Working on our Californian & Payback's a Bitch

About 1 1/2 years here, we're getting past the point where we can say we're 'new to town'.  As such, we figure we better start working on our 'Californian'.


Our efforts to 'Californian-ize' in the past few weeks:

A wedding in the wine country.....

A FOGGY picnic at the Beach...

And since California is home to 8 of the country's 58 National Parks, we figured we better get crackin' - planned a Labor Day trip to Yosemite. 

The kid's reaction to these plans?
     Total 1982 deja vu

Mirrored my response almost exactly to what felt like 300 trips / year to Arizona's Grand Canyon   (move from Chicago to Arizona  =  lots of visitors  =  a LOT of trips to the Grand Canyon)  

Some choice quotes:

• "I DON'T want to go to Yosemite"
• "It's just another park - we live 2 blocks from a park"
• "It's going to be STUPID"

And one that showcases the inclusive & collaborative world they are growing up in:

• "But we didn't all agree on this - I think we should all get to decide where we go"

Needless to say, I was expecting very little from this (forced) adventure.
What did we discover?

A cool hotel can do wonders...
The Tenaya Lodge rocked - literally (hahahaha)

with loads of activities...

 

fab pools...

(even a 'dive in movie'!)

And dog friendly

Once we pulled ourselves away, we found Yosemite is also a pretty fab place
Lots of cool rock formations.....

and plenty of flat land to bike on....

(The flat enabled Zoe to learn to ride solo - the tag along is now officially redundant!)

While it wasn't exactly a "gee, you guys were right", we did hear multiple "this place is COOL" - I'll take it!

(Author's side note:

Dear Mom & Dad, I am sorry for whining and generally being an ingrate for pretty much all of the 1980s.  
I appreciate your expense and effort to expose us to culture, nature and all the other cool stuff I complained about.  

In hindsight, I'm sure it was all fab.  Love, Merilee)

So....while we are getting there with 'Californian', 
I am still struggling with some aspects of this fine state....

(Seriously?!)

Here's to 'lovin' the one your with' & ignoring the noise of nay-sayers along the way