Arrived to Millerton Lake after dark and we were all excited to see what the morning view would bring. Ben and Izzy set up all the hammocks, we pulled the bikes off of Big Red (our truck) and set up Imagine Dragon (our RV). Can’t wait to hike and bike and explore the area!
Some fun facts about Millerton Lake- it was created in 1944 by the Friant Dam and has a storage capacity of 520,500 acre-feet. While the water level is low currently, high season covers 4,900 acres when the lake is full. Fresno is about 30 minutes south and home to about 500,000 people.
Monday we plan to hike, Tuesday into Fresno to the Chaffee Zoo, Wednesday another hike, Thursday is supposed to rain so back to Fresno to the Woodward Regional Library to do school work and Friday hanging around the campsite before back to Fresno for a fun treat that evening- the Harlem Globetrotters! Saturday we head North 2 hours to Yosemite National Park – we get in for free with Izzy’s National Park Pass!
We don’t leave until Sunday, January 12th at which time we head to Disneyland in Anaheim for a week long vacation! (Wait- isn’t this already vacation?)
Tuesday, January 7th– to the Chaffee Zoo through incredibly dense fog. Ben searched up F350 fog light location and helped Mom navigate safely. 46 degrees outside and not a sign of sun. Starting to wonder if we really are in Mid-Cali or back in Western OR. Thank goodness Boy-Scout-Ben decided that we should back the hats and gloves after all (maybe there was some mom cajoling). After finishing up a work call at 11:00am while hanging out with a few cool cats (see lion picture below), the kiddos and I decided to feed the giraffes. There we came upon the Junior Ranger booklet with 25 challenges to complete.
Challenge Accepted! Four hours later and never once setting a foot inside, Ben & Izzy finally completed all the challenges, which included finding all 6 of the dung beetle hidden locations around the park, talking to park rangers, observing the elephants for 2 minutes, demystifying whether Ostriches actually put their heads in the sand when scared, finding all of the Swahili words for select animals and drawing where all the animals are on a map, just to name a few. It was a no-joke set of activities, much like a scavenger hunt and I think we visited almost every part of the park two or three times. Not stopping for lunch until 3pm, and persisting through the damp, wet day, the kiddos dug into soup, sushi and lemonade at Whole Foods and shopped with mom for groceries before heading back to Millerton Lake.
Wednesday, January 8th– BIG HIKE AHEAD! Friant Dam, here we come. Ben and I estimated that the dam was about 5 miles from our campsite at Meadow Campground- no bets taken though. With no trail, we walked much of the beach & the tide lines on mostly uneven surfaces. Izzy found owl pellets and all sorts of moss, while Ben lead the way looking for trails to take us through all the coves. We hiked through Dumna Island, Dumna Cove, Fort Miller Campground, Mono Campground, Rocky Point Campground, past the entrance to Millerton Lake State Recreation Area and then paralleling 145 (the road into the park) over Hills Cove & then traversed over and up hills to where the cattle trails became evident. Millerton Lake has extensive coves- we had to laugh each time we came over a hill and there was yet another cove we had to go around. Damn dam!
When it was all said and done, we hiked just over 5.5 hours, just shy of 11 miles, 90 floors in elevation and through pretty much all types of sandy, rocky, hilly, grassy and humid landscape. It was a beautiful and tough hike. Needless to say, we all slept really well.
We guessed the Friant Dam was about 5 miles from Meadow Camp. 
Riggs swimming 
Thursday, January 9th- it was rainy and we hit the library for a few hours before running a slew of errands. I had promised Ben donuts this morning, but only if it was on the way to Woodward Regional Library. Turns out the library was across the street from a small donut shop, so in we went. I’m not sure it was normal that their power had been off since Thanskgiving?!
This is Ben’s new tool-toy, a Dyson V8 Animal+ from the Fresno Costco. Lets just say I haven’t had to ask Ben to help with the vacuuming, although I’m sure Riggs would much prefer Ben stick with mowing the grass.
Friday, January 10th– beautiful sunny day! Ben had been jonsing for a bike ride, so we found Blue Oak Trail Mountain Bike Trail on the SW corner of the lake. We did have to drive to get there, but it was totally worth it. Sunny day, no wind, sailboats to watch, great single track, and no one on the trail but us! We ended at the Millerton Lake Boat docks and decided to ride our bikes to the gate.
Friday evening was fun with the Harlem Globetrotters at the Save Mart Center. Izzy loved it and Ben kept asking why they kept stopping the game… Best part was keeping it a surprise until we got there. We all decided that surprises like this are something we’re going to continue to do for each other.
Saturday, January 11th- we headed out to Yosemite National Park today! Right around 2 hours due north of Millerton.
Izzy was quick to remind us of how lucky we were to have her along for our trip! As a 4th grader holding a National Park Pass and as a part of the Every Kid Outdoors program, she gained us access to the park for free. It was great to see the Park Ranger ask her to show herself from the back seat. Both kids picked up Junior Ranger booklets and National Parks Passports, being sure to stamp and date today’s entry.
After traveling and an incredibly windy roads with CA drivers always right on our tails (see dad, there are folks out there who drive faster than me!), we exited the tunnel and the curtain was drawn. I have never seen God’s country like this in my life. It took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes. No wonder Muir took 2 years to himself to breathe in the majesty that is Yosemite National Park, and did everything he could ensure it would be here for our generation and generations to come. We came upon the location of Muir’s log cabin casually while we walked the Yosemite Falls Trail. Everything we saw was remarkable and truly inspiring. We felt like we were in giant’s country.
The Enchiladas 