RV week 3 - Yosemite & handing back the RV!

Well, we finally got through the road block about 6pm and drove through a forest fire mostly put out but still smouldering in many places - about 115 sq miles was burnt so it was a bit like driving through the countryside after armageddon had happened. Quite eerie. Then we got to the pass - with the drop just to the right of the RV and a huge drop - but at least there was a 1 ft wall to stop us falling. The whole of the beautiful Yosemite valley opened up in front of us with a flat valley floor and huge peaky mountains all around. It was stunning - although I did not see it until we reached the bottom as I was looking at the road and getting hooted at for driving my RV over the middle line - away from the edge! We finally arrived at our campsite as dusk set in to find a family in our booked slot in upper Pines campground. They had got our space because we had not called to say we would be a day late (no mobiles worked but we should have called from a call box!) They were from Florida and had been RVing around the US for 4 months with their 3 kids - younger than our kids and with longer hair! They were then off to Chile for 6 months to see if they wanted to live there again! I thought we were adventurous!

Our campsite was just at the base of a mountain called Glacier Point - vertically up from the ground about 500 yds from our campsite. We had 5 days in Yosemite (we managed to extend it a day by Ian queueing up at 6.30am on a Friday morning for a one -night extension - 4th in line for 6 available slots in Yosemitye valley that day at 6.30am!) We cycled, walked up to waterfalls (including Megan), swam many times in pools in mountain streams (very cold - no very, very cold!) at the base of waterfalls and in rocky rivers down stony/slippery mini waterfalls, hiked and visited all the Yosemite museums and indian reservation. We had a terrific time - the boys were really into the swimming and the climbing up the rocky mountain streams/rivers. Megan made it 4 miles up hill to an amazing waterfall - all-in-all we really enjoyed the outdoor life in Yosemite. It is truly beautiful and needs revisiting in the different seasons of the year and you need 2 weeks and no young children (<9) to do all the main walks. The weather was great so although the water was cold you warmed up as soon as you got out.

Our campsite was true RVing though. No electricity, water, dump or showers! We had the luxury of smelly camp toilets but the showers were in the next door village and were $5 each! So we cooked on campfire, ate by firelight and candlelight - we charged the lights via generator for 20 mins per day but could not charge Ipods, computers or phones at all. This for us was the best experience - we really enjoyed it - but for a week or so it was fun - 2 weeks would have been too long without a break.

The kids schooling went well - each morning we did the normal and each afternoon we did an activity - a good schedule that has worked so far. Sam is doing well on Maths and Science I think and still needs to do more on English - Romeo & Juliet is tough for the first Shakespeare ever! Geography & History we learn about as we go and we need to do Spanish before we go to South America at the end of Sept. Toby is doing well on Maths, Science and working hard on English.  Again the most difficult subject to teach and mark - maybe it is the teacher, maybe the student - or maybe both!!

We left Yosemite and were sad to be leaving the fabulous wilderness and life you lead there. But after 3 weeks in the RV of sleeping on uncomfortable beds, with no water/electricity and dirty feet from campsites and showers 10 mins walk away and $5 a time -  our time was coming to a welcome end! We drove out of the wonderful valley where the forest fire was still going and drove towards our San Francisco drop off. After visiting the Woodbridge - Robert Mondavi vineyard in Lodi we drove to the drop-off - saying goodbye with a mixture of sadness and looking forward to San Francisco, a good bed and other people.

In conclusion - We would all definitely go RVing again - 3 weeks was just about right - maybe a few days too long - a break and a hotel and clothes wash in the middle for a few days would have helped. But doing a convoy with another 1 or 2 families would probably work really well. We want to do Yellowstone national park next time. But overall we all really enjoyed it - Toby enjoyed the campfires best (a real pyromaniac in our midst!) Sam enjoyed the swimming; Sheena enjoyed the ease of moving on to different places and living outdoors; Ian enjoyed the outdoor life and Megan cried when we had to leave the RV saying she never wanted to leave (but she did not want to leave the hotel room the next time either!!). So the RV was a definitely a great part of the trip we have had. But we are glad it is over for a while!