Road Trip 2017: Day 10 - {Big Bear Reunion - Castle Rock}

This morning we hiked up Castle Rock (sans crutchy and her two youngest siblings).  The hike was approx 2.5 miles RT - all the massive boulders were cool to hike around and the view of the lake at the top was pretty impressive. 

Ray, Cammy, Justin and Brenda were the only ones who climbed all the way to the top via a steep boulderous climb up with the aid of a rope.  Some of Brenda's kids wanted to make the attempt but she told them no one under the age of 18 could - (the triplets birthday was in 2 weeks so the fact they weren't quite an adult was thrown at them several times during the week).

Justin led the way back down to the trailhead and we ended up making our own route down which was quite steep and very slick due to loose sand.  We all made it, though there was a little scare when Mom and Val weren’t down at the trailhead when we arrived.

There was always a puzzle in process back at the house.  By the end of the five days we completed 5 puzzles, most with 1000 pieces.  We brought a 1000 piece puzzle of Snoqualmie Falls that was started on our last day there.  Brenda and Lee stayed up late with me that night trying to finish but it was a bugger of a puzzle and at 1:30am I finally had to concede and call it a night.  Anyhow, puzzles are tradition and I especially love seeing my kids enjoying them with their cousins.

We also spent some time today playing at the nearby park.

Robyn brought a huge box of scrapbooking supplies and let the kids loose.  She asked them to all make a card for someone in the family, a card for Grandma, and we added a card for Lee who was still holed up in his room sick.

Cammy brought some Beanboozle beans.  Jason and Drew were the most willing subjects from our family.  Jason has zero tolerance for yuck and within a fraction of a second stormed off to spit out anything terrible he tasted.  Drew was much less dramatic and quickly walked to the kitchen to spit out his sour milk jellybean.

Road Trip 2017: Day 9 - {Big Bear Hipwell Family Reunion Arrival}

After attending sacrament in Bakersfield we were excited to get on the road and drive the 3-4 hours to our family reunion in Big Bear, California.  We needed to stop at Costco along the way to pick up some groceries for the week.  We ended up arriving at Costco just after my Mom and Val got there.  The kids were so excited to see them.  On the way down we were realized it had been nearly a year since we'd seen any of the Hipwell family.  Way too long!

Our van was already packed full so squeezing in a bunch of groceries was tricky, but at this point we were only an hour or so away from the house so we could survive.  Lee and his girlfriend Gina were the first to arrive at the house, but Lee was quarantined in his room.  They'd left Iowa two days earlier and he'd been seriously sick since.  (He spent the first two days of the reunion in quarantine until he could get some antibiotics into his system) - poor Gina was left on her own with a whole slew of Hipwells. :)

Mom and Val were also at the house when we arrived and Robyn, Scott & Griffin were shortly after us.  Brenda & Ray's families arrived later in the evening.  Since Ray was running late we swapped dinner meals with him and picked up a bunch of pizzas that night - easy peesy.

Ray was the bookie of this reunion and had found the hostel we stayed at.  We had the 7 bedroom house to ourselves with each family having a room with several beds.  One of those rooms was deemed the "teen room" - Abigail and Carly slept in there with the four Gardner kids.  The rest of my family was downstairs.  The setup was great though the kitchen was quite small and a bit sketchy.

These pictures were actually taken the next day as were heading to a nearby park, but I couldn’t post a day without a picture :)

Road Trip 2017: Day 8 - {Sequoia National Park}

We picked up muffins and grapes yesterday to eat for breakfast this morning. 

After eating and packing up we drove through Sequoia National Park stopping at a few must-sees along the way.  

General Sherman Tree - the largest sequoia in the world

We scored a sweet handicap parking pass to use in the park today thanks to Abigail.  We (sans Abigail who waited on a bench at the trailhead) hiked up Moro Rock.  It was a hot hike up 300-400 steps and definitely not something you'd like to hike if you were scared of heights.

Visitors used to be able to drive under Tunnel Tree - now you can just walk through it.

We walked through the Crescent Meadow Loop - Justin really wanted to see Tharp's Log, which is a huge downed tree that someone (I'm assuming Tharp) made his home inside of.  Crutchy again waited for us at the trailhead.  I spent most of the hike on the lookout for bears.  Thankfully, we didn’t cross paths with any wildlife, just a very large, very fresh pile of bear poop.

Inside Tharps Log 

   

One more big ole tree before heading out of the park bound to smoldering (105 degrees) Bakersfield where we stayed the night.

Moro Rock as we descended out of Sequoia National Park

Sequoia wasn't very impressive to me.  I think that living in the Pacific Northwest has spoiled me.  My level of beauty is quite high and Sequoia didn't meet it.  No regrets on seeing it, but not one we need to revisit.

The kids enjoyed some late night swimming before crashing for the night.

That little mass in the middle of the floor is where Drew somehow ended up sleeping.