Tom’s first conference of the year was booked at Tenaya Lodge! So, we took the kids out of school for Thursday and Friday (toted their homework with us, of course) and enjoyed 4 lovely days in the area.
On our first day there, Tom had his full conference day, so the kids and I explored the lodge together and decided to try out the indoor pool.
We swam for a good amount of time, but once we got into the hot tub, it was really hard to get back into the big pool–especially for me! So, after going back and forth several times, we finally decided to wrap it up, shower up, and have some lunch.
On our second day there, Tom had a half day, so rather than tackle anything ambitious, we took it easy and explored more of the area outside the lodge, got some info on a couple of very short hikes starting just outside the lobby doors, and laid low until Tom got off work.
He got off work just at noon, so we had a lunch snack and then geared up for a hike! As you can see, the weather was pretty pleasant–low 60s, which is pretty high for winter at 5200ft up!
There was very little snow–just some icy patches that were a little tricky to traverse. I thought the kids would be lethargic, but they were energetic and super psyched to be outside and around icy patches!
We got about half-way around the nature trail loop before we lost the trail! Still, all told, it was a 1mile+ hike! And, we swam that day as well! But, seeing as it was Friday, the crowds at the pool had picked up and Dylan didn’t like that at all! So, the next day, while the girls did another swim session with Tom, he and I stayed in the room and played a few games of Robot Turtle!
Dylan got a new camera for the holidays (he’s been wanting one) so he was out taking pictures on all of our hikes!
This one usually doesn’t like to wear jackets! But, it was cold enough for both girls to want to wear something!
On our third day, we headed to the Lewis Creek Trail for a short half-mile hike to Corlieu Falls. Another falls — Red Rock Falls — were also along that trail, but we thought they were one after the other (instead of one forked to the left of the trailhead and the other to the right), so we ended up walking another half-mile or so past Corlieu in search of the other falls.
The kids loved being outside. They were bounding along the trails like puppies! It was all downhill heading past the Falls, but when we discovered from other hikers that there were no other falls beyond, we decided to take a snack break and head back and that was all uphill!
The pictures of the falls don’t really give you a very good sense of how pretty they were! The kids were super stoked to see them, though.
On our final day, we hiked the Lewis Creek Trail in the other direction(!) to see Red Rock Falls.
There was no bridge over the very shallow creek, so we had to balance along the logs and tree stumps to get across! I’m happy to say we all made it without falling in!
This picture pretty much captures the mood out on the trail! The kids pretty much ran the entire 1.5 miles to the top of the falls! This trail was flatter than the one to Corlieu Falls, but still, it was uphill!
At the top of the falls, there was a pretty slippery slab of granite! We were warned by the family that arrived there moments before us to stay back from it, so we did. But, while we were snacking, another family arrived and the man in the group, slid on the rocks! I didn’t see it happen, but the next thing I knew, I saw Tom out there … slipping! But, luckily, he caught himself and managed to shove the guy back up to the top of the rock where the guy who’d warned us about the rock extended his hand to pull them both up from the top!
It wouldn’t have been a far drop, but the water would have been cold and there are rocks down there! Also, there were a couple of pools up at the top of the falls where the water was not rushing very quickly, so had anyone actually slipped, probably cold and wet (and embarrassed) would have probably been the worst of it!
Chloe was too tired to hike back (after running 1.5 miles uphill!), so I carried her in the Mei Tai on my chest, next to my heart, I told her. After hearing that, she hunkered down and fell asleep! It was such a sweet thing to feel her asleep on my chest again! She is getting so big now that this may well be the last year I can hike with her in a mei tai!
Overall, it was such a wonderful family weekend. On Monday (MLK day was a work day for me), I was missing them already!
