22 Weeks...Yosemite

The second half of our vacation (not to mention probably our last vacation just the two of us!) we spent exploring Yosemite National Park.  Although the pictures we captured are great, they really do no justice to what we were surrounded by.  Every angle of Yosemite is absolutely gorgeous.  And it changes with the lighting throughout the day.  Constant eye candy! We only had two full days to explore (which is way too short!) but we took full advantage of the time we had.  We grabbed breakfast and started our first (very easy) hike to the base of Lower Yosemite Falls.  We knew Yosemite was dry in the fall, but had no idea it was bone dry!  At first we were a little disappointed but it was actually pretty interesting to see this side of Yosemite.  So much was visible you would not ordinarily see.  And now we have an excuse to come back sometime in the spring when all the snow is melting.  Yosemite Falls consists of three sections and is amongst the tallest waterfalls in the world.  It is apparently quite a sight to see and an amazing/challenging hike.  But since there wasn't much to see this time around, we decided to explore some other hikes instead of climbing any higher on this trail.

Lower Yosemite Falls

Lower Yosemite Falls

Our next stop was a hike to Mirror Lake.  It is a really just a natural dam that forms a small seasonal lake.  We did a fun little hike instead of taking the easier pedestrian paved road.  We arrived at Mirror Lake before we even realized it, and were standing right in the middle with no water to be found!

Standing in the middle of the lower pool of Mirror Lake.

Joe on a rock.  Would be much harder to get to if there was water in the valley.

Not even tall enough to stand over where the water line hits.

Mirror Lake (Mt. Watkins on the left, Ahwiyah Point on right)

Surrounded by nature. 

Baby Bump with Mt. Watkins

Rock stacks were common in Asheville.  But we have never seen a collection like this.

Stacked rocks with Half Dome.

Awesome view of Half Dome.

Deer.  Surprisingly domestic and not scared of people.

After a late lunch break and a chance to cool off (did I mention it was 90 degrees out?!) we set out for our last hike of the day to Vernal Falls.  In hindsight we would have went on this hike first thing in the morning when it was much cooler, prego (that's me!) had more energy, and when we would have had more time before sunset so we could have made it to Nevada Falls as well.  The hike starts from Happy Isles, and is only 2.4 miles roundtrip to the top of the falls, but has an elevation gain of 1000ft and is almost entirely uphill.  And just think we only had another 6 miles to the top of Half Dome!  Joe enjoyed all of the attention my bump was getting on this hike.  Definitely lots of looks, most of surprise.  Right about the time we were climbing the crazy stone stairs to the falls a guy stopped me and said "You are an amazing person!".  I'll take it!  Mostly I am just thankful for an easy/happy/healthy pregnancy that allows me to enjoy these activities.

Family picture from the trail.

The stone stairs you had to climb (and come back down) from Vernal Falls.

I made it!

 

The hike back down the stairs was much trickier and challenged my center of gravity.  Thankfully once beyond the stairs the hike was much easier on the way down. That evening we enjoyed some ice cream, pizza, a hot shower, and good conversation around a campfire with a doctor we had met from Australia.  The next morning we packed up camp and headed out for our last day to explore Yosemite.  I was expecting my legs to be sore after our hiking the day before, but they really were not too bad.  My belly on the other hand was sore!  What a different feeling.  I could tell my muscles had gotten a work out supporting my bouncing baby bump.  We made a quick stop at El Capitan, then headed up to Glacier Point that overlooks the Yosemite Valley.

El Capitan.  From up close you could see (and hear) the climbers.

Overlook into the Valley with views of El Capitan and Half Dome.

Next trip to Yosemite hopefully we can take a similar picture from the top of Half Dome.

Down in the valley to the right is Vernal Falls that we had hiked to.

Looking down into Yosemite Valley (where we had camped and hiked from).

We call this one "Squirrel With Half Dome"

Another view of Half Dome (no we aren't talking about my belly!)

We were sad to find out Mariposa Grove (home of the largest Giant Sequoias in Yosemite) was closed for a restoration project.  Fortunately we found out about Tuolumne Grove which is also home to many Giant Sequoias and could be reached from a short (but steep coming out!) hike off of the Tioga Pass.

Me, wearing red, with Big Red.

Joe next to the roots of a fallen sequoia.

Not quite as fun as the sequoia you can drive under at Mariposa Grove, but this tunnel carved into a dead sequoia was pretty cool.

A much younger Giant Sequoia.

Sadly our time in Yosemite had come to an end.  We wish we had another week, but we are hopeful we can bring Baby Lude one day.  We are also taking volunteers for any babysitters who want to join us on a Yosemite adventure so we can hike to Half Dome (which is definitely on our bucket list...when I am not pregnant!).  We are hopeful Baby Lude has the same sense of adventure and love of travel that we do.  Life is short and the world is wide.

Bye Yosemite!

Baby is the Size of a Spaghetti Squash

New for baby this week? 11 inches long and weighing in at about 1 lb. (although I am guessing bigger after our weigh in last week), more developed lips and eyes (which have no color yet), tiny tooth buds are forming,  sleeping 12-14 hours
Best moment this week? Yosemite.  Hiking while pregnant.
Miss Anything?  Enjoying a beer by the campfire
Gender?  Our nephew Gabe has switched his guess from girl to boy after seeing the sonogram pictures.  He has also suggested the name "Lightning Sonic Boom Lude".
Movement? Very frequent.  I think baby liked flying because he/she was having a lil party most of the flight.  Movements can still be very small, but other times are very apparent.
Food cravings? Ice cream

21.5 Weeks...Lake Tahoe

We flew out of Columbus on Thursday and arrived in Reno, NV around 4:30 p.m for Baby Lude's second vacation.  After landing we quickly hopped in the car and headed over to Lake Tahoe.  The reason for our trip was to attend a perfusion conference.  After the last couple of weeks being so hard emotionally it could not have come at a better time.  As our coworker Dave said "nothing like nature to reset the soul".

By the time we arrived in Lake Tahoe and got settled into our hotel it was getting dark so we didn't have much time to explore.  We were hungry and  kind of randomly found a place to eat called the Lucky Beaver.  Food was AWESOME! The weekend was filled with delicious food all within minutes of our hotel.  On Friday we explored Heavenly Ski Resort.  Best part is Heavenly Village was within walking distance of Harvey's, our hotel.  This is funny because it took us about an hour to actually get there after making multiple trips to and from the hotel (and through the casino) because we either forgot things or were tricked by Joe's "smartphone"  into thinking we actually needed to drive there.  I laughed really hard.  How are we ever gonna get ourselves and a kid out the door?!  I guess there will be more planning involved.

We got tickets for the Heavenly Gondola.  It is a 2.4 mile ride up the mountain with panoramic views of Lake Tahoe.  There is an observation deck on the way up.  Once you reach the top you can take another ski lift to get even more views and access to hiking trails (not to mention a zipline we would have loved to try, but apparently that is not an activity for pregos).  My belly has gotten much more noticeable and draws lots of attention, especially when out for hikes.  A Mom was hiking alongside her daughter and mentioned when her daughter was getting tired that "the pregnant lady was going to beat her up the hill".  Also after we had reached the top a couple guys made it after us and were out of breath.  The one commented "look she made it and she is even breathing for two!".

Beautiful view of the lake.  Would love to see the mountains snow covered.

Joe wishing there was snow and he was on skis.

Can't wait to come back here to ski!

Mommy, Daddy, and Baby at over 10,000 feet.  Yes we hiked some of that :)

The view from our room was amazing.  It was wonderful to watch the sunset after busy days out exploring, and then wake up to a totally different yet equally beautiful view.

Sunset

Morning view, with a hot air balloon.

Saturday we got to enjoy a different side of Lake Tahoe.  We boarded the M.S. Dixie II and enjoyed a cruise from Zephyr Cove Resort to Emerald Bay.  We learned that Lake Tahoe is the highest altitude lake in the U.S. measuring 22 miles long and 12 miles wide, with a maximum depth of 1645 feet.  As cold as the water and temperatures get in Lake Tahoe, the lake never freezes over!

You can see the line for the Gondola we rode up in the middle of the mountain, alongside some ski trails.

We really enjoyed our time in Lake Tahoe.  We had to laugh because it is becoming very apparent our lives are changing.  The entire week all we were noticing were parents traveling with their children (where as before we were always checking out bikes and running shoes).  We were constantly like "look at that Dad carrying their kid in that really cool backpack" or "Wow look at that BOB stroller go!".

Sunday afternoon after collecting our conference paperwork we hit the road and headed to Yosemite!  It was about a 4 hour drive from Lake Tahoe but we enjoyed every minute.  It's amazing just how little there is along HWY 395.  We came into Yosemite along the Tioga Pass which is an incredible drive (and also not open during the winter).

We'll call this the 21.5 week bump!

Hello Yosemite!

Our first glimpse of Half Dome.

Baby, Joe, and I can't wait to tell you about our even bigger adventures in Yosemite next time!! We stayed at Housekeeping Camp in the Yosemite Valley (highly recommend by the way!).  The accommodations weren't anything special, but it was totally worth it to be surrounded by nature and enjoy a campfire every night. 

Morning view from our campsite.  Could definitely get used to this.