My wonderful husband decided to take me on a little weekend get-a-way in lieu of my upcoming birthday. And can I just say, this was honestly the best present. Ever.
Fall in all it's glory
It started Friday afternoon, where we drove up to Three Rivers and stayed the night just outside the park. We relaxed and watched tv and allowed ourselves to do nothing. Quite the little treat.
Having a good time
We woke up the next morning and headed into Sequoia and King's Canyon National Parks. It only took us about 15 minutes to get in the park, but then you have to drive about an hour to get to all the "good stuff". But let me just say, although it doesn't seem to be fall in my little neck of the woods, autumn has certainly reached this area. It was SO beautiful. The winding river, the reds and yellows of the trees, and animals everywhere. Okay, random fact about me. I LOVE animals in nature. Not so much as pets, but wild animals are so, stinking, cool. Just ask Jon and Amy. I freaked out at every animal we saw on the roadtrip, whether it be a rabbit, deer, or a buffalo. (Especially the buffalo. I love the tatonkas.) So, we saw a bear, and since it was from the comfort and safety of our car, I was super stoked.
We finally made it to the center of the park, and there was so much cool stuff to see. The Sequoia's are breathtaking. They're so huge they seem to defy gravity. And they're everywhere!
We did a couple little hikes, nothing too strenous, and just took in the glory of nature. I grew up in a State Park, so I really love the outdoors, especially mountains. It was so refreshing to be there and away from all the stress and worries of everyday life. So after our few hikes, we grabbed some lunch, and made our way to Moro Rock...
Big intimidating mountain...
A bit more strenuous than our little meadow hikes, but certainly worth it. The view from up there is phenomenal. God certainly is an amazing and creative God.
On the top! Yeah for preggo lady kicking the stairs butt!
And then, there was another encounter with a bear. NOT from the comfort and safety of our car. Having grown up around bears, I know what they're capable of. Hence, when I saw the bear, I refused to get closer. My husband however, was like a kid in a candy store, literally running down to get a picture of it. Great. I told him he wasn't allowed to go, and he didn't listen. The nerve! :) I eventually moved down there, but was glad to keep my distance, and also ready to run if need be. It was about 100 feet from us, but really could care less about the 20 tourists taking pictures of it eating. It eventually wandered off, as did we...
Mean bear that is eating...yeah, eating, not attacking, but still scary.
We then made our way out of Sequoia, and into King's Canyon. Jon reserved a little cabin for us there being a nice husband that didn't expect his preggo wife to camp out and walk outside 5 times a night to find a bathroom. They have these cute duplex's and triplex's you can reserve. However, there is one single cabin known as the "Honeymoon Cabin" that has a bigger bed and is a little larger than the rest. For some reason, this was avaliable and they gave it to us. Score! Now, I have this odd fantasy about wishing I was a pioneer women that lived in the Old West with her farmer husband and lived off the land. This was a chance to do that. No tv, no wireless (okay, there was electricity and running water, don't judge me). There was a cute little porch to sit on and look at the stars, and a thick quilt to cuddle under to avoid the cold. (There was also a heater, but again, not the point.) Again, this was great because I figure I'll never live out my fantasy unless:
a. I build a time machine (not likely), or
b. Nuculear fallout (not good).
Can I live here?
I suppose I could become Amish, but that doesn't sound as fun as the others. (Wait, being Amish doesn't sound as good as a nuculear fallout? That OBVIOUSLY came out wrong. Proof the babe is indeed stealing my braincells and making me say stupid things. To all Amish reading this...wait...anyways, I apoligize.)
Cute inside. Sigh...
Okay, funny story. I'm definitely not used to so much activity in one day, so by dinner I was pretty hungry. There was a great restaurant by our cabin and I had a cup of Minestone Soup, and the biggest Ceaser Salad you've ever seen. Seriously. I also had the majority of some potato/jalepeno appetizers, and some of Jon's milkshake. We headed back to the cabin, and I munched on some almonds and a banana. Still being hungry, I polished off most of Jon's leftover pasta, and an apple. And a Cliff Bar. Also, a Nalgene full of water. Yeah, and I was still hungry. But I was pretty much out of food at this point, and also sick to death of eating. I went to sleep, and woke up, well hungry. :)
The babe enjoying herself. And sucking all of mom's energy.
The next morning we got up and did a couple things around Grant Grove where we were centered. We then packed up from our little cabin (tears...I'll miss you) and headed into the heart of King's Canyon. It's about an hours drive down, down, down this intense canyon. We wound around the river and eventually made our way into fire country. It being the last week of their season, they were doing controlled burns. It was kinda fun to see, but also made picture taking less enjoyable, and breathing more difficult. But it was also nice becasue there was almost no one there. I felt like we had the whole park to ourselves. We headed as far from the fire as we could and had a lovely picnic lunch by the river. We then did a meadow hike which was surely my favorite thing by far. For half of it you wound around the river, the other you climbed over these huge rock slides. It was phenomenal.
When we hit the Road's End, it was time to head back to real life. We drove back into society and cell phones and, well, the 21st century. But I'm so happy for our little step into nature and a simpler time where you enjoy God's creations; trees, rivers, animals, and family. Thanks for a stellar birthday, baby.
(Oh, and the winner of the prize is Carrie Swenson! Carrie, can you e-mail me your address? Expect something fun in the mail! Thanks everyone for playing. You're the best supportive friends and family a girl (two girls!) could have. And by two girls, I mean me and the babe. No, still no twins.)
