Our Family Vacation - A Series of Unfortunate Events

Yes, it's going to be on of those posts.

Everything started off well enough...except for the fact that we almost cancelled it before we even left because the kids were driving us crazy (well, okay, mostly Emily)...but we finally got that sorted out.

We decided to make this year's family camping trip a backpacking trip. We figured that we would try to alternate between car camping and backpacking so that the kids would get a variety of experiences and so that we can go to different places.

Unfortunately, as we approached our destination, we could clearly see that it was going to be a problem.

When we reached the trail head, it was pouring rain on us. This is quite an unusual problem to run into during the middle/end of July. We ate our lunch in the car and decided to go with plan B. Plan B was to go back up to the White Mountains where Emily and Christian went last week. 

So after lunch, we continued on our way up north. We found this big thunder cloud above the White Mountains.

It was not promising but we figured that if we were next to our car, we would better be able to endure the elements. It would be better next to the car than packing all our gear and having to hike miles in with everything that we need on our backs in the rain. 

However, when we headed up the road towards White Mountain, we found that the road was closed due to flash flooding.

Now, the sun was getting low in the sky by now and we had no idea what to do or where we were going to stay. We had to come up with a plan C and in a hurry. In the end, we decided to continue on our road and head west into Mammoth. 

Approaching Mammoth, we were greeted with a smoke filled, cloudy sky.

We had fires going to the west of us, washed out roads to the east, and rain falling to the south. Plus the sun was going down and we were quickly running out of day light...it was not a good start for our family vacation.

We finally figured out that although the air quality was not good, the fire was not in our general vicinity and we decided to stop for the night. We checked out a campsite that was recommended to us because there was good climbing for us to practice on but found that it was filled with campers and RVs with their generators running all night and decided that we did not want to pay $20 a night to camp next to that. We stopped to re-assess our situation and have a quick dinner. We then continued on our way and finally found a site in the forests near Mammoth.

We managed to set up the tent before we completely lost day light, took a walk to stretch our tired legs from sitting in the car most of the day and then called it a night. We were tired, frustrated and disappointed to say the least.

We woke up to somewhat clearer skies and decided to continue our drive into Mammoth to see if we could get any information. It was early so the ranger station was not yet open. We took the kids on a drive to see the Minarets. Although the air appeared clearer in town, you still could not see through the haze and smoke.

View from Minaret Vista
(the jagged peaks should be just beyond the tree line)

Not a good start to the new day.  But we did find this neat little hidden crevasse next to the road.

I think that we will probably go by and explore that some more some time in the future. We headed into the Lake Mary area to find another spot that was recommended to us for top rope climbing. A good way for beginners to learn climbing techniques. We stopped at Horseshoe Lake.

The air was clearing a bit again and our eyes were not burning quite as much any more. We got our climbing equipment and a bottle of water to do a little climbing for an hour or so before we decided what to do next.

Neither of the kids brought their cameras and I forgot to hand off my camera before climbing so I never got a picture of myself on the rocks. It was my first time attempting to climb so I was a little disappointed to not have any pictures to remember it by. While climbing, Emily saw a black bear down below but we could not spot it.

Christian decided that since we were already part way up the mountain, that we would continue up and see if we could get to the Mammoth Crest. We traversed the mountain range until we came upon a crude trail leading up to the Red Cinder Cone adjacent to the Crest. The trail lead pretty much straight up through some really rough terrain but we eventually made it up to the top. I'm not sure how far the hike was since we didn't completely take any known trails but there is a 1,685 foot elevation gain from the lake to the top of the cone. It was a grueling climb.

The air had cleared somewhat in the immediate area but we still could not see the grand vistas from the top that we should have been able to see. We took the main (established) trail back down...it was the longer way around but it was much easier. We had to really ration our water as we only had the one bottle with us so when we came upon a cool mountain stream, we all took deep draughts and washed our faces in the icy water. Nothing was more sweet!

We waded in the water at Horseshoe Lake to cool off and wash off some of the dust and grime from the trail. Christian actually jumped in and took a swim!

We headed out to have a late lunch/early dinner. Meanwhile, we found out the Aspen Fire is what was causing all the smoke in the area. It was started by one of the lighting strikes from the storm that was pounding the area...or maybe it was that and the accumulation of the 15 other small fires caused by lightning the day before. We also found out that the road to the White Mountain was reopened. And as our eyes were itchy from the smoke and my lungs felt like I had been inhaling smog all day, we headed out and up to see if we could get some fresher mountain air.

We stopped in Bishop for some ice cream treats and fries for the kids since we didn't eat much all day and the kids had worked hard up in the mountain. We camped along the road up to White Mountain as there is no official trail head or anywhere else to stay.

The storm had mostly moved off and we had a beautiful sunset from where we camped. Christian set up to take some time lapses and we decided to try to get to sleep early so that we could get up early to make the White Mountain Summit. Unfortunately, the wind kicked up and blew the tent every which way all night. It was difficult to sleep. All of a sudden, the wind died down but then started the familiar pitter patter of rain. Christian ran out of the tent to get the camera. Needless to say we were not well rested for the hike the next morning. By the time the sun started to come up, the sky had mostly cleared up though and we packed up to be on our way.

We attempted to have a quick breakfast before leaving but the girls were just nibbling at their meal. Caitlyn took the longest and we just couldn't figure out why she was not eating and it was very frustrating.

We were a little more prepared for the long journey this time with a water bottle for each person and some snacks of homemade granola bars and beef jerky. White Mountain Peak is the 3rd highest peak in California. The hike up to it is a 14 mile round trip with 2,600 feet vertical gain. But actually there are two major dips along the trail of about 250 feet each which adds up to a total elevation gain during the roundtrip of over 3500 feet.

If we thought the hike the day before was grueling because of the rough terrain and nearly vertical ascents, this one seriously kicked our butts. It was the hardest thing we ever tried.  Emily had a bloody nose within a rocks throw from the top. Caitlyn was exhausted and took a cat nap before reaching the top. She finally made it up, signed the summit registry, sat down to have a quick snack and promptly threw up all the water and food she had that day. She didn't say anything, but we finally found out why she was being so picky with her food all day. Apparently, she was already nauseous but refused to tell us what was wrong. I had a killer headache from the elevation so we were all feeling the effects of the high elevation and thin air. 

View from White Mtn Peak into Nevada

After Caitlyn threw up, we promptly headed back down. We got a few random little snow flurries while we were up there so it was quite cold as well. Christian ended up having to carry Caitlyn half way back down the mountain...well most of the difficult parts anyway. 

There were lots of pretty wild flowers and animals along our journeys over the last couple of days. 

flora

There seemed to have been marmots under nearly every rock along the way in the White Mountains, but the neatest thing we saw was probably the big horn sheep. They had babies with them as well. The only thing we had to be careful about was not to spook them and to wait until they got off the trails before proceeding!

It took quite a while to get back down as it was a long way and we still had to hike back up the dips to return the way we came. We got some scattered rain here and there but not enough to really get us wet along the way until we got towards the last 3 miles or so...that's when the rain started in earnest. Not just rain, but thunder and lightning as well. It was kind of neat if you were not stuck out in the open...which we were. When the storm got closer, Emily started freaking out a bit because the thunder was so loud right above us. She wasn't having any more fun. She was a little worried but she was a pretty good sport about it all up until this point. But within a half mile or so near the Barcroft research station, it starting hailing on us. We did not get just a few pieces now and then as before, we were being pelted with it! We hid behind our sweaters and hats but when our pants were soaking wet, it didn't offer much protection from the little stinging balls of ice. That's when Emily about lost it. She had had it. Besides being exhausted, cold and wet...and a little scared, we were being assailed by hail. It was pretty bad. I was starting to get really worried as well since we had such a long way to go still. We finally reached the research station but our car was still 2 miles down the road. We caught up to Christian and Caitlyn there. They took shelter under a trailer and waved us over. They stayed just ahead of the worst of the storm and were relatively dry...especially Caitlyn since she had dad's giant windbreaker on which kept her pretty dry and warm. Christian, on the other hand, had on only a short sleeved shirt since he put his jacket on Caitlyn. 

After a couple of minutes under the trailer, somebody from the research station came out because their puppy wanted to come out to investigate and they saw us huddled under the trailer and waived us in. They let us go in to warm up and dry off. It was a Godsend. Christian was starting to worry about hypothermia (at least for the girls). We only stayed for about 10 or 15 minutes but it was enough to warm up, calm down and dry off (a little). As soon as the storm seemed to pass, we took the opportunity to head out again. We didn't want to get caught in another storm. The weather is really unpredictable there and the storms come and go at the drop of a hat. We still had two miles to go and we wanted to get going before the sun set. There was a biker that was caught in the storm as well and took shelter there about the same time as we did.

Our 8 and 10 year old managed to hike up to the top of the 3rd highest peak in California, which is only 253 feet lower than Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States. How about that?! All in all, it was quite an adventure for many reasons but the sight of my car at the end of the road was such a relief. It was late by the time we got back into a town. Of course, it was unbearably hot by the time we got down from the mountain even if it was night time. We took the kids out to McDonalds and then headed home. It was really late, but we were all done for many reasons and so we didn't get home until nearly 3:am. The kids still needed showers and baths but they got to sleep most of the way back and were happy to get washed up and sleep in their nice comfortable beds again.

Now that we've been home a couple of days and have gotten some rest, we are ready to head back out!

Summer Primary Activity

"Scripture Splash"

Mommy and Caitlyn Time

Caitlyn saved up for her reward as well since she got high honors all year. For her reward, she chose to get a Nook...which we gave her early on her birthday because we got her a case and I crocheted a little carrying case for her to go with it, plus a few e-books to start her out.

So for our weekend, on our own, I wanted to do something fun but since it wasn't technically her reward, we couldn't really go all out. Our weekend was less glamorous being at home anyway as we still needed to do laundry, cook, wash dishes and water outside. But we got our chores done and Caitlyn was a great help in doing them. 

As a matter of fact, Caitlyn helped collect apples which we were starting to drown in. She helped me peel at least half of them to make applesauce before the apples went bad. 

We did two big baskets full of apples and they cooked down to about half. We just stuck them in a slow cooker and took off to have some fun. 

We stopped by Barnes & Nobles to get Caitlyn's free book for their summer reading program. I decided to just take Caitlyn for now since Emily isn't really even close to finishing her books yet. I was afraid that if I waited too long, we might not get the choice of books that we wanted. Apparently, Barnes & Nobles stocks their free books a lot better than Borders ever did because we had a hard time finding a book they wanted at Borders when they were still around.

Then we went to catch a matinee at the cheapy movie theater. It used to be the dollar theater, but you know, inflation and all....

We went to see the Croods. I wasn't really sure what the movie was like but as the parental reviews didn't have anything really bad to say about it, we went to give it a try. I was a little worried going into the movie about where they were going with it but it ended up to be a pretty good little family flick. She probably did not get all of the jokes but Caitlyn thought that it was still pretty hilarious. As with a lot of the new cartoon movies these days, a lot of the jokes are geared more to the adults than to their initial target audiences...namely, the children. And you usually end up preferring that the kids didn't really get those jokes!

After the movie, I thought I would take her out to dinner. We went to the California Pizza Kitchen. It was simple enough plus I had a balance on a gift card that I got a couple of years ago! We got a ice cream sundae for dessert. I couldn't take any pictures though as my camera battery ran out on me.

Of course, we didn't end up doing too much the second day because it was Sunday. I had to teach in Primary and even Caitlyn had a job...she was assigned to do the opening prayer in Primary. After church, I had a brief meeting about the Primary Activity coming up. We had our leftover pizzas from CPK for lunch after church and we played a game together and I had to help Caitlyn fix her summer crochet project because she got a little off on her pattern. Both the girls are attempting to crochet a bag which might have been a little ambitious at this point, but both the girls picked out a design that they wanted to try. I didn't sleep well the previous night so I was exhausted and had to take a brief nap to get me through the day. After that, we made one of Caitlyn's new favorite meals...BLT's with homemade onion rings.

On the last day, we were back to doing a few chores. Caitlyn wasn't quite as enthusiastic as she was on Saturday, so it took us longer to get through the things we both needed to do. We did manage to go take a walk after dinner. The kids love to go up to the "swing tree" and Caitlyn wanted to collect rocks for her rock collection. She found a really nice owl feather to boot and we watched the sun set on another day. 

Christian and Emily were on their way home but they did not make it back until well after Caitlyn went to bed.

Daddy Daughter Camp Out

This past weekend, Christian took Emily on her own camping trip. As a reward for working hard and doing well in school, we usually give the kids little rewards. This past year, Emily had worked hard and skipped fourth grade and managed to maintain honor roll all year long. Instead of the little rewards this year, we offered the kids a chance to collect for a bigger reward in the end.

After our family camping trip to the sand dunes back in November, Emily wanted to return very badly and decided that she wanted to save up her rewards for a trip back to the mountains. Well, technically, she wanted to go back to the sand dunes, but it would be too hot in the summer to make another trip like that and so, settled on a trip to the mountains instead.

This post is a little difficult for me since I did not actually go with them on this trip but I collected some pictures and stuff from Christian to post here. They were gone for 3 full days and 2 nights. It has been the longest I've been away from both Emily and Christian since the kids were born...that was difficult for me as well.

On their first day out, they went to Horseshoe Meadow and camped nearby for their first day out.

While there, they took a hike up to Trail Peak at an elevation of 11,605 feet. It was more than a 3 mile hike with an elevation gain of over 1,600 feet. 

After that, they continued on their way up to the White Mountains. This was their ultimate destination.

While in the White Mountains, they made the hike up to the top of Mount Barcroft (elevation 13,040 feet). They hiked another 3 miles to get there with an elevation gain of nearly 1,500 feet. Emily was quite the trooper. She always amazes us on these trips. It is hard to account for as she is often so lazy at home and even when out hiking or jogging in the local mountains. But when she is out on these big camping trips, she manages to find more than enough stores of energy to keep going and even to scale mountain peaks! She didn't even have any problems with the elevation. I get headaches and find it difficult to breath above 10,000 feet.

They saw some really dramatic sunsets while up in the White Mountains. 

Apparently the sun was setting before they made it back down from Barcroft Peak. They car camped this trip...that is literally. They took Christian's ranger up and we got this tent that fits in the bed of the truck itself. We got the tent over 10 years ago, thinking to make all these great trip in it but ended up only using it once because I got pregnant shortly after we bought the truck. At least we are getting more use out of it now.

There were still lots of pretty wild flowers on their trails. Emily picked some to save in her flower press.

On their last day, Christian took Emily rock climbing. She seems to be a natural at it and has little fear. 

She got a couple of scrapes and things but she did really well. We will probably be doing more of that later as we collect more equipment.

4th of July

Annual 4th of July party at the Dean's

"Island Ohana" Dance Recital

We took group pictures in some of the girls' outfits on Wednesday. They did a little practice afterwards as well. Last practice was on Thursday.

Saturday night was the big night. It was really crowded. I don't even think that a lot of the people that we sold tickets to even showed up though. Of course, it was really difficult to tell exactly as we were so busy and there were already so many people there.

Grandpa Caldwell drove down to see the little girls dance. Auntie Marian and Grandpa had dinner with us before the big event.

The girls did great, although, we couldn't really get Caitlyn to smile most of the time.

It was a really frustrating evening for Christian and I though. We were hoping to get a lot of great pictures and video, but didn't end up getting that much. There were so many things that just didn't work out in our favor.

First, there were so many performers that they spanned the entire width of the stage and we could not possibly capture everyone at one time. It was kind of a "reunion" performance. So a lot of the dancers that stopped dancing for one reason or another got called back in for the show.

Second, there were lots of people in the way and had no compunction about walking right in front of our cameras. Third, the girls were not always positioned well, so there seemed like there was always someone in front of one of them so we could not get a good view of  them. Also, they had a few of the wahines dancing along with the younger groups in a couple of the dances. They were there to lead them I guess if they got lost or something but I don't think that it was necessary in the end and it just added to the bodies on the stage and it was just another reason we couldn't get a good view of one of the younger kids.

We spent so much time trying to take pictures and video and running around trying to help the girls get ready that we didn't get to see much of the show itself. I don't think that we'll be doing that again. I think that if we manage to stay in this for another year, that next time, we will just take a few pictures and try to enjoy the show.

Dress Rehearsal

We haven't had a lot of time for anything since school let out. They doubled up on dance practice even during the last week of school or so and now we are even doing some Saturday practices as well. I have been working hard finishing all the girls outfits for their recital. They have four different numbers and four different outfits to go with them along with accessories. They are performing a Hawaiian dance, a Maori (New Zealand) dance, a Samoan dance and a Tahitian dance. It has been a lot of money and work but they are really beautiful.

On Monday night, we went to the facility that the recital will be held at for a dress rehearsal.

This is the last week of practice. It is exciting but I will be glad when it is over so that we can breath.