Friday

Friday I got up early, and went to the little store and got myself coffee (they had a Keurig machine!  oh YEAH) and a bagel, and went and sat down by the rec center. The quiet of the forest is so calming!  I loved it!  I walked back to the cabin and everyone was up and eating their cereal.  We packed everything up, and then Mary and I went down and sat for a while in the quiet.  It was hard to leave!  

We headed out about 11 am.  First stop, Hetch Hetchy!  Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is a reservoir in Yosemite  about 65 miles (105 km) northeast from the city of Merced.  The reservoir has a capacity of 360,000 acre ft and is formed by the 364 ft  concrete gravity O'Shaughnessy Dam in Hetch Hetchy Valley on the Tuolumne River. After a years-long battle against the dam, led by John Muir, the dam was approved under the administration of Woodrow Wilson  in 1913 and was completed in 1923. It is owned by the city and county of San Francisco. The primary purpose is to supply drinking water to the San Francisco Bay area. It is one of nine reservoirs in San Francisco's system and holds about 25% of its overall storage capacity. The water is transported from the reservoir by the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct.

 

 

After a picnic lunch, we headed to Craig's great find:  Rainbow Pools! They are natural swimming holes along the south fork of the Tuolumne river and are about 15 miles east of Groveland.  The water was extra cold, because of all the heavy snow last winter.  I was not nearly warm enough to go in, but Mary, Chris and Craig did.  In fact, Chris and Mary took flying leaps off the edge of the small cliff!

 

We headed back to Vacaville in the afternoon, stopping for dinner and  a Dairy Queen on the way!  We got home around 7:30.  We were all feeling a bit sad, because we only had one day left.  We spent Saturday running errands, and then having an early dinner at Mimi's restaurant, 

which is Mary's favorite. 

 

We finished out the evening with playing Catan.  Although Mary usually wins, this time it was Craig!  Afterwards we were all feeling emotional with the thought of leaving in the morning.  We packed up in the morning, hugged our precious ones, and heading back home to New Jersey.  It was such a perfect visit, so full, so much fun.  We did so many things, but still had time to just relax together too. I cannot explain how thankful I am for these kids.  I cannot even begin to express my thankfulness for this opportunity to grow together as a family.  I have definitely left a piece of my heart on the West Coast.  Hoping to feel better about it soon..