Monday, May 6, 2019

California Spring Break 2019 Day 1


Day 1 – March 10, 2019


Today was really, really long.  It is a Sunday.  We were originally supposed to leave yesterday on a nice, leave at 9, arrive at 11am direct flight into Fresno.  But American Airlines cancelled our flight two days ago so we had to shift some things around and leave today.  Our flight left at 7am (which felt like 6am because Daylight Savings Time started yesterday) and we had a two-hour layover in Phoenix then arrived in Fresno at 12pm California time.
We got a minivan then stopped for tire chains and groceries.  We arrived at Sequoia NP around 3 pm and stopped at the Foothills Visitor Center for magnets, etc.  


A lot of the roads are closed and some of those that aren’t, require chains.  While we did buy chains for $100, we were running a little bit low on time because the main road between Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Grant Highway, is closed.  We took a short hike down to the river and water falls at Hospital Rock, passing Tunnel Rock on the way.




Then we walked up a campground road for a bit then decided to get back on the road.  We headed a little bit further north to a scenic overlook and Ryan and Nick engaged in a short snow ball fight. 
Then back on the main road.  It was a ~1.5 hour drive up to Kings Canyon and we took the scenic and very windy road to John Muir Lodge.  Grant got car sick but otherwise, the drive was amazing.  The further we went the deeper the snow got and the more sequoia trees we saw – ironically we saw no sequoias in Sequoia because all roads to the trees required chains. 
We pulled into John Muir Lodge around 7pm and unloaded our bags and groceries.  




The lobby has a huge fireplace and there was an incredible wood burning fire going when we arrived.  The smell was awesome.  Nick brought his stove, which was good because our room has no microwave.  We ate stove meals in the room and are now winding down. Here's a pic of all our groceries for the week :-)



 It was a very long day and we’re all super tired.  We’re now having hot chocolate and I imagine we’ll go to bed soon.  Grant made me play one game of Magic the Gathering, literally the worst game ever created (he was introduced to it at Camp Champions the year before).  Oh and I almost forgot to mention the best part of this – the lodge’s wifi is down and there’s absolutely no cell service here so no one’s on Twitter (Nick), YouTube (Ryan) or Fortnite (Grant).  The kids are engaged and it’s amazing.

The kids got along great today.  I think Nick’s had it but otherwise, it was a great day.  The roads in Kings Canyon are also closed so I’m not sure what tomorrow will entail. We’ll have to play in the snow, which was piled up to the bottom of the speed limit signs. 

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