Sandcastles and River Swimming

Is it better to plan in great detail or go with the flow? Sometimes it feels reassuring to know how long we are going to stay somewhere, but almost nothing turns out like we think it will. Sequoia wasn't even originally on our plans, but we decided to go over there and try to link up with my sister. It didn't end up working out to see my sister here, but we still had a nice few days. I liked the vibe of the campground. There were a lot of groups of families or friends staying here, and I really enjoyed hearing the sounds of their reunions in the background. Last year we did a weekend camping trip with my brother, sister in law and parents and the weather was terrible. Icy cold rain all weekend. We did the same sorts of things, though, hanging out around a fire and drinking beer, eating good food. Playing Uno. Good times are universal. We also met a few other homeschooling/traveling families with kids about the same age as ours. I very much appreciated being able to chat with some other parents doing the same kind of thing as I am and don't think it's weird, but also understand the challenges. For instance, there is no way you can bring enough books! 

Seeing the big sequoia trees was definitely worth the drive into Sequoia/King's Canyon National Park. We resolved to be happy with a 1 mile hike down to one of the groves. I say resolved because M and I would prefer to go further, but Max is getting too big to carry and if he's not into the hike, it becomes an exercise in patience for the whole rest of the family. Laurel did a junior ranger program and we stopped at a few points of interest such as Hospital Rock, which had some really old petroglyphs and a rock with a bunch of indentations where people pounded acorns into flour. That was pretty much the extent of our trip into the national parks. Sometimes I feel like we are wasting a precious opportunity to see the wonders of the world. But there's also value in dishing up an amount of epic wonder that they can digest. They did think the big trees were really cool on the short hike we did.

We camped at the bend in the Kaweah River and there were a lot of huge boulders to climb on as well as a little sandy beach. The kids spent many hours building sand castles and wading in the river. I'm always amazed at how comfortable 85 degree weather is when the humidity is low. One afternoon, we all lay down on the blanket and listened to the Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe for an hour while staring at the sky. This is one of the memories of this trip I'm trying to hold at the front of my mind, for when things get stressful.