WeLearnAsWeGo.com

WOW!!! Ok … this was an action packed day … let me start at the beginning … I hope I don’t forget anything. We are wearing our electric blue shirts today!!!!

First … our morning …. we slept till about 8:15 …. wonderful … I think I got at least 8 hours of sleep … yoooohoooo!!!! Thank you Jesus for the rest. Mama needed it!!!!

I immediately rallied the troops to get showered and get the camper whipped back into shape …. if they wanted to stop at the World’s Largest Gift Shop in Las Vegas … then we needed to get moving …. while peeps were getting their breakfast and trying to get going … I put the one load of laundry we had in the washer … (only 1 … I didn’t like having to wait on all those loads the other day … will not pass up any laundry facilities) … I always thought that people doing laundry on vacation were crazy … now I know why!!!! No way I would try to pack 3 weeks worth of clothes for this crowd …

After everyone was showered … yep!!! everybody … we had full-hook-ups so I needed everyone clean … may not get to shower again for a few days … pushing hard back towards the east coast …. we headed down town to grab some trinkets from the gift shop … I got a mug (no hiking medallion … again!!!) …. Stormy Cloud got some candy and another stuffed animal …. cute little white yoohoo … Sea Monkey got one of those things you shake …. a paper weight but he calls it an airplane …. it’s in the shape of a triangle/cone …..Jikkal grabbed some gifts for friends …. Dancing Mermaid got another charm … the Captain snagged a few fake chips … and we were out of there … the Captain was about to have a panic attack over leaving the Flying Dutchman parked on the street in Las Vegas … The way he was stressing … I expected to walk out and find the tires gone and the windows beat out … LOL!!!! So glad it was just the way we left if!!!!

Next, we were back on the ship to head towards Zion National Park … it was about 3 hours away … everyone wanted to eat at In and Out one more time … we were lucky that there was one in Washington City, Utah …. right before Zion … the only one in Utah … and the last one on our route home …. so we jumped on HWY 15 and headed north-east as hard as we could while Sea Monkey was napping … he woke up right before we got to In and Out … we ate and took some pics … then back to the ship …. Beam me up Scotty!!!!!

We landed at Zion and I was amazed … ok … I heard people say they liked Zion better than the Grand Canyon and I thought they were crazy … oh well … I’m crazy too … I loved it!!!! …. like being able to drive around in the Grand Canyon … it was absolutely beautiful … the words and pics will not do it justice … I would love to go back and stay for a week … just lay around and look at all the colors … everything was so big and in your face … the beauty of it just screamed at you … it was breath taking … we got their late in the afternoon … so the heat was not bad …. nice and cool … not steamy like it had been all day …

We started at the visitor center … quick chat with a ranger to find out where to start … Jikkal and I grabbed hiking medallions from gift shop and Dancing Mermaid and Stormy cloud got Jr Range books.

Then off to the shuttle … the only way to access most of the canyon … we jumped off for a few pictures at Court of Patriarchs … and we hiked to Weeping Rock …

Funny side note …. even though we are in Utah … and a few things in the park are related to Mormons … a Methodist preacher is actually credited with naming lots of the features in the park …. the rest are of Indian descent …

Dancing Mermaid and Stormy Cloud finished their Jr Ranger books and got sworn in (quickly) as we raced out the door … the park has a huge 1.1 mile tunnel at the north-east exit … it’s the only way to exit the park in that direction …. RVs aren’t allowed in the tunnel past 8:00 … time had gotten away from us and we needed to get to the tunnel … we had already paid the $15 required to drive thru the tunnel …

Here is where you should stop reading if you are a rule follower (like myself) –
We got to the tunnel LATE!!!! oh my … I hate being late !!!!! The guard had already left for the day … the guard house was closed up tight and the entire park was closing down at 8:00 … other cars were still coming thru …. but RVs are suppose to have an escort … thus the $15 surcharge …. I didn’t know what we should do … and before I could form a plan … the Captain sailed on into the tunnel … I almost had a heart attack … it was so narrow and other cars were flying by …. I had to go sit on the bed and pray (not the first time on this trip) that we would live thru this BIG adventure …. I know it was what we needed to do .. but man … I was nervous … and that was a long dark mile …

We made it thru the tunnel … and the scenic drive out was very nice … we stopped and took a few pics as the sun was setting …. a few miles later we stopped to get gas and milk … set the beds up for the kids … put a movie on …. and got ready to put some miles behind us …. the Captain wants to push on … so we are skipping (big sigh here) Bryce Canyon (it’s closed for the day) and heading towards Arches National Park …. we can drive while the kids are sleeping and be ready to check it out first thing in the morning ….

Well … it’s almost 2AM and I think we are going to find a rest stop to grab a few winks … got another day of adventures to take in tomorrow ….

It’s Friday, July 24th … Day 15 of our Big Adventure ….

Ok peeps … this was a wild day … this was one of those days when you think … WHAT in the WORLD was I thinking … as you can probably tell from the lack of Facebook updates and web posts … too busy keeping everyone from killing each other … or the Captain from jumping ship … LOL!!!!!

When the captain woke, he started driving … it wasn’t long before everyone else was awake … we were on the road again ….

We slept in a Wal*Mart parking lot last night …. so no need to worry about breaking camp this morning … also no showers … thus … we are in the same clothes today (cornflower shirts!!!) as yesterday … since we are mainly riding … we decided to just hang out in our dirty clothes and not worry about it …

Things got crazy yesterday evening and again this morning … and I couldn’t figure out why things were going so awry …. then 2 things dawned on me:
* first, because we are on the road and I’m not paying much attention to normal life … or a calendar … it didn’t dawn on me that my hormones were totally raging … sometimes being a girl is just not fun
* second, the inverter … the electronic item that runs the TV/DVD had gone out .. not sure why .. but we couldn’t get it to work .. thus … the little guys couldn’t watch cartoons or movies …

So .. now that I could get my head around what was wrong … it was time to fix the problem(s) … I reminded the Captain that we needed to find a Wal*Mart ASAP and take back the inverter (just bought the day before the trip) and get one that works … so he made that priority Number 1 …. and things really did calm down after that … Sea Monkey will color or draw for a minute or 2 … but that’s it … he will play a game for a bit but not more than 5/10 minutes …. so the hours of riding really start wearing on him (and thus everyone else in the RV) … and the TV really does help … Stormy Cloud will play and watch TV at the same time … Dancing Mermaid likes a good movie too …you see … the 2 big kids have plenty of stuff to keep them busy … iPods, books, etc … it’s mainly the little guys .. and they were about to work me over … but small blessings …. Wal*Mart …. an inverter that works … and we are back in business!!!!

We did a lot of riding today … CA takes a lot of time to cross … it’s a big state ….

The Captain was happy to be out of CA … here is some facts about CA that I didn’t care for:
* gas is outrageous … over $3 a gallon in some places …
* Lots of places won’t take credit cards for gas
* they charge you deposit fees on plastic bottles but then we can’t find anywhere to take them back … or I would settle for somewhere to recycle them …
* All this talk about green … and we can’t find anywhere to recycle anything
* there is trash everywhere … all this beautiful land and people just throw there trash out … crazy

Things I LOVE about CA
* The land is beautiful … mountains and beaches … all in one view
* It’s huge … and lots of different landscapes … you drive for a while and see something different than what you just left

Here are the details of today …

We drove HWY 99 till we got to Barstow (this is were we detoured to San Bernardino to get my Apple fixed on the way into CA) …. then we got on Hwy 15 … this is the road we would take all the way to Las Vegas ….

We stopped in Baker, CA at the Mad Greek truck stop to eat ….. the food was great … the kids got burgers … Dancing Mermaid said they were terrific (their french fries were great!!) … Sea Monkey loved the rice …. adults got gyros … I ate the whole thing … onions and all … even got extra pita bread … yummy … FYI … don’t know if any of my new clothes will fit when I get home … some aren’t fitting now … LOL!!!!

I looked up some interesting facts about the HD to share with the kids while we rode (http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/educate/kidfacts.html) … the Hoover Dam was great … glad we did it … it was hot … but great!!! We parked in the free parking … it was a bit of a hike but I’m not paying $7 to park for the little while we were going to be there … we also didn’t pay to go into the visitors center … $8 each to go in the center … not take a tour … just go into the visitors center … we just walked across the dam .. took pics … read some of the plaques … then back to the RV …. (kids need to be 8 or older to take the tour we wanted to take so ….. no meant to be) …. we got to drive over it twice and walk over it twice … since 911 they have changed some of the rules … but we didn’t have any problems … traffic was at bit bothersome …. it was slow getting in and getting out … but nothing terrible … we also got great views of the new by-pass bridge … it’s huge too … and going to be really nice ….

One thing about the dam that was a bit weird … the fallen angels memorial … STRANGE … and that’s an understatement … I’m all for recognizing the the 96 people who died working on the dam … I know the conditions were terrible … they did get paid $0.50 per hour … pretty good for the depression era … most people were only getting $0.05 to $0.15 per hour … and I’m sure they were not signing up to work because it was fun … they all needed the money to help their families … but … back to what I was saying .. the moons/stars thing … I couldn’t really figure it out … the Captain couldn’t either … just plain weird … and totally out of place … we are standing on top of a 700ft dam … and here are these crazy discs on the ground … I need to do some research and figure out what it’s all about …

Of course, we had to stop at the gift shop so the kids could spend more of their money …. Dancing Mermaid got another charm for her bracelet …. Stormy Cloud got a mini-penny bracelet … Jikkal and I were disappointed that they were out of hiking medallions … we are going to check their web site and see if we can order one when we get home … a very nice young lady checked us out … she gave all the kids a free button and a free bumper sticker … super!!!!

Then we headed back to Vegas … We just road thru the Vegas Strip on our way to find a campground… the strip looked very interesting … I’m sure the kids would have liked some of the free shows … but not enough time to do everything … you know me … I want to do it all!!!! The captain keeps trying to rein me in … let’s hope he doesn’t strangle me before we get home :0

We called a campground listed in our Good Sams book … and … can you believe it …. we got turned away because our camper was too old … LOL!!! … the guy couldn’t even do the math to figure out if our camper met the 15 year minimum … but he did hear the kids in the background and was quick to add that they didn’t allow kids either … oh well … we don’t want to be somewhere we are not wanted!!! So I called the next place that looked interesting in the book … and it turned out to be super nice … a little ritzier than we normally go for … but it was safe (one of my concerns with all the craziness in Vegas) … and it wasn’t too crowded … the kids loved the pool … it was a pretend beach … they actually had sand all around the pool … funny … peeps at the beach try to keep the sand away from their ocean front pools … these guys brought sand to their pool . … they also had the palm trees wrapped with lights … and you could see the Luxor search light from our camper …. really nice laundry facility … and the showers were individual rooms also … nice big rooms … but plain white decor … not the nice sandstone tile like the 49ers ….

On a side note …. I went over to the hot tub for a quick dip (adults only so the kids couldn’t come) … I don’t like to be cold and swimming at night makes me cold … so I wanted to warm up … there were 2 couples in the pool … one couple was foreign and the guy was commenting on how beautiful all the sites in the area were and how much they were enjoying their time here … the other couple had 2 small kids … one Jordan’s age and the other was tiny and drinking his bottle in the stroller … the american guy … launches into this long conversation about all his kids and his previous wives (4 boys … the oldest was 23)…. first …. his new wife looked like she was about 20 (and he looked to be my dad’s age … but he had signs of plastic surgery)… second …. she looked totally shamed that he was just telling these people all this stuff … I felt bad for her … she was very nervous … and didn’t seem to be having a great time … I was totally uncomfortable so I went back to the family pool … just one on those things that sticks in your mind … don’t know why … just does …

We head back to the camper … everyone was whipped …. we grabbed a light dinner and some left overs from the Mad Greek …. and crashed … everyone was asleep in no time at all!!!

We had a very relaxing morning … and a very nice and unhurried afternoon … which was great … we needed a day to regroup … the kids needed some down time and I need to get the camper back together and the laundry back under control …

the Flying Dutchman is a small space …. and when we are trying to do stuff (grab drinks, eat, potty, etc) on the road … it’s kind of a dash and grab or … grab and go scenario … the camper is rocking … and we are stopping and starting in traffic … so things don’t always get back to where they should be (or fall from where they were) … so when we are parked somewhere … we have to take time to rearrange and do a bit of cleaning … and we didn’t have hook ups for a few days …. so the dishes were getting out of control … time to get to work … even on vacation … or the BIG adventure …

We had promised Stormy Cloud we would take her out to eat for her birthday … since that didn’t happen the day before … we needed to make up for that today … so we headed into town for some Mexican … El Jardin came highly recommended by people at the RV Ranch … the food was awesome … everyone loved what they ordered … everything was freshly made and the plates were piled high …. it was way too much to eat …. our waitress, Sarah, did a great job!!!! … she even brought Stormy a Mexican dessert for her birthday!! …churros … ice cream … and lots of chocolate sauce .. yummy!!!!! Stormy shared it with all of us … very sweet Stormy Cloud!!!!

The town of Columbia is very cool .. the town itself is actually a state park …. the town has been preserved to look like it did back during the gold rush (so they say)…pretty cool … it’s was kind of like a small Williamsburg, VA … but it was free … there were lots of exhibits about life during the gold rush … the kids liked the bowling alley and the candy kitchen/store …. of course, they loaded up on some candy before we left … I loved it because I have been reading Sonlight’s High School American History "readers" … so this went great with some of the things I have been reading … the railroad … the Chinese … the crossing of the US … hope the kids are soaking some of this in ….

Here is the web site … http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=552

Then it was on the road again … (you can see/read about the side trip in a separate post) … we had to get back to Hwy 99 … so we could get to 15 for our trip to the Hoover Dam …

We pulled off somewhere to put the beds out for the kids … and they were all asleep before long …. we didn’t make it as far as we would have like … with the Captain still fighting this cold … plus navigating thru the mountains … we only made it as far as (somewhere round abouts) Tulare,CA … it was late … and I was sooo sleepy … but I don’t like to leave the Captain to have to drive alone …. so we stopped at a WalMart for some rest … no need to spend money on a campground .. kids were already asleep and we were only going to sleep and then getting back on the road ….

Good Morning!!! Be happy and cheerful and blessed for this is a day the Lord has made … 

Today is Stormy Cloud’s 6th birthday … she is so excited … she keeps telling me how much she grew (during the night I guess) from when she was 5 yesterday till today when she is 6!!!! She has picked the pink shirts for us to wear today …

We started the day with cake and the happy birthday song … not a lot of good photos because we roughed it again last night … we are in a State Park (and woke up to wonderful views) but we didn’t have any hook-ups .. so no showers … everyone looks pretty “sad” …

That reminds me … I need to update you on the previous night’s happenings …. we left Sequoia … via the Kings Canyon route … we saw lots of cool views from the overlooks on our way out …. we headed toward Oakhurst … towards a campground I had found online … well … we drove thru and the Captain said he “wasn’t feeling it” and decided to push on towards Yosemite …. so after many hours of driving and looking .. we ended up at a State Park about a mile from Yosemite … we got the only campsite left …. and I was very tired and not very interested at this point … the Dutchman almost didn’t fit into the spot … and it took a little maneuvering and help from some guy who showed up to help us … probably should mention that it was after midnight by this time … and our old squeaky camper was making a great deal of racket “busting-up” into the campground …. looking back it was quiet comical … but at the time … I was half asleep and fighting this crazy cold that the Captain and I have acquired …. so … I was just happy that we had stopped and everyone could go to sleep …. it was such a crazy ride that we didn’t even get dinner … and at mid-night they were all so tired … and I was exhausted … I told them they would just have to wait till the morning …

Then I found out that Jamie had passed on the first campground (which was full hook ups and wifi for $35) and now we were paying $20 for this one … oh my! They didn’t even have showers or water or electric!!!! … so I really had no way of cooking dinner anyway …. we needed to conserve our battery so we would be able to crank in the morning …. oh! I should mention the generator has pooped on us … not a big deal … we try not to use it to save on gas … it will crank but then turns off … I think if we really need .. the Captain could fix it .. just haven’t needed it enough to take the time to worry with it …

BUT … when we woke and the morning and saw the beautiful creek out the back window … the kids were ecstatic …. of course .. I gave them bird baths and got them dressed thinking we would head straight to Yosemite … but they wanted to play in the creek …. and who could be so thoughtless … and especially on such a big adventure … these are the things/times that the memories are made … so … we they switched into their bathing suits and headed back down to the creek … the water was freezing … the coldest yet … but the kids just had to splash around for a bit … we had our own little swimming hole but no one was brave enough to dive in … just too cold … we have some cute photos ….. there was a small stream flowing out of the creek … so we made a little dam with the kids … so they could see how the water backed up … we had the most beautiful creek front campsite that I saw on my strolls around the campground that morning …. God is so good .. he is constantly taking care of us … even in the little things …. the $20 and no hook-ups was totally worth it … I love water …. so the creek made up for it all … we always seem to be where we need to be and at just the right time …. guess that must just be a coincidence and all this beauty around me must just be the Big Bang and evolution … NOT!!!!!

After our time at the creek, we headed toward Yosemite …. even though we were only 1 mile from the gate … it was 16 mile to the first visitors center … on very curvy roads … with a 31 ft RV …. it took at least an hour to make it to the Yosemite Valley …. we did get to stop at some very cool places along the way …

We were not able to do as much at Yosemite as I would have liked … one problem was the traffic and parking … the other was dragging four kids … and the biggest was the size of the park … Yosemite is huge … also … there are LOTS of people here … sooo busy … people were actually pushing in the lines to get on the shuttles … the drivers are always saying “no pushing” or “no entering thru the back doors” ….. crazy!!! … I love how all the foreigners pretend they don’t understand english so they can cut in line or break the rules …. when you know they spoke English just a few minutes before the bus arrived … it’s like being in Disney World ….  but here is was were able to do:

* Bridalveil Falls …. about 0.5 hike … very pretty
* Yosemite Visitors Center … we just took a quick stroll thru .. they have some cook exhibits …
* Lower Yosemite Falls … we spent most of our time here … playing in the water at the foot of the falls … the water was cold but the rocks were HOT … I laid on a rock at the base of the falls … staring up at the beautiful scenery … I was in awe … its was amazing … everything was just soooo pretty .. i wanted to cry … oh! I did cry when I saw the Grand Canyon .. I was so excited to finally see it!!! But this was break-taking also …. shear cliff faces with rock-clibers … water falling down for 100s of feet .. blue sky with white fluffy clouds …
* We took the El Capitan Shuttle Tour … lots of great views and super nice bus
* Got off the shuttle to swim at the El Capitan Picnic Area … Fantastic … mountains towering on all sides … beautiful clear water … we picked a spot with not many people around and just chilled out for a bit … the kids played in the water … always their favorite things to do
*We stopped at the Yosemite Village Store to get hiking medallions (so glad we did because it doesn’t like like we are going back) … Stormy Cloud got a mama & baby raccoon … and Dance Mermaid got a cute Yosemite charm bracelet (very cute and now she can add charms from other places)

I should also mention that the pink shirts were a HUGE hit in Yosemite … the bus drivers loved them and when we would get on a different shuttle/bus they would say … “oh, there you are .. the pink family” … and things like … “and there’s a US map on the back”  … we are started to get recognized from park to park …  (I’ll also be adding a note to Sequoia post)!!! … I would hear people say … “welearnaswego.com … we should check that out” … or “hey. take a picture of that family … they are all dressed alike” …. or …. “that’s a great idea … I should dress mine alike”  …. how funny!!!

Then, we decided to call it an early day and find a nearby campground so we could come back tomorrow ….

We searched and searched on our way out …. most of the campground near or at Yosemite do not have any hook-ups … no electric or water … so … we wanted something a little more so we could recharge all these electronics … and get showers …. Jamie and I both wanted to steam open our sinuses (still fighting these colds) … I found a few places on the internet (once we could get signal) but they were all full … then I came across a really cool site called 49′s RV …. Jamie called and the guys was super nice over the phone … we decided to head that way … the GPS said 45 minutes …. it ended up taking us over 3 hours … it was a long slow trek down the mountain … and the Captain was exhausted .. his back and arms were hurting by the time we got to some flat land … and said he was not going back up in the morning … so … it’s a good thing we got our souvenirs before we left …

This is what’s really hard for me … not getting to do everything!!! I really struggle with wanting to do it all!!! ….. SO … I’m having to learn to be content and happy with what we are getting to do/see/experience …. Yosemite was so awesome … I would love to spend a week there … BUT … not this time …

The guy at the campground met us … and helped us get set-up … super nice … he said he knew that we were tired and traveling with 4 kids was great (he had 4 also) …. and not to worry about the details … just get into a spot and rest and he would see us in the morning …

So … Another wonderful adventure and now …. I will see you guys in the morning … off to bed!!!