ends a wonderful, wonderful day!

We took so many beautiful pictures is was hard to choose the ones to post....

We had no internet service or cell phone reception while in the mountains, so that's why it has taken so long to hear from us, frankly we were having such a nice time, we didn't mind....

The Sequoias!

We arrived at the entrance if the park about 6:00 a.m., we stretched our legs for a minute, then it was time to make the very treacherous 17 mile drive up the mountain to see all the trees. It was worth the drive, they are so beautiful and so huge and so old!! Wow seems like such a small insignificant word!

We took a nice long hike and among many others, we saw "General Sherman", the biggest living thing on earth! How amazing is that! The air was cool and crisp, the sun nice and warm, it was a perfect day!

After our hike we made ourselves some lunch, took a nice long nap (life is hard!) and then we decided it was time to leave and head towards Yosemite.

On our drive to Yosemite we stopped at a fruit stand along the way and there were two really sweet ladies there, we had fun chatting with them, eating their samples and buying our fruit!

Here We Go!

We picked up the beast about 1:00 p.m. It is a brand new 2008 Fleetwood Jamboree. It's 26 feet long and it has a pop out. We weren't expecting that. Because we were going to be gone so long, they wanted us to have a new one. By the time we watched the video, drove home, loaded everything up, took our last long wonderful shower, it was 7:00 p.m. Time to hit the road! We made it as far as a parking lot of a gas station in Bakersfield! Really exciting!!

About 3:00 a.m. we were rudely awakened by a bunch of rowdy young guys drinking and listening to loud music. They made us nervous enough to get behind the wheel and continue on our jouney. While Rico drove, Joshua and I tried to sleep in the back where it is extremely bumpy! Joshua had an easier time sleeping than his momma did!

The Time Has Come!

Well, it's here, today is the day! We're very excited! Our little six month old alarm clock woke us up at 6:00 a.m., right on schedule! (not that we have a schedule!)

By 6:30 we had two loads of laundry going. This morning we are going room by room to make sure we are not forgetting anything, our living room is full of stuff!

Our laptop should be here any time now, hopefully before noon. We can pick up the RV at 1:00, we're going to call and see if we can get it any earlier. Once it's here, we will load all our things, and hit the road!

Our first stop this evening, the Sequoias!

It's Officially Official!

We have a date! No turning back now!

After several phone calls back and forth, everything has been confirmed! Monday the 11th, we will pick up the RV, we will load it up, we will wait for the DHL man to deliver our laptop, and then we are on our way!

We will spend the weekend cooking and freezing a lot of our meals. We also will be determining everything that we will be needing. Pot and pans, utensils, spices, food, clothes, bedding, towels, toiletries, diapers, cameras, bikes, stroller, hibachi, chairs, picnic basket...the list goes on and on...