Just before the Labor Day weekend Nick and I had a crazy thought about heading out of town on a quick little vacation. We were all a little stir crazy, especially with the bathroom remodels going on. And so we decided to head up to Sequoia National Park to check out some trees.
We picked Ellie up right at the end of her school day on Friday and headed up about 3 hours north. We stopped for dinner in Bakersfield which was exciting for everyone...ha! Just kidding. Bakersfield, if you don't know, isn't anything too exciting, kinda a little joke for those from Cali. But, it was the furthest north (that isn't an airport) in California for 3/4 of the family. So maybe that was exciting. But dinner was actually really really good and all were very happy. Of course, this was the first account of Calvin refusing to sit in a high chair at a restaurant, something that has only continued and become a little more difficult to go out to restaurants with him.
We arrived at our hotel after dinner and got settled in. Nick found a hotel that had suites for a decent price just outside of the national park, so we were able to get Calvin put to bed while the rest of us had dessert and watched a little Friday night TV.
We got up early on Saturday morning and drove to the national park. We had plan to go to Crystal Cave in the park and wanted to get there early. We were a little nervous about taking an active almost 18-month old to a cave where carriers and backpacks weren't allowed. Also, none of us had ever been there and didn't know what we were getting into (well, I may have been there, but I probably was Ellie's age and whined the whole time). There was a pretty serious hike down to the cave (30 stories down and 3/4 mile), which we knew about, and so we took the baby carrier for me to carry Calvin in because there was no way he would have been safe on the hike to the cave. But when we got there we were surprised at how well the whole cave expedition went. Ellie had fun and learned a few things. Calvin actually walked for some of it (he was carried for other parts). It was short and fun.
After a very serious hike back up to our car from the cave, made even more exciting by having to carry a 30-lb baby back up with you, we headed off to see the trees. Although we headed to lunch first which allowed both kiddos a chance to take a nap before another hike. It was chilly which was pretty exciting...I mean we had to wear sweatshirts which was a novelty since it was 100 degrees down at home.
So after lunch and rest we headed out to check out the largest tree on earth (in volume) which after a few questions from Ellie and follow-up discussion made us realize that it is likely the largest tree in the universe, milky way, galaxy...which made seeing The General Sherman super exciting. Nick carried Calvin in the backpack so I got a little bit of a break.
We then headed to check out the sequoia museum to learn some new facts, one being the differences between sequoias and redwoods and checking out more trees and some amazing views. There was also time to allow Calvin to climb up some stuff.
We made it back to the hotel, after stopping for dinner (where Calvin proceeded to eat all the black olives off of my pizza...only the black olives). And we all got a good night's rest...crisp, clean, cool mountain air and long hikes definitely lead to good nights rest.
The next day we slept in as long as Calvin would allow us and then we started to drive home. Calvin was very upset when it was time to leave the hotel.
We stopped again in Bakersfield for some stretching of the legs and an adventure. Bakersfield is one of the largest cities in the central valley, which is the part of California which pretty much produces all the agriculture for the United States and the world. So of course we had to visit a farm and have some fresh produce and go apple picking. Calvin was fascinated by some animals on the farm, Ellie enjoyed the activities including a bouncy pad thing, and Nick couldn't get enough apples.
It was a short weekend as we had to be home by Sunday night as Nick had to work, but it was long enough and a great time for everyone. We got the kids out of the city to see some nature and the country and learn some stuff. Win-win.
