We had an amazing vacation last week in Bass Lake, about a half hour drive away from Yosemite. The resort was beautiful! As an added bonus, our good friends Emily and Roxy spent the week with us. The resort had a pool, which we frequented religiously every single afternoon, and the lake was a short walk away. Strangely, we never went to the lake that week. We were afraid that Dad would recruit us for an afternoon fishing trip. Dad went fishing nearly every day. He usually begged one of us older ones to go with him, but since we wouldn't comply...he made Johnny come. Johnny found a turtle. I named him Speedy Gonzales. Unfortunately, Johnny let him go before I could take a picture. We had him a whole day, before Mom got sick of him messing up her nice, clean, plastic boxes. :)
The Resort.
City slickers on a hike.
Roxy 5 minutes into the hike: "Oh! My legs are KILLING me... I think I'm getting a cramp. Seriously, are we going to take a break soon? Please?"
What a trouper. :)
(I have no clue what they're staring at. )
My feeble attempt at an artistic shot, although, with God's Creation as the subject...one can't go wrong.
Group picture after the hike. Minus the "photographer."
Yosemite!!! We did a TON of rock climbing. It's fun to climb....on rocks...ergo...rock-climbing. (Yes, I know, I'm a genius.) We would shout YOSEMITE at the top of our lungs whenever we reached the top. Did we look like total dorks? Probably. Was it worth it? No. But it was a blast. :)
The view from Glacier Point.
"The fall wouldn't kill you, just the landing," remarked an older gentleman. Yep.
I'm not faking the look on my face. It took me a good 10 minutes to get off, even with Jimmy's help.
See that blue speck waaaaay up there? Yes, that's me. I was so proud of me. :)
Just so you all can appreciate the extent of my talent....here's the rock. (It looked about 15ft. high.) I'll stop boasting now, since there wasn't much to boast about in the first place. But I tell you, the view from up there is incredible.
The Lord was very faithful to us. The night before we were supposed to head home, our trusty, ever so reliable van broke down. It just refused to start. Mom and Dad left it at the shop and caught a taxi to the resort. It was a worrying time, but still a great testimony of the Lord's faithfulness. We spent the following day and night at the hotel. It was pretty funny trying to utilize the two beds for maximum sleeping arrangements. Naturally, we all volunteered Jimmy to sacrifice his rights and sleep on the floor. Now for the kidders. Katie was easy, she had fallen asleep halfway through a history channel documentary. (I was bordering on sleep myself) So, we put her down on a sleeping bag as well. Johnny, Marky and I had one bed, and Mom and Dad had the other one. (duh.) Now, you all have to realize something. Dad snores. And not just regular snoring either, oh no....mountain-man snoring. Sometimes, I can hear the windows rattling. To this day he denies he snores, even since the time I was about ready to sleep in the truck as opposed to the hotel because I couldn't take it anymore. (That's a story for another time, though.) Anyway, I had my ear buds in and was listening to some very relaxing music, hoping I could fall asleep before the earthquake started. I was in between dreaming and sleeping, when, all of the sudden...
SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! Right on top of my head. I bolted up and looked at the clock. It was 2:00 in the morning.
Katie was looking at me with her I'm-very-disappointed-with-your-behavior look.
"Lois, why am I on the floor???"
Seriously!?
I groaned, and told her to get in one of the beds and stop bothering me. I couldn't believe it. I. was. so. close!!!
Then I heard it...the unmistakable sound of Dad not snoring. Oh, joy!!! I turned around and commenced the counting of the sheep. Number 22 had just hopped over a cloud when a huge gust of wind shook the door. Actually, it was Dad....and he was snoring. Loudly. *rolls eyes* Do you ever get the feeling that horrible things happen only to you? I got a grand total of four hours of "sleep" that night. We went shopping the next day, though, and I bought some new.... Yes! Exactly! You know me too well, don't you. (In my defense, they're VERY cute.)
So it definitely wasn't all horrible. In the afternoon our prayers were answered, and the car was fixed. It took us all the way back home with nary a bump. We had a great time together as a family, and I wouldn't change anything about it. :) (With, perhaps, the minor exception of Katie's waking me up.)
"O give thanks to the LORD for he is good, for His mercy endures forever!"
