Yosemite 2007
Well, the bus made it to Yosemite again this year. It was literally a test run for the bus as it had been stuck in Truckee since last summer due to an engine water leak. Chris worked hard to get it fixed - but he had to modify the repairs (to do it by the book he would have had to pull the engine - quite a feat - especially when it's in the mountains with no shop!) We managed to get it home from Truckee about a week and a half before our trip. I followed him home and had to use my wipers as the leak wasn't totally sealed. Chris fixed the seal on one side - thought we were ready to roll - and then came in the morning we were to leave to inform me there was a puddle under the bus - the other side had given way. He repaired that - but we had to let the rubber sealant set up for a minimum of 10 hrs before we could pull away. So at 2am - with lots of prayer and a AAA card we shoved off. The bus ran like a champ! We pulled into our campground in Yosemite Valley at 9am the next morning. Chris set up the bus (with the usual stares and questions!) He even set up a solar panel and windmill to charge the batteries. Unfortunately, the trees seemed to break up the wind - so my Aunt Bev was the only one who happened to see it turn a few times. We'll have to save that power source for camping on the coast!
In the meantime - I was busy running back and forth to base camp. We were on this trip with Bayside Adventure Sports - and I was part of the volunteer staff. I handled the registration and site assignments for over 300 campers. Needless to say - it was a hectic few days making sure everyone got settled. The focus of this trip is the Half Dome Hike. BAS had over 100 people hike it this year - 17 miles round trip! My girls decided to join a few friends, Chris, and my cousin Angela, and Uncle Merrill on this insane hike. Chris assured me that they would be lucky to make it to the second set of falls and that they'd probably be back by noon. (They had never hiked that far and the only shoes they had were cheap tennies from Payless Shoes!) Well, noon came and went - no sign of my girlies. By 2:00pm, I figured they must have toughed it out and attempted the whole hike. To keep myself occupied, I joined my friend Natalie on a lovely bike ride around Yosemite Valley (her husband Loren and son Matthew were hiking too). Around 4pm we saw a helicopter heading to Half Dome. We decided to end our bike ride there and head back to camp to get info on what was going on - helicopters in Yosemite are not usually a good thing. We found out that someone had fallen and died - but it took a little bit longer to confirm it wasn't one of the Baysiders. It was an anxious 1/2 hour or so! The first of the hikers started trickling in and assured us that our kids were right behind them and doing great. But I was still a little nervous. My family arrived back for dinner at around 8pm - Julia actually came SKIPPING into camp - must be all that Irish dancing. They had made it to the top - and without any whining (I would have been whining within the first mile - it's steep!) - my Uncle Merrill was so proud of them - and once I relaxed - I was too! I figured they'd earned their "I Made It to The Top T-shirts" - so we made sure they got one the next day. I'm not sure any of them will be doing this hike again - but it's something they'll be able to check off on that list of "Things I've accomplished in my lifetime...."
Well, the bus made it to Yosemite again this year. It was literally a test run for the bus as it had been stuck in Truckee since last summer due to an engine water leak. Chris worked hard to get it fixed - but he had to modify the repairs (to do it by the book he would have had to pull the engine - quite a feat - especially when it's in the mountains with no shop!) We managed to get it home from Truckee about a week and a half before our trip. I followed him home and had to use my wipers as the leak wasn't totally sealed. Chris fixed the seal on one side - thought we were ready to roll - and then came in the morning we were to leave to inform me there was a puddle under the bus - the other side had given way. He repaired that - but we had to let the rubber sealant set up for a minimum of 10 hrs before we could pull away. So at 2am - with lots of prayer and a AAA card we shoved off. The bus ran like a champ! We pulled into our campground in Yosemite Valley at 9am the next morning. Chris set up the bus (with the usual stares and questions!) He even set up a solar panel and windmill to charge the batteries. Unfortunately, the trees seemed to break up the wind - so my Aunt Bev was the only one who happened to see it turn a few times. We'll have to save that power source for camping on the coast!
In the meantime - I was busy running back and forth to base camp. We were on this trip with Bayside Adventure Sports - and I was part of the volunteer staff. I handled the registration and site assignments for over 300 campers. Needless to say - it was a hectic few days making sure everyone got settled. The focus of this trip is the Half Dome Hike. BAS had over 100 people hike it this year - 17 miles round trip! My girls decided to join a few friends, Chris, and my cousin Angela, and Uncle Merrill on this insane hike. Chris assured me that they would be lucky to make it to the second set of falls and that they'd probably be back by noon. (They had never hiked that far and the only shoes they had were cheap tennies from Payless Shoes!) Well, noon came and went - no sign of my girlies. By 2:00pm, I figured they must have toughed it out and attempted the whole hike. To keep myself occupied, I joined my friend Natalie on a lovely bike ride around Yosemite Valley (her husband Loren and son Matthew were hiking too). Around 4pm we saw a helicopter heading to Half Dome. We decided to end our bike ride there and head back to camp to get info on what was going on - helicopters in Yosemite are not usually a good thing. We found out that someone had fallen and died - but it took a little bit longer to confirm it wasn't one of the Baysiders. It was an anxious 1/2 hour or so! The first of the hikers started trickling in and assured us that our kids were right behind them and doing great. But I was still a little nervous. My family arrived back for dinner at around 8pm - Julia actually came SKIPPING into camp - must be all that Irish dancing. They had made it to the top - and without any whining (I would have been whining within the first mile - it's steep!) - my Uncle Merrill was so proud of them - and once I relaxed - I was too! I figured they'd earned their "I Made It to The Top T-shirts" - so we made sure they got one the next day. I'm not sure any of them will be doing this hike again - but it's something they'll be able to check off on that list of "Things I've accomplished in my lifetime...."
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