Yosmite National Park

Well, we're back from Yosemite, and we have no broken bones! Yea! :)

Jeremiah and I had a wonderful time at Yosemite National Park, and we loved learning how to ski for our very first time. The park was gorgeous - and we couldn't believe how the snow just suddenly appeared on the ground as we traveled up the mountain. One moment there was no snow, and then we drove around a bend and we were suddenly in a winter wonderland! We also left behind extremely cloudy and dreary skies and instead spent a couple of days amidst beautiful bright blue skies - as you can see from these pictures!

On the first day that we arrived, we took a hike to the lower falls (about a 30 minute hike through ice from our lodge!) and we completed the evening with a couple of hours ice skating in Yosemite's outside ice skating rink. We had so much fun, and before heading to bed that evening in our beautiful room that had a gorgeous view of the waterfall, we went to the lodge's lounge and enjoyed a hot cup of hot cocoa by the fireplace!

The following morning, we woke up bright and early and took a one-hour shuttle from our lodge to the Badger Ski Pass Resort. We learned how to put our skis on and off, how to walk up a hill with our skis on, how to glide down a tiny slope (dare I call the learning hill a HILL??? - well, let's put it this way, we felt like we were in Kindergarten! - But the lesson we received was exactly what we needed!) Of course, we were supposed to learn how to brake completely on this little slope, (we didn't truly learn how to) but Jeremiah and I, despite our lack of brake mastery, decided to challenge the next hill... I still do not understand how they expect learners to go from this baby slope to a gigantic hill - but we TRIED! We went on the lift up the mountain (no bar to hold you in...) and realized midway up that we never learned how to get down! Well, Jeremiah was the first to step off of the lift ... and he took his poles, plopped them down, and fell face-front into the snow! It was so funny!!! Well...it was funny until I had to get off the lift! It took us over a half hour to get down that hill, and since neither one of us really knew how to brake ourselves, we chose the easier method of stopping - FALLING! Again, and again, and again, and again! And what a work out it was to try and get ourselves up from the snow once we'd fallen down! Nothing easy about it...those skis are heavier than we thought! But the people riding on the lift above were quite entertained by us!

That night, we met a couple from New Zealand and Ireland (they were vacationing together) and decided to go ice skating with them. The rink had an enormous fire-pit located there, and they sold a s'mores kit. Well, this couple we were hanging out with had never made s'mores before... (!) ... so we bought the kit and taught them how to make one of the yummiest snacks in the world!

On the following morning, Jeremiah and I had planned to go skiing once more and experience a more intermediate lesson. The lesson was scheduled early in the morning, so our plan was to drive to the ski resort in our own car. Our snow chains, however, BROKE before reaching the snowiest part of the ride, and we didn't feel safe going up the steep mountain without them (it was soooooooooo scary to see that our chains had literally fallen down around the wheel of our car... and there we were in the middle of nowhere - with no cell phone service...) - but God provided a miracle - and Jeremiah was able to get the chains off!!! So.... we never did go skiing again on this trip (I think we were being protected against harm perhaps?) but we turned our car around, and got back to the lodge just in enough time to catch the valley floor tour which gave us a beautiful and informative tour around the park. We'll catch up with lesson two again next year...
We had such an amazing time on our little winter holiday! Now it is time to get ready for the second semester of our second year teaching for the Burton School District. We are excited to finish up with BTSA, to receive our professionally clear teaching credentials, and to see what adventures lay ahead!!!