View of The Minarets
The first part of our California adventure began in Mammoth Lakes. Google maps gave us 3 route options and we took the one least traveled. Literally. No one else seemed to be driving on the lone Nevada roads we took. But, it made for a speedy journey—10 hours total with 2 stops for food and one more for gas and bathrooms. Our kids were awesome travelers, but I did pack a trusty "prize bag" filled with candy, new coloring books, little games, gumballs, notepads, new pens and crayons, stickers, pipe cleaners and an idea I borrowed from Maggie--dollar store band-aids (best trick of our trip so far). We also had the iPad for Bentley to use in the backseat and DVDs for Livs and Cares to watch in the front seat. Joseph and I listened to Paths of Glory on cd about George Mallory--arguably the first man to summit Mt. Everest (good read/listen). Luke was by far our trickiest passenger as the elevation changes bothered his ears and made for short naps. But he was so sweet if we let him out of his carseat every now and again so he could stretch and stand or lay down and play with his feet (Risky, yes, but it kept us all sane).
Unwinding at the hot tub after our long day in the car
On day 1 we drove just a few miles up the road to view the striking Minarets and then return to the Mammoth Lodge and ski resort.
As we discovered in Zion 2 years ago, Bentley and Caroline are huge zip-lining fans and because Mammoth has one, they were so excited to ride it. Once they were done and we were off to find a nice hike, Cares exclaimed that this was already the best trip ever. Zip-lines will do that for her!
Kiddos in the forest
Cutest little pigeon-toed hiker
In the late afternoon we hit the pool, wandered through the Village Lodge shops, lost my purse...and found it (scariest moment of the trip so far!) ate pizza for dinner and returned home to early bedtimes for all 6 of us.
3 comments:
Hooray, a post from your trip! It looks like such fun and so very beautiful. I love that you are brave enough to strike out and do this even with a baby (fortunately a very sweet baby!). It is reminding me of our family going on trips with baby Heidi. Very doable, and great memories. Have fun!
beautiful beautiful! Cares is quite the stunt master on the zip line.
sounds like you guys are pros at long car drives now and ready to drive to MN ;-) tee hee
What a great vacation! And cool to have someplace new to explore, even if it is far away. Loving all the pictures.
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