California Dreamin'-A 14 Day Odyssey to San Fran,Yosemite & DL! 8/2013 COMPLETE!1/9!!

[KristiMc]

Beautiful pictures! That stinks that Timmy was not feeling well. Hope he got over it quickly and that you were all able to take a shower!

 

[JKSWonder]

Something was just not right with Timmy.

He was sick. Sore throat, body aches, just not "feeling" very Timmy-ish.

Poor Timmy. You can tell in that pic he's just not feeling good at all.

Ummm...no thanks, but my crazy friend Steven did on the same day he also hiked up to Glacier Point and SAT OUT ON THE POINT to contemplate his impending nuptials (he should have spent more time contemplating and less time hiking that day- she was/is a lunatic and they had a horrible divorce).

Ok, now this made me laugh out loud. Probably because I'm a divorce attorney and one of the last pieces of advice I give my clients before I send them on their way is to remind them how quick it was to get married and how god awful long it was to get divorced and that, should they ever contemplate marriage again, to really think about it good and long. I hope they listen but sometimes doubt they do.

Beautiful pictures, as always!

 

[DWGal210]

Poor Timmy! Nothing worse than not feeling good, and being away from home.

More GORGEOUS pictures!! I know this is going to shock you, but I am not a roughing it in the great outdoors kinda girl , but I would love to see all this. Incredible!

 

[dizneeat]

M-E-G-A update!

Beautiful, beautiful pictures of your hike. I really need to plan to stop there when we finally rotfl2 go back to Cali!
After Tom's spa visit we have started taking on hikes again - and that would be right up my street!

Thanks for sharing, Ellen!

 

[MEK]

Poor Timmy! so sorry he had to sit out that beautiful hike. It really does look like a gorgeous area.

Yeah - I would not have been a fan of going back down those stairs. I have gotten so uncoordinated that I prefer to walk on level ground. I feel like I am a trip and fall just waiting to happen.

Too bad the other boys didn't make it to the emerald pool. I bet that's stunning.

Ugh to the broken shower. No fun at all!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Oh yeah, we left you stranded in California! Nice updates! I love your Yosemite pics! Don't beat yourself up about the steps - sometimes caution is a good thing. Now if you want to be out in nature, how about Glamping? You rent a plush RV, you sleep in a real bed, you have a microwave and a coffee maker and a DVD and a flushing toilet and shower, comfy furniture. Then you put your chairs outside and enjoy your coffee while you smell the air and check out the view and have lots of family fun! ( I may have a little experience, although we owned our RV) I hope Timmy got to feeling better!

 

[bsusanmb]

What a great trip report! Loved it, great pictures. Living in PA, SF is so beautiful and Muir Woods, awesome. Have been there and need to revisit. Did you get to the Disney Museum? We happened upon it on opening day. Yosemite is some place I need to visit. Thanks for making my morning enjoyable!

 

[pillow]

Every time you post an update with pics, I go check flight prices to SFO - lol. Your trip reports are DANGEROUS!

Jodie

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Tyler got in the shower (because you always shower BEFORE your hike, right??? So does tyler)

Um...

This campsite was so pretty, it made me wish I liked camping!

It certainly is a beautiful spot.

Something was just not right with Timmy.

He was sick. Sore throat, body aches, just not "feeling" very Timmy-ish.

That stinks. There are laws against being sick on vacation.

Ummm...no thanks, but my crazy friend Steven did on the same day he also hiked up to Glacier Point and SAT OUT ON THE POINT to contemplate his impending nuptials (he should have spent more time contemplating and less time hiking that day- she was/is a lunatic and they had a horrible divorce).

Holy cow...there's quite a story there! Anyway, I'll take the road up there, thanks.

The stairs I thought were so beautiful- that I was sadly now afraid to go all the way up- all because of coming down.

I usually don't do that- chicken out- and I am SO mad at myself for chickening out this day! UGH! I need to go back!

Say it ain't so! Or at least that the others took the camera so they could get pictures up there.

 

[kid-at-heart]

Oh yeah, we left you stranded in California! Nice updates! I love your Yosemite pics! Don't beat yourself up about the steps - sometimes caution is a good thing. Now if you want to be out in nature, how about Glamping? You rent a plush RV, you sleep in a real bed, you have a microwave and a coffee maker and a DVD and a flushing toilet and shower, comfy furniture. Then you put your chairs outside and enjoy your coffee while you smell the air and check out the view and have lots of family fun! ( I may have a little experience, although we owned our RV) I hope Timmy got to feeling better!

Glamping actually sounds like fun. Is it really called Glamping?

 

[kid-at-heart]

Ok- so I totally missed your post and your ticker is long gone, but I know you had fun in WDW at AKV, right?

So funny about Sarah and her foodie tastes- have I told you I am an only child, too? Cant't remember.....anyway, I was just like Sarah, ate all kinds of adult foods when I was a kid. Absolutely despised spaghettios and chef boyardee, would not touch it or PB&J. Completely humiliated my parents when, at the age of 7, I ordered the Maine lobster for dinner when my Great Aunt & Uncle were treating ( they laughed it off- they fortunately could afford it and thought it was awesome I could crack my own lobster at 7- but I had been doing that since I was 5). So...yea- good for Sarah! I know where she's coming from!

Ticker gone. I loved my "me, myself and I" trip to AKV. Loved it so much that I think I am going to do it again next year, probably in May though instead of March. I have only a few days I can steal away in March whereas in May I can take an entire week. Hopefully some of my disboards friends will be there at the same time. This time a co-worker was visiting so I actually hung out with her and her family a bit. As much as I enjoyed the "me" time, it was also fun to hook up with others for a few meals and drinks.

No, I did not know you were an only child. We had planned on more children but after the adoption expenses we had to wait to build up our funds and by that time Sarah was old enough to be included in the decision. When we asked if she wanted a sibling she was adamant in her decision. She did not want siblings, period. She still feels the same. And she is a social butterfly, she just likes being an only child.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Glamping actually sounds like fun. Is it really called Glamping?

Most people just call it camping, but that can mean anything from sleeping out in the open on the ground to amazing RVs. I have heard the term Glamping, meaning glamorous camping before and I thought it just fit here. It really is nice, because you can be comfortable, especially when you are more mature, yet you can be away from the daily grind and just have some down time close to nature.

 

[englishrose47]

Wow the scenery looks beautiful !!! So sad one of your babies was sick !!!That breakfast looked pretty good to me !!!!

 

[Linda67]

Wonderful updates and photos Ellen
I can't tell you how much this is making me want to go back

 

[saintstickets]

Great pics in your update Ellen! I hope Timmy got to feeling better quickly. Can't wait to read more. And as for a functioning shower...c'mon people at the hotel...a bed and a working bathroom...that's what you're paying for!!

 

[jenseib]

silly girl...going up is the hard part...coming down is easy! it looks stunning and every time you post I feel the need to go west!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

I wouldn't go up those stairs either. After our trip to the Grand Canyon I can't do that high stuff anymore. I have this picture in my head of careening over the side. Heck last week I almost fell out of the attic. All my DH could do was yell at me for cracking the ceiling!

 

[podsnel]

Ellen,

Your pictures are stunning! Hope Timmy felt better.

Jill in CO

Thanks- but, he didn't!

I'm glad to see you're back on this TR! Very beautiful pictures from the hike. But for the amount you're payong a night that shower handle should have been fixed!

Yea, well, it was worth it in the end-

Well now a May trip is out of the question. We booked a B2B out of San Diego the 15-20 next May, and we have WDW and the Dream in mid April so maybe early June before the schools get out.

We leave in 10 days for our SW road trip. This will be an adventure!

This is going to be incredible! Something very different! EXCELLENT! Looking forward to hearing about it....

Beautiful pictures! That stinks that Timmy was not feeling well. Hope he got over it quickly and that you were all able to take a shower!

Showers eventually, Timmy...not so much...

Poor Timmy. You can tell in that pic he's just not feeling good at all.

Yea.....

Ok, now this made me laugh out loud. Probably because I'm a divorce attorney and one of the last pieces of advice I give my clients before I send them on their way is to remind them how quick it was to get married and how god awful long it was to get divorced and that, should they ever contemplate marriage again, to really think about it good and long. I hope they listen but sometimes doubt they do.

Well, I REALLY wish you had told Steven that about 15 years ago!!

Beautiful pictures, as always!

Thank you!

Poor Timmy! Nothing worse than not feeling good, and being away from home.

I agree- it was not fun for anyone-

More GORGEOUS pictures!! I know this is going to shock you, but I am not a roughing it in the great outdoors kinda girl , but I would love to see all this. Incredible!

REALLY???? I am SHOCKED!!

Yea, I know...you like that soft comfy bed over there at the Yacht Club- I saw you!

M-E-G-A update!

Beautiful, beautiful pictures of your hike. I really need to plan to stop there when we finally rotfl2 go back to Cali!
After Tom's spa visit we have started taking on hikes again - and that would be right up my street!

Thanks for sharing, Ellen!

So glad you are hiking again- it is so much fun to explore!

 

[podsnel]

Poor Timmy! so sorry he had to sit out that beautiful hike. It really does look like a gorgeous area.

I was so sad for him- this was going to be the highlight of Yosemite for him, I just knew it!

Yeah - I would not have been a fan of going back down those stairs. I have gotten so uncoordinated that I prefer to walk on level ground. I feel like I am a trip and fall just waiting to happen.

Good to know! Hey- what did you book for Oct? At WDW? We just all booked our plane tickets- and have a few ADRs- Le Cellier, Cali Grill, GFC for breakfast just the girls on Tuesday when the guys golf- did I ask you if Denny golfs and if he would want to with our guys on 10/21?

Too bad the other boys didn't make it to the emerald pool. I bet that's stunning.

I am sure Pods and I will return at some point, and we will make it there when we do- really want to go back to SF and have a long romantic weekend- it is the best city.

Ugh to the broken shower. No fun at all!

Yea- but there was a silver lining to our inconvenience....

Oh yeah, we left you stranded in California! Nice updates! I love your Yosemite pics! Don't beat yourself up about the steps - sometimes caution is a good thing. Now if you want to be out in nature, how about Glamping? You rent a plush RV, you sleep in a real bed, you have a microwave and a coffee maker and a DVD and a flushing toilet and shower, comfy furniture. Then you put your chairs outside and enjoy your coffee while you smell the air and check out the view and have lots of family fun! ( I may have a little experience, although we owned our RV) I hope Timmy got to feeling better!

I could def deal with Glamping, but could NOT EVER deal with driving an RV into Yosemite on the 120- we remarked on our drive in how brave and crazy those people were- the RVs barely fit the road!

What a great trip report! Loved it, great pictures. Living in PA, SF is so beautiful and Muir Woods, awesome. Have been there and need to revisit. Did you get to the Disney Museum? We happened upon it on opening day. Yosemite is some place I need to visit. Thanks for making my morning enjoyable!

Hi there! No, we did not make it to the museum this time- if the boys had gone to a baseball game my plan was to go there then, but they ended up going to see the Angels in LA instead (the Giants were out of own when we visited SF). More reasons to return! Was it amazing?? I would probably cry the whole way through...

Every time you post an update with pics, I go check flight prices to SFO - lol. Your trip reports are DANGEROUS!

Jodie

The first step to recovery is admitting there is a problem.... I know- TRs always do that to me, too! How do you think I end up everywhere? LOL- It's all the reading on here!

Hey- I saw a Living Social deal in Vancouver that made me think of you- it was to go sturgeon fishing- I know it's early and would expire before next summer, but maybe you want to watch for it-

Um...

crazy, crazy, crazy...

It certainly is a beautiful spot.

SO nice-

That stinks. There are laws against being sick on vacation.

I know! And the worst part was that it was Timmy. If it had been Tyler, he would have just sucked it up- Timmy was DYING I tell ya!

Holy cow...there's quite a story there! Anyway, I'll take the road up there, thanks.

WAIT until you see what Glacier Point is- you will FREAK OUT!!!!!!

Say it ain't so! Or at least that the others took the camera so they could get pictures up there.

You think there's anyone else in my house that would take a picture?? Have you learned NOTHING about my family in 20 TRs???

 

[podsnel]

Glamping actually sounds like fun. Is it really called Glamping?

Ticker gone. I loved my "me, myself and I" trip to AKV. Loved it so much that I think I am going to do it again next year, probably in May though instead of March. I have only a few days I can steal away in March whereas in May I can take an entire week. Hopefully some of my disboards friends will be there at the same time. This time a co-worker was visiting so I actually hung out with her and her family a bit. As much as I enjoyed the "me" time, it was also fun to hook up with others for a few meals and drinks.

I will be there with Joan and Evie and Loni May8-10 before our 5 night Magic cruise- maybe even at AKV! So happy you enjoyed yourself!

No, I did not know you were an only child. We had planned on more children but after the adoption expenses we had to wait to build up our funds and by that time Sarah was old enough to be included in the decision. When we asked if she wanted a sibling she was adamant in her decision. She did not want siblings, period. She still feels the same. And she is a social butterfly, she just likes being an only child.

So funny- I am the opposite- I used to BEG for siblings! Is she still happy she is alone? That's great that she is so happy about it- I definitely was not.

Wow the scenery looks beautiful !!! So sad one of your babies was sick !!!That breakfast looked pretty good to me !!!!

Yes, it was very sad he din't feel well so couldn't fully appreciate all the amazing nature.

Wonderful updates and photos Ellen
I can't tell you how much this is making me want to go back

I do too. There is just not enough vacation time or enough cash to do it all, though, so will have to live on the memories as long as possible!

Great pics in your update Ellen! I hope Timmy got to feeling better quickly. Can't wait to read more. And as for a functioning shower...c'mon people at the hotel...a bed and a working bathroom...that's what you're paying for!!

Thanks! It was so easy to take good pics there- it was so beautiful, and so inspiring. Could not believe what you were seeing half the time, and that it was real!

And not to worry about the shower- it all worked out and then some....