Up in the hills....

Day 18:

In Yosemite in the morning, my first project was warming up cabin to a tolerable temperature.  This, of course, meant turning on the engine since the generator won't work.  It took longer than I wanted for everyone to get up and dressed, but once everyone was ready, we drove a mile to the visitor's center parking lot.

The walk to the visitor's center seemed never-ending, especially since we kept getting distracted by things like the gift shop and the cafe.  We eventually made it to the visitor's center and when I asked for packets for my kids to be junior rangers, they tried to charge me $15 for the booklets for the kids to fill out.  Our kids have badges from four national parks and we've never paid for junior ranger material before.  The guy told me I could wait in a different line and get the worksheets that were free.

The displays in the museum provided interactive places for the kids to learn about Yosemite Valley.

So I stood in the other line and finally got our worksheets.  I filled out Kimberly and Daniel's for them.  They had to go on a hike and attend an interpretive program.  While I would have liked to have done a lot more hiking in Yosemite, we just didn't have time.  We took the trail that was right out the door, which wound up being an interpretive trail about the Native Americans in the Yosemite area.  Along the trail, it included some authentic buildings of the native tribes and concluded with a museum.

The museum was a little awkward because the trail curled back into a circle and at first I thought we'd come back to the same place where we'd started.  So I started out looking for the counter where the rangers were stationed and quickly discovered we were in a different building all together.  

Many artifacts were encased in glass and just when we were about to leave, a Ranger approached us and asked if he could talk to the kids.  After he was done talking about the different rocks in the area and the various uses the Natives had for them, he signed their sheets and I gathered the kids up to leave when another ranger sat down with a large group of teenagers.  He said we could stay and I thought it would be rude to leave, so we sat back down.  His presentation was far more interesting and completely useless.  He basically made different pictures with a long loop of string.

When he was done, we finally left the museum.  I made the kids pick up some trash before they met the park ranger.  Finally, we approached the counter and a friendly lady queried my kids for a few minutes before presenting them with badges.  Leaving Yosemite, we all agreed that this park was the snootiest one we've visited and that, although the natural features in the park were spectacular, most of the people who worked there were not helpful.

The Snethen Seven stopped at a scenic turnout on their way out of Yosemite Valley.

As usual, I underestimated the time needed to drive out of the park, taking over two and a half hours to navigate the curly, twisty road out of the park, down to Fresno, where we stopped for a very late lunch.  I had reservations for the KOA in Acton, CA, so I felt committed to reaching the goal.  And it was a lot further to the hills north of LA than I thought.  

As it turned out, I never would have found the place, except on the internet.  There was a sign from the highway, but after I turned off and drove for a couple miles through the Soledad Canyon in the dark, I would have thought I'd made a wrong turn, except that the GPS on my phone told me the campground was still farther ahead.

Arriving after closing, we were greeted with a packet of papers pinned on their board as we drove into the park.  The name on the title page said, "Snephen."  Must be me.  In the packet, it warned about rattlesnakes that have been found on the property and also not to be alarmed if lion roars are heard since there is a wildlife park next door.

Wildlife count to date:  2 moose, 21 bears, 7 rabbits, 8 deer, 16 squirrels an elk, a kitten and a coyote.