Epic Spring Break Road Trip 2017

Welp, because we likely wont have anything more epic than this past week to blog about in the near future, we figured we had better post on the blog lest we never post due to the fact that any subsequent postable event would be compared to last week's adventure, deemed less eventful and not posted about.  Many of you may have already heard about the adventures of March 12th-19th but let me (say it with me) recap.

Over the course of 8 days and seven nights we visited the following locations:
Zion National Park, Death Valley NP, Sequoia NP, Yosemite NP and Lake Tahoe
We spent two nights with the nicest, classiest, best dressed Grandma this side of Lubbock, four nights in the delightful REI passage 2 in the latter three parks (two in Yosemite) and one night in the most comfortable bed Lake Tahoe had to offer.  We logged 55 total miles in trail runs and hikes with 25 of those coming in the final 24 hours at Yosemite.  Our journey took us through towns listed on google maps only when zoomed in as far as you can as well as a few of more notable size.  It was easily the most exhausting vacation we've ever taken, ranking it among the most rewarding (sidebar:Lauren sleep ten hours last night).  With that as a premise, let me hit you with the highlights:

As always the rangers in zion weren't sure that any canyon could be completed in less than 10 hours.  If thats, we set multiple records this past week (you can put it on the board!)
Subway from the bottom, Lamb's knoll and yankee doodle canyon

Dave's Grandma made us three meals a day including omelettes, sandwiches and spaghetti
The local hot tub was also a wonderful way to end the days in the freezing canyons

Took off tuesday afternoon for death valley, spent the night in the park.
Tent, no fly, as the starts were spectacular and the weather as well
5 hikes in death valley: Zabriskie point, boardwalk to see the pupfish, sand dunes, mosaic canyon, and a beautiful waterfall
We got a free airshow on the way out as 3 fighter pilots flew low through the canyons

Drove through Olancha, CA population 15 on our way to Bakersfield and then on to sequoia national forest where we had a reservation inside the park boundary.  This let us wake up at 7am and drive the 40 minutes up the winding switchbackes into the park.  The 5 feet of snow kept most visitors away and led to 5 hours of sledding and hiking in the redwoods.  We also hiked to the top of Moro rock which had a spectacular 360 degree view of the surrounding area.

Thursday night we drove to Yosemite, grabbed a wilderness pass and started hiking at 5:30 pm.  Well into the dark we found the campsite, as well as a few interesting characters out on the trail.  The next morning we ascended Cloudsrest, 7000 ft above the Yosemite valley floor.  Another amazing view, lots of sunburn and 41,111 steps later we stayed back in the valley hardly able to move.

Saturday we drove to Lake Tahoe and slept, alot.

Drive back on Sunday through Nevada was long but we got started at 4:30 and made it back in time for church.

So many great stories that we can't wait to tell when we're all back together!
Love you all!

See all the pics here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwOjEzqGjiY4U2tnWm5TSDlGVjQ