Big Bear Lake; Getting away from it all!

2020. It's been quite the year already, right? I mean seriously, a pandemic? Who could have predicted this? So for months, many of us have been on lockdown. And for us RV'ers, that does not feel "normal" AT ALL! We usually go on a short trip every 30 days or so. But we haven't taken the rv out in months. Very unusual for us. 

And we have ALL felt it. 

We need nature. 

We need new sights.

We need a roadtrip.

We need to stop being inundated with death tolls, fighting over masks, violence, racism, death and destruction, what does and doesn't kill viruses (followed by immediate contraditions or updates that bring huge levels of stress and anxiety), political fighting...and on...and on...

So, armed with bleach spray (I'll be honest here, I always used to carry bleach wipes anyway, but post-pandemic, they are impossible to find in my city, so bleach spray it is!) we left for a long weekend to soak up some nature and try to have some fun. 

So many beautiful sights along the way. Even the desert landscape can be so pretty in its own desolate way. :) 

After just a couple of hours, we reached our campsite. We were thrilled to see the spacious sites. Each one of them had plenty of room to roam, relax, and be far, far away from people. My kind of perfect (even pre-pandemic)!

The kids were so happy to set up their hammock and relax. It has been MONTHS since they've left our house/neighborhood. I don't think any of us realized just how much that had affected all of us, until we arrived, breathed in the fresh piney air, and relaxed in wide open spaces. It was awesome!

Happy 4th of July!! We were so happy to celebrate one of our favorite holidays camping together.

All decked out in Red, White and Blue. Excited for an awesome weekend!! This trip was so close to our house that we decided to bring the Jeep with us. It was also a way to be able to escape the campgrounds or the town if it was too crowded for our liking.

Two little firecrackers ready to celebrate the Fourth, and have fun in the great outdoors!

These three have been "hammocking" together for so many years. We still love it!

We realized that we've been RV'ing with the kids for 10 years now. Fun to see how they used to look in the hammock together. 

Such sweet memories!

This year's patriotic popscicles were made by Katie. It's so fun to see that the traditions we have made over the years are now carried on and embraced by the kids too. 

After an icy, refreshing treat, we decided to take the Jeep out and scout around the lake. We were again, SO HAPPY with the lack of traffic and people in and around the campground. It was seriously less crowded than many, MANY times we've been camping in non-holiday, non-pandemic times. 

Look how private!! We loved it!

Some very happy kids! The happiness and freedom we felt was hard to explain, but it was almost palpable in the car. 

Our fearless driver was pretty happy too!

He even managed to find lots of dirt for us to drive on. And seriously, if you can't be happy driving a Jeep in the dirt... you just can't be happy. :) 

We found many dirt trails right around the campground. These ones were a bit more "desert-y" than we hoped for, but they had great bumps and dips and lots of chances for the kids to laugh and sing and play loud music. We all sang along and laughed and laughed and laughed. Such good times!

Eventually we made our way back to drive around Big Bear Lake. It was VERY crowded. Tons of cars, close parking, very few masks that we saw, and very crowded beaches. Even the lake itself looked packed, with waterskiiers, boaters, fishing, kayaking, jetskiiers, swimmers. And the pics below were the LEAST crowded ones we could take. Looked like tons of fun, but not for us. Especially at this time. So we were very happy to look at the lake from afar, and keep our distance this time. We hope to come back another time and enjoy the lake.

After our lake drive-by, we returned to our campsite. 

Kids were really excited to just have fun and relax. Luke loved to whittle his "wand." Since reading Harry Potter last year, he's been working on all the wand and quidditch projects. 

Brave Katie was the first to climb the RV Ladder and get a "bird's-eye view" of the campground. 

We had an awesome surprise!! Lots of vintage airplanes flew over, all day on the Fourth. We were really disappointed that the fireworks were cancelled, so this was such a cool thing to watch!

And before long, it was time to light the campfire! Each kiddo gets a turn to make their own fire. Of course, we watch and make sure everyone's safe, but we rarely have to intervene any more. It's a pretty cool life-skill to learn how to be successful at building a great campfire. And all 3 of them are now so good at it! 

Katie's fire burning bright!

Love to see her so proud of her great fire.

I love this photo by Rachel 

Now Rachel (our Space lover) is super-excited for darkness to fall. She's been plotting out which planets we may be able to view from our campground for weeks. 

Love the texts she sends us...

I also love that she gets her little brother into it as well. So much learning happens just as part of regular life. It's awesome!

While we're waiting, the bats start to fly above us. I have to admit, it was a little unnerving to see them swoop so close to our heads. But after we realize they aren't going to crash into us, we love watching them flap and flutter above us. We all discuss the pros and cons of having the bats, and ultimately all agree that we are so thankful for them. There is not a single mosquito and hardly any bugs at all here. We all thankfully credit the bats. 

The darkening sky and silluettes of trees is just so beautiful. I had to try and capture it. 

And soon the kids break out the glowy fun. This was my substitute for the lack of fireworks and the kids had a blast with them!

And they got pretty creative too!

We loved the creations they came up with.

Then we broke out the homemade marshmallows and made s'mores. A great time!

Despite my new binoculars with Iphone Hookup...I still couldn't photograph the moon successfully. This was the best I could do, just with my regular camera. But the moon was AMAZING!! So bright and so beautiful. You're just gonna have to take my word for it that through the binoculars, it looked spectacular. We could see all the craters and shadows and everything. 

And the Big Dipper was so cool! I tried, but of course, pics just don't do it justice!

It was so much fun to see Rachel so excited about everything we got to see. We were able to see Jupiter (and 2 of its moons). I was amazed when Rachel said the names of the two moons (Ganymede and Io) and I checked my stargazing app and she was right!! I was so impressed!

We also saw Saturn and rings, and Rachel also found a Binary System (one in which two stars orbit around a common center of mass, that is, they are gravitationaly bound to each other) and showed her dad and I with the binoculars. It was SO cool! I've never seen anything like that. I had to look up the definition (above) when I got home. Amazing! What a great 4th of July!

The kids also love whittling and making things while we're camping. Luke worked on his bow and arrow....

While Katie crafted a Quidditch stick for a project she was planning for later...

Thankfully, I got this pic of Luke's first (and last) shot, as he learned firsthand how dry the wood was up there! The bow cracked with a loud "SNAP!" and Luke had to make adjustments for the next attempt.

But first...Katie recruited him to help hang her "Quidditch Swing." Again, these are the entertaining endeavors that we love to watch. We try to stay out of it, and let the kids problem-solve by themselves. First of all, the kids had to figure out how to hang the swing all by themselves. And those trees were TALL!! 

First they tried attaching one end of the rope to a football and throwing it over. Didn't work too well. So then they tied one end to a heavy (plastic) horseshoe and flinging it over a branch. Success!!! Well, sort of. The rope looped over a small nodule (or a cut off branch) so Luke was too nervous to try out his weight on it. 

He graciously allowed his big sister to try it out....and he was wise. Katie took a few fun swings, then...."CRAAAACK!!" The nodule broke and she landed on her tuckus...😂 Thankfully, nothing was hurt seriously, and she hopped up to try again. 

This time, they chose a new tree, used the same method, and soon had a strong, fun swing to play on. Success!! And great lessons learned. Harry Potter flies on the "Quidditch Broom" for the rest of the trip.

The weekend surpassed our expectations for fun, solitude, natural beauty, and an awesome Fourth of July!! These smiles say it all. We ALL really needed this weekend.

So thankful to our "Home Away from Home" which keeps us safe and healthy and allows us to experience the beauty of the Great Outdoors, even in these crazy, weird times.

Zion- Even more Beautiful than I Imagined!

First stop on our Summer of 2019 National Parks tour was Zion. Honestly, I'd heard all of the hype about Zion, but I've seen a million canyons, and red rocks, and rivers. I was happy to go, but had my sights set further along on our journey when we'd be white-water rafting!!!

But my husband was really excited for us to "Hike The Narrows" so he planned it all out and helped outfit us all in water gear and shoes for the trip. Thankfully he was so prepared and excited for this hike, because our clothes and shoes were essential for the long (but AMAZING) hike!! After gearing up, we hit the road!

In preparation for the long trip, we bought this awesome Atlas. We bought it to teach the kids how to navigate the "old school" way. We also knew it would be very helpful for times without phone service, or when we wanted to check elevation or road conditions of routes the GPS recommended to us. And it was great for all of that! I was very impressed with how much the kids loved using it, navigating and reading all about the National Parks and Points of Interest. I had also purchased a Kids' Atlas for our younger two. They liked it, but everyone greatly preferred the original version. 

My daughter had baked these delicious cookies for the trip. They were spectacular. Nothing better than riding shotgun, eating these badboys, and looking at the amazing scenery. 

We soon arrived at our camping spot for the night, Zion Canyon Campground. The location was perfect, just a short 1/2 mile from the park entrance. There was also a shuttle stop right in front of the RV Resort. The campground was surrounded by beautiful reddish, orange-y mountains which shone so brightly as the sun hit them. When I went in to register, the front desk ladies were SO nice and friendly. Very refreshing. Our site backed the Virgin River, and had hook-ups. This was one of the few campgrounds we chose with full hookups mainly because we knew it would be warm and we'd want to use the Air Conditioning to sleep. And I highly recommend this to anyone visiting during the warm months. 

We were very happy with our spot, and with the campground in general. Clean, well-maintained, and those views....

The kids decided to do some "river training" in preparation for the hike the next day. It was hilarious to watch them splash and play and try to ford the river. The currents were strong, and the water was a little chilly, but it was a wonderfully warm evening and the kids had a great time!

"I have conquered the river!!"

"uh, nevermind, this river got me!"

We awoke early the next morning in time for the first shuttle, and ready to hike our little feet off! Now, park shuttles are not my favorite form of transportaion. We normally walk or bike around the parks, but this hike was supposed to be 10 miles (if you could finish it) and was 7 miles to the trailhead. My husband and I were both a little hesitant to plan a 7 mile ride back to the rv after hiking 10 miles with kids....so shuttle it was!

All geared up and excited to hike!

Even with our early departure, there was a line to wait for the shuttle. We had to wait about 30 minutes in total. But we were still happy and excited for the hike.

After departing the tram, the trailhead is directly ahead. There is a very short (about .9 of a mile) walk along a dirt path, down to the river portion of the hike.

We were so excited to dive into the riverwalk portion of our walk. The water was VERY cold. I was really surprised to see how little sunlight filtered into the river. The massive canyon walls were spectacularly beautiful, and towered so far above us. They shaded the path and the river. The cool air and water within the canyon was a stark contrast from the hot weather outside. It was amazing.

The beginning of the hike was pretty crowded, especially for 7:30 am. I was surprised to see so many people hiking. To be honest, I was a little bummed at the crowds, but at the same time, happy to see so many people all of varying physical fitness levels trying the hike. It was great to see everyone getting out there! And once we started walking, we encountered so many very friendly and kind people. Even at the crowded parts, people were considerate and friendly.

One would think (I did) that hiking it the river would be easy, and nice and cool. I thought for sure we'd need our sunscreen and U/V shirts for the hot desert sun, and that the river water would refresh us. 

Well, you're never too old to learn new things. And I sure did on this hike! The water was really cold, and because there was no sun, we were seriously chilly at first. I couldn't believe we had goosebumps for the first few hours. But soon, the exercise warmed our bodies up. I was actually happy to be a little on the cooler side during this hot summer!

And we were having SO much fun!!

The water alternated being shallow with rushing little rapids, and deeper with cool currents flowing past us. And throughout it all, the canyons....the beautiful canyons towered above us. 

The one constant throughout the hike, was these river rocks. At the beginning of the hike, I glorified in their bright colors, their beauty, the smooth roundness of each of them (from rolling and rushing through the river). During the hike, as I got more and more fatigued, I seriously thought I might sprain an ankle as my feet very periodically rolled as the rocks moved and slid around underneath my feet. And there was no escaping walking on the rocks. Well, very few escapes. Only when the water plunged into deep pools, and we got to swim. Then, the icy cold water was a welcome respite for sore ankles, and feet. 

The kids loved finding spots where the sunlight found its way down to the canyon. I loved to see the light filtered through the cracks and shining through tree leaves. Just beautiful. We stopped for lunch and snacks and the kids always found the sunny spaces. 

The entire Narrows hike goes far back into the canyons, following the Virgin River. You are only allowed to hike 5 miles upriver and those same 5 miles back down the river, unless you get a back country permit. We did not expect to be able to do the full 10 mile hike, but once again, our kids surprised us. 

 They leapt and swam, and scrambled over boulders, and rushed through the river. My husband and I could barely keep up with our midde little girl. She was truly in her elment! It was so much fun to watch her just LOVING this hike!

And actually, all of the kids did amazingly well. We all declared that this was one of our favorite hikes of all times. And we have been on some AMAZING hikes!

We found waterfalls...

and caves...

And amazing spaces that the water had eroded away...

And as we hiked and hiked, and splished and sploshed our way through....the crowd dwindled down. 

And as we hiked further and further, we were soon nearly alone. 

By this time, when we encountered someone, it was a backpacker (or group of them), obvious pros and skilled at hiking. Many of them were coming back down from a backcountry hike. I was so surprised by how happy they seemed to see us, and so encouraging too. They all cheered us on and congratulated the kids. Some of them helped us over some huge boulders (and we returned the favor) and warned us about a huge, deep waterhole ahead. The kids were excited to jump in and swim, but Aaron and I had backpacks on, so we were happy for the warning! We removed our backpacks and swam with them over our heads. 

The entire hike took us over 8 hours! Can you believe that? But the time really flew by. The sights were spectacular. The water rushing around us was cold and clear and beautiful. And the canyons were just gorgeous. None of us could stop looking up!

I mean, it's amazing, right? Just so beautiful.

 It was one of the most beautiful hikes I've ever gone on, and I was so happy to share the experience with this crew. I love them all so much!

Remember that "short" 9/10 of a mile trail back to the shuttle stop I told you about at the beginning of the hike? Well, as I walked the few final steps in the river, my feet, my poor feet were aching. Like, such bad pain on the bottom of my feet and my ankles that I could not believe it. I started becoming afraid that the rest of our 2 week vacation was going to be agony for me....but then I just concentrated on making it back to the shuttle stop. 9/10 of a mile uphill never felt so long! Once again, I was amazed by my kids. They didn't complain ONE BIT. Not a bit. They were so into this hike (and apparently in much better shape than me!) but I could see the fatigue in their eyes. When we made it to the shuttle stop (HOORAYYY!!!) I was SO thankful we had decided to take the shuttle. I could not, even imagine biking or hiking 7 more miles afterwards. 

As we took our spot on the shuttle, I have NEVER, EVER been more grateful for a bus in my life. We had the best, most amazing day ever! And great news! When I woke up in the morning...my feet didn't hurt at all- and neither did my ankles. This was seriously one of the most spectacular hikes I've ever gone on. The beauty of that glowing water, the filtered sunlight, the rushing currents is just something you have to experience. Hopefully with people you love. Because moments like these, shared accomplishments of completing a 10 mile, 8 hour hike together, have brought my family and I so much closer together. I love being able to look back at the pictures together, and reminisce about the time the girls tripped and went rushing down a natural waterslide together, and about our sore feet, and the waterfall we found, and the caves the kids explored. Just priceless memories. My heart is full. 

Oh, and major props to my husband for choosing this park. And this hike. And for plannning it all. And for helping us all pick the appropriate gear and footwear. Yeah, seriously. I was wrong. He was right. What's new? :)