Yosemite

Last year was supposed to be our big Moyes vacation that we do every third year.  As you can guess, Covid forced us to post-pone one year...which meant 2021 was our year!  We had this one planned for a long time...it did not disappoint.  We left early Saturday morning, July 17th, and spent the day driving to Reno, Nevada.  This was definitely not our destination spot just a place to stay the night.  It was a sketchy part of town and we told the kids they could not go anywhere without an adult.  (There was a shooting at a bar across the street the night before we got there.  We heard loud voices and sirens all night.)  None of the kids seemed to mind and they were very happy with the hotel pool that we took over almost immediately upon arrival.

Spencer, Harper, Stockton, Brynn

Ivy's dive

No one wanted to venture out of the condo but my mom and dad did make it to a grocery store for some dinner supplies.  We had a spaghetti dinner in their condo and then it was back to the pool until bedtime.

it was crowded and chaotic!

me, Ivy, Ben, Gavin, Jeff

Seth, Brynn, Harper, Grant, Stockton, Spencer

we also took over the hot tub-Tessa, Abby, Molly, Ivy, Seth, Harper, Josie, Brynn, Lucy

Ivy and Tessa

Josie, Brynn, Lucy

We were very happy to leave the next morning.  It was about a 3 hour drive to Yosemite National Park where we were going to spent that day and the next two days exploring the park.  We debated packing church clothes and finding a building but decided to just watch our individual meetings on zoom.  We connected ours to the car stereo system and listened to a joint homecoming/farewell from one of our favorite families.  It was perfect.  Gas prices were at a high for the summer but, thankfully, this was the highest we had to pay to fill up.

Brynn and Ivy had bought these sun hats just for this trip!

ouch!

We met up at Tuoloumne Meadows for lunch.  We packed our lunches everyday (way easier and cheaper).  We quickly learned that no one had reception in the park, it's a wonder we all made it to the parking lot to eat together.  Our first glimpse at Yosemite and we were getting excited to see all the amazing things and spend the next several days together.  These cousins are best friends!

Brynn and Harper

Ivy, Molly, Josie, Lucy

Grant, Ali, Justin, Josie, Molly, Stockton, Gavin, Lucy, Ivy

Josie and Molly

 

Our next stop was Tenaya Lake.  It was overcast and drizzly but Justin had insisted on making room in the car for two paddleboards so he made sure to get them out here.  They weren't used that much but those who used them had a good time.  Almost all the kids got in the water, whether or not they had swimsuits.  This became a theme for our trip. 

Ivy, Josie, Brynn, Harper

Tessa and Molly are always up for an adventure!

it was cold!

Molly and Grace

We didn't walk all the way around the lake (I'm assuming you could) but there was plenty of exploring that we did do.  The paddleboarders rode back in the rain.

Brynn, Josie, Ivy, Harper

the Broadbent's threw in slingshots which was a great idea-Grant and Stockton

Josie, Molly, Harper

Our final stop for the day was Olmsted Point, an amazing spot to look out over Yosemite Valley and Half Dome.  The view was incredible, but you'd have to see it to believe me. We spent a long time here because you could hike down and climb on the rocks.  The kids loved doing that and we had to drag them away.

Gavin, Justin, Grant, Stockton

Justin told them the tree smelled like vanilla-Harper, Erin W., Gavin, Brynn, Ivy

Harper, Justin, Ivy, Brynn, Gavin

cheerleader Brynn, Ivy, Stockton, Harper, Tessa, Josie, Molly, Chloe

Half Dome is clear in the back, the peak sticking up.  If we got out our spotting scope you could see people climbing it.

Tessa, Brynn, Harper

Josie, Ivy, Harper, Brynn

Christopher, Harper, Erin, Josie, Ali, Lucy, Ivy, Tessa, Grandma, Brynn, Grandpa, Justin, Chloe, Molly, me, Stockton

It was getting late afternoon and we still had quite a drive to exit the park on the opposite side of where we entered earlier in the day.  We decided to skip the last thing on our itinerary and drove to Bass Lake where our condo was.  We found a pizza place for dinner before checking in.  The condos here were way better than Reno.  Each condo had a separate entry with an upstairs and a downstairs.  My mom had booked a condo for each family so that was nice and comfortable to have the whole place to ourselves.  We had a master bedroom/bathroom, a room with two twins, upstairs bathroom, downstairs half bath, pull out bed, and kitchen-so plenty of room for all of us!  This was my favorite place that we stayed.

Justin gawking at the beautiful scenery

Day #2 in Yosemite.  We had a 20 minute wait to get into the park.  The kids took the opportunity to get out of the car and do silly things.  I can't remember who was shaking hands...Jeff, maybe?  This stressed me out because I am a strict rule-follower.

Molly is a big fan of this picture.  She also took over the front seat for the majority of the trip.  Those winding roads made her too nauseous when she was in the back.

 

Our first item of the day was to hike in Mariposa Grove, just past the entrance to the park.  The hike was very picturesque, winding up and through a dense forest.  We went about two miles before making it to the visitors center.  The kids did great, it wasn't a big deal for them at all.

Erin, Christopher, Grandpa in back, Ivy, Justin, Molly

Spencer, Grant, Seth, Harper, Brynn, Stockton

Abby, Tessa, Molly

Grace and Stockton

Stockton, Harper, Tessa, Brynn

Chloe, Abby, Molly, Gavin

Seth, Spencer, Grant, Brynn, Stockton, Lucy, Grace, Harper

can you spot Molly?

Harper and Brynn

Grandpa, Grandma, Grant, Stockton

When we got to the visitors center we had to decide if we wanted to keep going to see some big sequoias or turn back.  Some of the little kids were getting tired but we did decide to keep going.  It was another mile and totally worth coming up with some games to distract the kids who had tired legs. Ivy and I like to play rhyme games or the name game.

Christopher, Stockton, Grant, Spencer, Molly, Gavin, Ben, Abby, Grace

Grant and Stockton

The girls and I gave everything to Justin to hold while we went to the bathroom. Ha!

The next mile section featured some really tall sequoias that were neat to see.  The icing on the cake, though, was Grizzly Giant and Tunnel Tree.  From wikipedia: Grizzly Giant is considered the 26th tallest tree in the world at 209 feet tall.  It is the oldest sequoia in Mariposa Grove where we were hiking, estimated to be 1800 years old.  Way cool to see.

not Grizzly Giant yet-Molly, Jeff, Ali, Brynn, Lucy, Grant, Stockton, Grace, Bryce, Spencer, Erin, Harper, Ivy, Josie

"The Three Bachelors"

first glimpse of Grizzly

Stockton and Grant

Stockton, Ivy, Grant

Abby, Molly, Chloe

The whole group!-Jeff, Ali, Gavin, Ben, Abby, Erin, Grace, Bryce, Grandma, Grandpa, Justin, Molly, me, Chloe, Erin, Christoper, Harper, Josie, Lucy, Seth, Ivy, Spencer, Stockton, Brynn, Grant, Tessa

The Tunnel Tree has a manmade tunnel drilled through the base of it.  The original tunnel tree had its tunnel drilled to promote tourism in the area.  That one has since fallen but this is the new one that has been made since.  Also neat to see.

Grandma, Chloe, Abby, Gavin, Grandpa, Grace, Erin, Ben, Harper, Brynn, Spencer, Tessa, Seth, Grant

 

The hike back was successful as well.  We were all on a high from seeing some super tall trees. Or cousins are great distractions most likely.  When we had about a mile left, the skies opened up and it started raining...hard.  We were drenched within minutes.  That helped us go that much faster.  It stopped when we got back to the parking lot but that was a little too late-not a single person had a dry spot on them to be found.  We laughed and told ourselves what a fun memory it would make!

Josie, Ivy, Brynn, Harper

hard to tell but this is Brynn and Harper running as fast as they can downt the trail during the downpour

made it!

We had lunch, dried off as best we could, and drove further into the park.  At one point, there is a really long tunnel (Wawona Tunnel) and right as you exit the tunnel there is another viewpoint...Tunnel View.  You can see Bridal Veil Falls on the right, El Capitan on the left, and Half Dome in the background.  Really amazing.

Stockton, Grant, Chloe, Grandpa, Josie, Grace, Spencer, Grandma, Brynn, Harper, Abby, Ivy, Gavin, Lucy, Ben, Tessa, Molly

Lucy and Ivy

 

We drove to El Capitan next to see it up close.  It was pretty incredible to see in person, especially after watching Free Solo.  I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that someone climbed that without ropes or harnesses.

this is not El Cap

"El Capitan"

We parked along a bridge and the kids were drawn to the river like magnets.  I believe this river was called the Merced River-again, incredible views.  The views might have been wasted on the kids since all they wanted to do was play in the water.  Again.  Also again, we were unprepared and without swimsuits so most of them got in with their clothes on.  We stayed here for a long time and let the kids play.  They were very happy and content.  We had to drag them away.

Ivy, Josie, Brynn

Ivy, Justin, Gavin, Brynn, Harper

Jeff, Brynn, Molly, Gavin, Lucy, Tessa, Seth, Stockton, Grant

Grant, Stockton, Brynn

Ivy, Josie, Christopher, Grandpa, Chloe, Jeff, Justin, Ali, Erin W., Grandma, Stockton, Seth

Jeff, Justin, Seth, Brynn, Stockton

Harper and Brynn

Josie and Ivy

 

Against our better judgment, we went to Denny's for dinner that night.  We were hoping to be quick and get back to the condo since we were all pretty worn out.  We took up a whole wing of the restaurant and were probably quite disruptive to the other patrons there.  Oops.  Dinner took forever to finally make it out to us.  There might have been more than one meltdown.  It was a relief to finally be done with dinner and make it back to the condo and to bed but it's another memory we laugh about now.

Goodrich's, Walker's, Broadbents

Moyes's, Grandma and Grandpa

Day #3.  This was our last day in the park.  Another wait at the entrance.  We had been told to expect waits up to 3 hours but I don't think we ever had to wait more than 20 minutes or so.  Probably going during the week rather than the weekend had something to do with that.  It was just enough time for the kids to get excited but not bored.  Especially with the antics with the other cars in our group while we waited.

saying hello through the sunroof and out the windows

Once we got in the park we drove to a place called Cooks Meadow.  The kids just wanted to go back and play in the river but we had something else in mind.   We walked a mile or so along a paved pathway until we got to Yosemite Falls.

Grant and Stockton

Harper and Brynn

Justin, Josie, Ivy, Grace, Tessa, Molly

Ben, Gavin, Chloe, Abby, Ivy, Molly, Tessa, Spencer, Harper, Lucy, Grant, Stockton, Brynn, Josie, Grace

Once we got to the falls, the kids (and several adults) went kind of crazy climbing up those rocks as high as they could get and as close to the waterfall as they could.  We were told that in the early spring, during run-off, the water flows down fairly quickly and we wouldn't have been able to climb on the rocks.  Justin went high enough with a group that they even found a natural made pool to jump in.  All in their clothes, of course, the third day in a row they had found water to play in regardless of swimsuits or not.  This was the hottest day so they dried off quick.

Stockton

Justin and Ivy

Molly, Harper, Brynn, Gavin

It felt like forever waiting for them to come down but they finally did and we hiked back to our cars and had a picnic lunch at the edge of the meadow. The rest of the day was spent doing souvenir shopping in Yosemite village, something not taken lightly.  After everyone found what they wanted, we headed back to the condo.  It was sad to leave Yosemite.  We had seen some amazing sites but we could have stayed for another week and still not seen everything.  But we were moving on the next day to some other fun things.  Hopefully I get another chance to go back and explore more of the park.

Tessa, Harper, Molly, Justin, Josie, Brynn

 

The kids spent the rest of the night in the pool, shocker.  They only took a break for dinner.  We learned from the night before that feeding our crew was easier if we just did it at the condos so my mom and dad grilled burgers for us that night.  Ivy had worked hard coloring a picture that she wanted to present to the whole group and that was adorable.  My sister thought I was making a different kind of announcement, haha.

Brynn, Grant, Stockton, Seth

Abby, Ivy, Grace, Lucy, Josie, Tessa