Last week I had probably the best group I’ve had all summer.
Now, right off the bat I wasn’t sure what I’d gotten myself into when I did my morning pick ups at the Hilton. Much to my surprise a group of children comes walking around the corner. No one in the office, the management, nobody mentioned that they’d be children from Japan who didn’t speak English. So, needless to say I was a little upset with the office for that because I’d bought the wrong groceries for children and didn’t have any games or toys packed ( I have them you see and would have brought them…hello, communicate people!!)
So I put my best "I'm actually NOT surprised" smile on and greeted the kids.
I meet the coordinator Yuki and his boss (the owner of Dorcus Adventure Club-Dorcus is the name of a beetle) Masa we called him. They speak English and will translate for me for the remainder of the trip! Wow!
So we head out of town and I get to know Yuki and Masa a little bit. At one point I picked up the microphone, realized I didn’t have much of an audience as they wouldn’t understand me and proceeded to hand it back to Masato, one of the kids sitting behind me. Well! He was thrilled and a natural at public speaking, so that became a hilarious thing to speak into the microphone. Masato would pass it back and they’d pretend to interview each other, I nicknamed one of the boys Mr. DJ because he sang and talked like a professional, he even had spiked hair, I learned his name was Ryo (pronounced Rio) which seemed appropriate for a DJ :)
We went into Yosemite on Highway 120 through Oakdale and up to the Tuolumne Grove of Sequoias. We had some lunch and they introduced themselves to me. They were wearing name tags so I could get their names and then we had a fun time trying to come up with nicknames for each of them so I could call Masato Masa or Hyuga Huey or something, they thought that was funny.
I led the hike down to the trees and we played around in the fallen tree, you can crawl through it to a hole near its middle which they all did and then they climbed on top and took photos and had a great time.
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| Stream crossing |
I do this hike the first afternoon to gauge their ability to handle other hikes and then change plans accordingly. Since these were young boys I wasn't sure what they could do. Kids can handle hikes but don’t hike well if its too strenuous etc and it's no fun for us adults either. You want them to have some fun!
So it was a long walk up out of the trees. Its all downhill there so its the journey back to the car that is the telling walk. They did alright but Masa and Yuki said "let's plan on doing lesser hikes tomorrow"
Usually after that hike I take them to the valley for photos from Tunnel View and Bridal Veil falls etc but they were tired and I knew we had to set up camp under difficult circumstances this time. So we headed to El Portal to see what we could figure out. It also allows them time to swim at the pool (next door to our campground) while I set up the kitchen and start dinner.
Because this was a parallel trip (2- 3 day camping trips running simultaneously) the campground staff had reserved our usual spots but didn’t have two more spots together. That was going to be for my group. One camp spot was across the road from the other at least so my kids didn't have to walk down a busy road!! I would have thrown a big fit about that! Baby kids trying to find their tents etc in the dark in a busy campground, I don’t think so!
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| Camp Set Up |
With some discussion between me and the Trek America guide (what a jerk) we set up tents in one site and the kitchen in the other and that worked out just fine. I mean, the tents are really for sleeping and bag storage nothing else, the social center of a camp is the kitchen and fire pit anyways! These kids didn't mind! What a gracious group I had, I couldn't have had a better bunch for this trip!
The boys went swimming and I worked to get camp set up. With a new kitchen, new stove, new lanterns etc and a cook box that was hit or miss it was a small challenge but I managed it alright. The boys were great at camp! They wanted to do everything. The set up all the tents for me and they did dishes and they cut vegetables. They’d fetch water when I needed it. It was so fun. I enjoy having people help but I do try to keep the process simple so they can relax a bit too. They got a swim in and they played cards, they built a fire which was fun and then we all ate dinner! They were hungry! I had my Mexican stew that night and they really liked it a lot (either that or they were hungry!) I was surprised because it was different than anything they’d had before but they all had seconds and thirds, we didn’t throw anything out that night!
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| Feed me! Pancakes! |
The funniest meal we had was Monday morning, I make pancakes and bacon on that day so they have a hot meal to start the day with. And because I only have one skillet that can fit about 3 pancakes on it then I make them, plate them, serve them and repeat. So the boys put a couple of plates on the table in front of them, armed themselves with silverware and waited like vultures for the next round of pancakes. I'd come over with a stack on my spatula and they all dive in, it was so funny! So they did a great job cleaning up and got ready for the big day to come!
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| Always getting the shot! |
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| Oh no! haha |
Monday (our second full day) I decided to take them up to the high country of Yosemite. I wanted to do a hike to Lembert Dome but we decided they weren't quite up for that. We stopped at Olmsted Point which is where you can see the back side of Half Dome and the group took photos and played on the rocks, it was fun, we ended up being there for an hour! From there I took them to the visitors center at Tuolumne Meadows and that turned out to be a great stop. One of the boys, Masato had been honored in Japan for his presentation on early tools of man. They had rocks on display at the Visitors Center that were for early tools! Who knew!
From there I walked them out into the meadow for a small hike and we got sidetracked at the river and never made it any further. As long as they were having fun it didn’t matter to me! I got in first (bad influence J ) and they followed of course, they love water. They knew they were being taken to a lake later that day but this river is crystal clear and great for skipping rocks so in we went.
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| Ryota all wet! |
The water was freezing! Like painfully cold! Little Ryota fell in and got drenched (it was knee deep for most of us) but he hit a deep part and that was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen, it still makes me laugh! He was laughing really hard and yelling because the water was so cold and he stood in the shallow bit and just laughed and laughed oh my gosh it was funny!
We had to get him out of the river and warm him up while the others played. About that time a big buck came up and the boys got to walk up to a deer. That was pretty neat. This buck is a regular in the meadow so he’s used to being photographed. Masato got a great shot of him looking up.
Masa and Yuki decided it was time to head to the lake so off we went. We took our lunches and our gear and the games I’d bought in Oakdale and off we went to spend the rest of the afternoon at the beach. It was great! They swam and played and buried each other in the sand and ate food and buried each other again. We were there for almost 4 hours. Fine by me too, I love it there, it’s a beautiful place. The clouds came over for a while and that cooled things off but it didn’t bother them. I finally had to go get my sweatshirt from the van.
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| Buried Boys |
After all that play they were pretty tired out so we headed back to camp from there. I got dinner going and I thought they’d go swim but they’d had enough. Mr Dealer pulled out the cards and they played cards till it was time to eat. Oh! I almost forgot, on our way back to camp we stopped at the El Portal market and Masa bought everyone an Its It ice cream sandwich. The best! They are from San Francisco, sooo good!
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| Its It!! Ice Cream Sandwiches |
They weren’t very hungry for dinner that night, though it could be they didn’t like it either, they wouldn’t really say. I made Chicken Adobo. We had tons of veggies left over and chicken and rice which we saved, I’d find out why the next morning…
We made a fire and I taught them about S’mores. They’d had all the elements of s’mores but not put together. That turned out to be funny too as they were loosing marshmallows in the fire and burning them and the usual challenges of a first time s'more maker. I tried to explain the name too, which isn't easy. They are so good you want s'more. Get it?
The next morning we got up and got some packing done and I attempted to feed them cereal and hot instant oatmeal, turns out they didn't like that. Which is fine, that stuff isn't for everyone. They got out the left over rice (rice is something they have for breakfast, its not sweet though its savory for them) they travel with this flavoring that turns out to be tea, like green tea or black tea. Its salty ( i tried it!) So I didn't care for it either, we Americans like a sweet breakfast.
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| Half Dome |
We got all packed up and headed into the Yosemite Valley for what turned out to be an epic journey around the valley to get to all the sights Masa wanted to see. I wanted to be sure we got everywhere and there was quite a list!
We drove up to Glacier Point where they could see Half Dome well and shop for souvenirs. Then we drove back down to Yosemite Lodge and I dropped them off to do a quick walk up to the lower Yosemite Falls which was good. Then I scooped them back up and we drove out to the parking lot closest to the El Capitan Nose (Jon, another guide, calls that parking lot the Devils Elbow...more because of pedestrians than anything)
They attempted to walk up to the rock while I guarded the van, I was double parked with my trailer.
They returned having failed in their mission to get there because it was too tough a climb up. I was bummed, I didn't remember it being that hard but I'd done it in the snow before.
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| El Capitan meadows |
Next we went to El Capitan Meadows and found some rock climbers to watch for a bit before we had to head out. It was a fast day to be sure. I think I'd know better next time how to set up the trip so they see exactly what they want without rushing.
On our way home we stopped and had dinner in Turlock. I took my usual route from the 99 to the 132 exit at Modesto when the van broke down. Luckily I'd come to a stop at the stoplight and there was no danger so we got off the road and parked the van.
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| Bucket game! |
So now the adventure began. I arranged for a tow truck, a rescue vehicle and we got our stuff out and set the boys to play. Once again I was the luckiest tour guide in California on this evening because this group handled this event really well. It was unfortunate that it had to happen but like I said these kids were great. Masa and Yuki were infinitely patient too. I appreciate that!
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| Betty being towed |
I dropped them off late that night and gave them all a group hug. That was hilarious! And as they walked away they waved, then I'd wave, they'd wave, then I'd wave. Oh, I missed them already!
