Daytripping: Yosemite in the Fall

Since the boys were out of school on Monday, we decided to take a spur of the moment drive to Yosemite. I've never been to Yosemite in the fall. I've heard that the best time to visit the park is in the spring because all of the waterfalls are gushing. In the fall, the waterfalls weren't even trickling. Still, it was beautiful. Plus, as an added bonus in honor of Veterans Day, the entrance fee was free. Of course, our family has the Access Pass, so it was free anyway.

Yosemite is about a 3 hour drive away from us. We left early Monday morning and decided to take Hwy 120. In the past, we've always entered the park via Hwy 140 as we camped at the KOA located just beyond the town of Mariposa. This time, we decided to try something different.

We meandered along Hwy 120 through quaint little towns like Oakdale and Groveland. We stopped at the vista point "Rim of the World" in order to check out some of the damage from the Rim Fire, which was named after this vista point. My crappy phone camera can't possibly do any justice, but here are some snapshots of the fire damage:

 

Contrast

We finally got to the entrance of the park. We headed toward Yosemite Valley, but then decided to head on up to Glacier Point. Patches of snow were located here and there along the road and discreetly tucked away between trees. The seemingly long drive up to Glacier Point felt like we were driving away from the park. The drive is simply a testimony as to how big Yosemite is. Once we got to Glacier Point, we postponed trips to the bathroom in order to catch the views of Yosemite Valley and Half Dome. Breathtaking can't even describe the views that we saw from Glacier Point. I'm forever apologizing for my phone's camera, but I have no intention of getting a new phone any time soon, so:

Half Dome

View of Half Dome from Glacier Point

There were patches of snow surrounding the parking lot of Glacier Point. My oldest son decided it was time for a snowball fight and nailed his dad pretty good. Of course, he can dish it out but he can't take it. We made our way back down to the valley and took a final tour. The trip took longer than we thought, but there were no regrets. On our way home, we decided to take Hwy 140. The afternoon long shadows were catching up to us and it wouldn't be long before it was dark. Hwy 120 was beautiful, but Hwy 140 is an easier drive, especially in the dark.

Leaving Yosemite

Would I visit Yosemite again in the fall? Absolutely. The website states that, "Yosemite is not known for having spectacular fall colors because most of the trees are evergreen." But that doesn't mean that there isn't some fall color. There were some beautiful trees (Oak, I think. Maybe aspen. Sorry, I don't know trees.) that were turning a fabulous shade of yellow, which made a nice contrast with the evergreen. I'm already looking forward to seeing Yosemite in the spring.

"You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you." Nehemiah 9:6

Watching, Waiting, and Hoping that Third Time's a Charm

Third time's a charm or so the old saying goes. I hesitate to say that things are 'charmed' around here, but I will say that my youngest son is tolerating Topamax better than I expected. Topamax is the third anti-epileptic medication that he has tried. Tried. I say that as though it's like trying a new food or a new restaurant. If only it were that simple.

I can't say for sure that the Topamax is working. He has had at least one, and possibly two, seizures at school so far this year. Both occurred earlier in October at school. The neurologist increased the dosage of Topamax to 100mg per day - 50mg in the morning and 50mg in the evening. Finding the right therapeutic dose is a frustrating game to play. And it's not a fun game as you watch and hope for seizure control and hope against side effects.

No medication is without side effects. Some side effects of Topamax are: loss of appetite, difficulty concentrating, and memory problems. There are more, of course, but those are the most common. So far, I've noticed that he's not eating as much as he used to. He's eating, but his portions are smaller. To be honest, I haven't noticed problems with concentration or memory, but I have noticed that he is a little goofy. Maybe it's just my imagination, but since the dosage increase he seems goofier than usual. Being goofy is not officially a side effect, but I have read that other people on Topamax feel this way. Since my son can't tell me how these meds affect him, I read epilepsy boards to see how teens and adults describe how they feel when they are on these meds.

Some people seem to experience little or no side-effects and the medication works wonders for them. Other people, however, seem to experience moderate to severe side-effects that make taking the med impossible. And to add insult to injury, the med provides inadequate seizure control. It frustrates me just to read about it. I'm sure it frustrates the people taking the meds and the doctors who prescribe them. Epilepsy is just infuriating and frustrating all around.

In the meantime, chocolate pudding has become one of my best friends. Fortunately, the pills are small and I'm able to put each pill in a spoonful of pudding and give it to my son. Unfortunately, the pills leave a bitter aftertaste, so I give him an extra spoonful of pudding sans pill to help eliminate the bitterness. "Just a spoonful of pudding makes the medicine go down..." Sorry.


"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12

Santa Cruz - Another "Kamping" Trip

Yosemite was fun and beautiful, but there was not alot for my youngest son to do. This year, we decided to take a 4-day weekend (Friday through Monday)  KOA "kamping" trip to Santa Cruz. During this trip we planned to visit the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk as well as one of the state beaches.

I chose the Santa Cruz/Monterey Bay KOA as it was the one closest to the Boardwalk and to the beaches. I have to say that out of all of the KOAs that I've been to, this one was the most crowded both in terms of how many people were there, and how many spaces/cabins were squeezed together. That's neither good nor bad; just an observation. Of course, we were there on a weekend...in the middle of summer...right before school starts. So, yeah, it was crowded. However, alot of people left on Sunday morning so the campground was a little quiet on Sunday and Monday morning. The camp store had just about everything you could need or want in case you forgot something, or in our case because our car wasn't big enough to bring. Since we couldn't pack our coffee maker, we were soooooo glad this KOA store served fresh hot coffee for a fair price.

On Saturday, we went to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I purchased tickets at Costco (follow link for other discounts and offers) and then had to exchange those tickets for the all-day ride wristbands and arcade tokens. While we were at the ticket booth, the clerk behind the counter noticed my younger son and mentioned that we might want an Exit Pass. I did not know that the Boardwalk had those. I did not see any mention of those on the web site, but they are mentioned in the Accessibility Guide that you can download. Basically, this pass allows you and your family (4 people maximum) to go to the EXIT of a ride and get on the ride that way. Not all rides can accommodate this and the pass clearly lists which rides do and which rides don't. (See pictures.) Also, since there was no way that my youngest son would wear the all-day ride wristband, a clerk stapled it to the pass. Really, everyone was very nice and accommodating, but I do want to say that my son has an obvious disability. Other people's experience might be different.


Everyone in my family loves the beach; it's one of the few places we can go where everyone has a good time. The Santa Cruz area has many beaches and it was difficult to make a choice. We opted for the Manresa State Beach because it was literally a 4 minute drive from the KOA. We were not disappointed. This beach was littered with shells, sand dollars, and little crab carcasses, along with lots of seaweed and surfers. The sea gulls were annoying, but really this is their turf and it was fun watching toddlers chase them.

For this beach, you park in the parking lot and then you have to walk down the cliff to the beach. Parking for all state beaches is $10. What we loved about this beach was that there were concrete stairs as well as an accessible ramp down to the beach. Score! This made walking with my youngest son so much easier. He is very apprehensive about walking up and down stairs; consequently, he is very slow. With the ramp, I could walk with him and haul my beach stuff without feeling like I needed my inhaler. Very awesome. The fog decided to lift about the time we decided to leave. All in all, it was still a lovely day at the beach only this time, we had a 4 minute drive back to "kamp" instead of a 2 hour drive home.

Tiny crab carcass

Sand dollars and shells

    

Manresa State Beach - view from ramp

Brothers

Eleven Years Ago Today: Then and Now

Then

On July 22, 2013, much of the world seemed to celebrate the birth of the new prince in Great Britain. Hooray for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge! I mean that, even though I'm American and don't quite grasp the concept of a royal family. Congratulations are in order, nonetheless.

Yesterday, I was remembering eleven years prior - July 22, 2002 - when I went for a routine doctor appointment while pregnant with my second child. There were no rose-colored lenses while walking down Memory Lane this day.

He wasn't due until August 1^st, but I was tired. I wanted him to be born yesterday, if you know what I mean. The doctor said, "The baby isn't doing well and neither are you. I need to induce you today." That jolted me out of my lethargy. I started making excuses like, "I need to go home and get my husband. I need to arrange child-care for my oldest son. I don't have any extra clothes." The doctor was kind but firm, "I'm sorry, but I can't in good conscience let you go. It's time to go to the hospital." We only had one car at the time, so my husband had to make arrangements with my sister to come babysit and with a neighbor to bring him to the hospital.

I went to the hospital shortly after 1:30pm. Since my first pregnancy had been induced I already knew what to expect. Despite this experience, I was in for a rough night ahead. My blood pressure spiked dangerously high and I was given some medication to bring it down. About 6:00am the following morning I was given an epidural. Finally, I could get some rest. Or not. By 6:25am he was ready, except that because of the epidural, I was not. Because of this the doctor had to initiate a vacuum-assisted delivery. If I had only known.

The first thing I noticed after he was born was that he didn't cry. I don't even remember if I got to hold him because I passed out. When I came to about 11:30am, I went upstairs to the ICU to visit him. I wanted to hold him or at least stroke his arms and face. At this point, I thought it was just a precaution that he was in the ICU. Before I realized what was happening, the seizures started. My baby was enduring seizures and all I could do was watch. He was having trouble breathing and there was nothing I could do. Little did I know he was experiencing a brain hemorrhage.

That evening, he was transferred to Seattle Children's Hospital where he stayed for nearly two weeks in the NICU. At the end of his stay, we were told that there was nothing more that could be done for him and that we should take him home to enjoy what time was left. In all likelihood, he would soon die. By the grace of God, that did not come to pass as we are celebrating his 11^th birthday today!

My heart was happy and subsequently broken on July 23, 2002. Words like "Grade IV intraventricular hemorrhage", "seizures", "cerebral palsy", "developmental delay" and "cortical visual impairment" were not yet part of my everyday vocabulary, but they soon would be. Every year I remember this and thankfully the grief becomes less and less as I see the progress that he makes. But I digress. His party is this weekend, but we're still going to celebrate today. We're going swimming after lunch. We sit in the shallow end of the pool while he splashes. We're going to McDonald's for dinner because that's his favorite. After dinner, we're going to Whole Foods for dessert because they have the bomb brownies that he loves. Later this week I have cupcakes to make, more presents to buy, and a party to plan for this weekend to celebrate the birth of my little prince who has come a long, long way.

Happy birthday to my sweet little prince!

Now

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18