We stayed at this awesome converted train caboose which did not disappoint.
It was not exactly close - it was an hour and a half drive to the park, with over an hour wait each day to get in (tickets were limited due to covid - thankfully I found out about the ticket sale just hours before it happened last week and refreshed a thousand times, full of anxiety, until I got one for us). The first day it snowed, and we attached our as it turned out ill-fitting snow chains, but still spun out doing a complete 180 on the road, which was horrifying. Still, we survived the treacherous descent into the park in the snow and had a decent day. We even lucked into seeing the rare “firefall” phenomenon which only happens a few days a year (it’s when the setting sun hits a waterfall just right to make it look like it’s on fire).
We returned the next day for a very long hike to Mirror Lake and a visit to the Ahwahnee hotel, which is definitely a “return without kids” plan.
Overall thoughts? I’m glad we went, but I wouldn’t return in winter. It was just too damned cold, and almost everything was closed due to winter and covid. Of course we were woefully unprepared; none of us had snow boots (I thought we could get away with rain boots and heavy socks - nope) and the kids’ jeans were almost instantly soaked and freezing. So, big fail there. Had we had proper clothes we could have had a lot of fun playing in the snow. Instead we just got cold and wet. The kids, however, were total troopers and never complained, even when we dragged them on long, cold hikes as the sun set and night came on, just to see a river or a mountain. We walked a lot, saw beautiful things, and I felt my soul replenished.
We were very cozy and comfortable in our little house, and the BF’s incredibly beat up car survived, even as it passed 200,000 miles on our second trip back from the park. We all applauded its heroism.
So, now we’re home, and hooray for California, our Covid numbers have finally hit the threshold to reopen schools. This fact alone means nothing; unions and LA Unified are still obstinate about all staff being vaccinated first, even as our vaccine sites are being shut down for a week due to lack of vaccine supply. I’m starting to scratch my head a bit about the possibility that opening a school like ours - with tons of outdoor space and the proper precautions - might not be so impossible after all. Anyway, I’m sure it’ll be a big week for school news. I think if our numbers continue to plummet we may at least have a tentative reopening date soon. I’m thinking post-spring break still. Which means only six more weeks of this relentless grind. Could it be? We’ll see.
In other news, as is always the case, I spent our return drive from this trip planning our next trip, in this case, skipping ahead to summer. I’m increasingly thinking Hawaii is just too much of a pain until we’re all vaccinated - so I may not attempt a visit this summer. What I may do instead is follow up on the Bryce/Zion/Page AZ trip I’ve had bookmarked for ages. In investigating what to do near Page (which is the general area of this Navajo-run glamp site I’ve been dying to visit) I discovered Lake Powell, on which you can rent houseboats, which is something my camping pod friend and I had talked about. Within thirty seconds she said she and her family were into it. So I think that’s going to be my birthday week plan - some combination of sheepherder’s wagons near Zion, maybe a Conestoga wagon near Bryce, an earth hogan in Page and then a houseboat. I just have to secure all these rentals now before they get booked up. I have a feeling the summer is going to be nuts with everyone all coming out of hiding at once.
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