Grandma and Papaw came up with the idea to take all of the grandchildren on a road trip this summer for a short vacation, leaving the parents to fend for themselves and do whatever! We started out with all of the kids coming to La Casa Camerino and spend the night on Monday in preparation of leaving on Tuesday morning the 11th of July. We rented a Ford Transit 15 passenger van so everyone would have plenty of room ... and also a vehicle that would hold all nine if us! Neither the Prius nor the Azera are big enough for nine! And Papaw needs to adjust from that small Prius to this large van!!!
The twin 6-year old cousins Evan and Ruby asked to sit in the back row with just the two of them ... so that's what we did!
So everyone found their space and off we started on our 2017 summer adventure to Sequoia National Park.
We hit the road with plenty of music playing and headed out on the freeways to our first stop. We wanted a small, locally owned and fun restaurant for lunch and the 24th Street Diner in Bakersfield fit the bill. We arrived in early afternoon and took over the second dining room in the diner. Everyone had their choice of lunch. With empty plates at the end, it looks like everyone was satisfied!
We had to get some dessert, so just a few blocks away is Dewar's Candy and Ice Cream Shoppe. The ice creams are spectacular! We took up most of the counter stools and ordered our ice creams from one of the friendliest guys you'd ever come across. It was great. The place is decorated from the checker-board floor to the flower painted ceiling! What a delightful and fun place.
Ruby and Evan thought the bubble-gum ice cream with gum that you can eat and the purple color was out-of-this-world! All of the flavors had by the rest of the crew were just as outstanding!
The journey then continued as we drove the remaining way to little town of Three Rivers which is just outside of Sequoia National Park. We have previously stayed twice at The Sierra Lodge and once again chose this to be our place to stay. This place is so friendly and family oriented. We had their family suite this time around. The first floor had a full kitchen, dining room and living room with a sofa and futon, then the second floor with two bedrooms (king, queen and double bed) and huge bathroom. The lodge lobby has a whole library of books that can be taken out to read plus just about every game you can imagine. The kids took four or five of these to the room to play in the evening. And there is a wonderful pool that we knew the kids would really like. After checking in, we spent a couple of hours playing in the pool!
For dinner, we went to the Pizza Factory a couple of miles down the road. The pizzas were some of the best that we have ever had.
The evening brought showers and clean-up for everyone, some TV watching and board game playing before hitting the beds so that we could be ready for Sequoia in the morning. In the morning everyone was ready to begin the adventures. We had decided on one of our favorite places for breakfast, The Gateway Restaurant and Lodge on our way to Sequoia, about 3 miles from our Sierra Lodge and then 5 miles further to the park's entrance. The Gateway sits on the banks of the Kaweah River. With the California drought over, the river is full and swift, much different then when we were here two and three years ago. So that the grandkids could get the full pleasure, we sat outside on the restaurant dining deck just above the water, taking in all of the beauty, sounds and smells. The views are spectacular and the food was delicious!
Breakfast finished, we drove the short distance to the entrance of Sequoia National Park.
We have reserved a tour of the Crystal Cave for 12 noon and the drive takes about an hour to get there from the entrance. On the way to the cave, we pass Tunnel Rock. In days past, the original road through the park took you driving underneath the rock. It's always fun to see and stop for a picture or two!
We arrived at Crystal Cave parking lot around 11:30 for our noon tour. The walk from the parking lot to the cave entrance is about a half mile. The slope is pretty severe making the going down not too bad but the warning of coming back up will be a toll as it is about a 300 degree incline. The trail is not too wide and in fact pretty narrow in several spots. The trees, bushes, plants, stream and waterfalls along the walking path are really lovely to take in both going and coming from the cave.
We all made the descent and were ready to enter Crystal Cave. Our Park Guide was most knowledgeable and a pleasure to listen to throughout the hour and half cave tour. Flash photography is not allowed as well as not touching any of the rock formations. Kendall and Jordan were our official in-cave photographers for all of these stunning photo shots:
All of the grandkids were most courteous waiting for the "old" Papaw to catch-up between rests on that 300 degree incline hike up the cave path! We all made it and couldn't wait to drink some water when we made it to the parking lot!
We had planned on lunch at the Sequoia National Park's Wuksachi Lodge. The Lodge does not take reservations unless you are staying as a guest with them, so we knew we'd have to play it on-the-fly. Lunch is served 11AM - 3PM. We arrived at 2:59PM and the Hostess took us in as their last patrons! We were so relieved and grateful! It is a beautiful Lodge and dining room with fabulous window views. We were so glad that the Grandchildren were able to experience it and have a scrumptious lunch too!
The Wuksachi Lodge interior and some views from the floor to ceiling windows in the Peaks Restaurant ... plus the kids in front of the Lodge.
With lunch finished, we headed to the Forest of the Giants where so many of the giant Sequoia trees are congregated. The largest tree on Earth by mass known to man is called The General Sherman and is located here in Sequoia National Park. The amount of space taken up by it's trunk is greater than that of any other three on the planet. The walk to The General Sherman takes us by many other spectacular Sequoia trees.
Another path with many more Sequoia trees is names Congress Trail. Each of these trees are individually named. Many of these still grow with large sections that have been burned out by lightening strikes and other natural phenomena throughout the years.
We covered Sequoia National Park pretty well seeing a lot of nature and enjoying the Good Earth in a fun-filled and complete day. We had a pleasant drive through the park on our way back to our Sierra Lodge in Three Rivers. Arriving there, it was pool time for an hour or so to cool down, relax, and sooth the muscles that had been working hard all day. We decided to go Mexican tonight and found the best in town at Serrano's Mexican Restaurant. The portions were outrageously large but oh SO delicious!!
Thursday morning, everyone slept in as much as possible ... we do have three that rise pretty early no matter what ... Ella, Ruby & Evan! For the most part, everyone else was left to sleep. The Sierra Lodge provides continental breakfast in their lobby, so we snacked on fruit, pastries and such from there rather than a formal meal. Our plans were to stop in Bakersfield at the historic Woolworth's Five and Dime Store for lunch at the original and still functioning lunch counter. The rest of the store is now an antiques mall with individual booths on the man floor and the famous Woolworth's basement. It is a great nostalgic trip in time to go here. We arrived for lunch and took the counter stools for our nine! Grandma bought ice cream at the counter for all after lunch too!
We arrived home after much traffic due to fires and other congestion around 6 o'clock. For dinner, we visited The Stonefire Grill that we love to frequent. Everyone was happy with their choices for dinner. The evening was filled with DVD watching. Most of us watched the live action Beauty and The Beast while others picked an animated film to watch. After a good night's rest, we were off for our reservations at The Disney Resort's Paradise Pier Hotel for Breakfast with Mickey and Friends. We wanted a spectacular finish to our week and knew that Mickey and his friends were the right call.
We took some photo-opps with the Surfs-Up Goofy in the hotel lobby and then some at the restaurant reception.
We were greeted by Mickey as we entered ... The Grandkids with Papaw & Grandma and also the Fabulous Seven Grands.
The buffet offers so much selection and also a omelet bar for customized omelets made to order. Also, Jordan was made special Mickey Waffles that were gluten-free and lactose-free by the Chef to accommodate her dietary restrictions.
And we all joined in on the fun with visits from Stitch, Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck as they each visited our table throughout the morning.
And also a little fun time in the gift shop ...
Papaw and Grandma had a fabulous vacation week with our seven fabulous grandchildren. We are truly blessed and grateful for having each and everyone in our lives. To see all of the captioned pictures, click on this link. If the captions are not showing, click on the circled i at the top of the first picture to have them appear.
The twin 6-year old cousins Evan and Ruby asked to sit in the back row with just the two of them ... so that's what we did!
We hit the road with plenty of music playing and headed out on the freeways to our first stop. We wanted a small, locally owned and fun restaurant for lunch and the 24th Street Diner in Bakersfield fit the bill. We arrived in early afternoon and took over the second dining room in the diner. Everyone had their choice of lunch. With empty plates at the end, it looks like everyone was satisfied!
Ruby and Evan thought the bubble-gum ice cream with gum that you can eat and the purple color was out-of-this-world! All of the flavors had by the rest of the crew were just as outstanding!
For dinner, we went to the Pizza Factory a couple of miles down the road. The pizzas were some of the best that we have ever had.
The evening brought showers and clean-up for everyone, some TV watching and board game playing before hitting the beds so that we could be ready for Sequoia in the morning. In the morning everyone was ready to begin the adventures. We had decided on one of our favorite places for breakfast, The Gateway Restaurant and Lodge on our way to Sequoia, about 3 miles from our Sierra Lodge and then 5 miles further to the park's entrance. The Gateway sits on the banks of the Kaweah River. With the California drought over, the river is full and swift, much different then when we were here two and three years ago. So that the grandkids could get the full pleasure, we sat outside on the restaurant dining deck just above the water, taking in all of the beauty, sounds and smells. The views are spectacular and the food was delicious!
Breakfast finished, we drove the short distance to the entrance of Sequoia National Park.
We have reserved a tour of the Crystal Cave for 12 noon and the drive takes about an hour to get there from the entrance. On the way to the cave, we pass Tunnel Rock. In days past, the original road through the park took you driving underneath the rock. It's always fun to see and stop for a picture or two!
We arrived at Crystal Cave parking lot around 11:30 for our noon tour. The walk from the parking lot to the cave entrance is about a half mile. The slope is pretty severe making the going down not too bad but the warning of coming back up will be a toll as it is about a 300 degree incline. The trail is not too wide and in fact pretty narrow in several spots. The trees, bushes, plants, stream and waterfalls along the walking path are really lovely to take in both going and coming from the cave.
We arrived home after much traffic due to fires and other congestion around 6 o'clock. For dinner, we visited The Stonefire Grill that we love to frequent. Everyone was happy with their choices for dinner. The evening was filled with DVD watching. Most of us watched the live action Beauty and The Beast while others picked an animated film to watch. After a good night's rest, we were off for our reservations at The Disney Resort's Paradise Pier Hotel for Breakfast with Mickey and Friends. We wanted a spectacular finish to our week and knew that Mickey and his friends were the right call.
Papaw and Grandma had a fabulous vacation week with our seven fabulous grandchildren. We are truly blessed and grateful for having each and everyone in our lives. To see all of the captioned pictures, click on this link. If the captions are not showing, click on the circled i at the top of the first picture to have them appear.
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