The strangest Christmas Ever 12-25-2008

At 6 this morning we woke up to Luke saying "can we open presents now?" We got up and they opened the few gifts my Dad shipped to the Lodge. They had fund playing with their gifts while we packed up. We discovered that it had snowed at least a foot over night and it was still coming down. We knew we needed to get moving because we didn't know how bad the roads would be between Yosemite and Kings Canyon/Sequoia. We ate breakfast at the Deli and bought lunch for the road. The snow was up to Scott's knee in a few places as he removed snow from the windows and the snow bank in the parking lot that had built up behind our car from the plowing took several tries to get over. None of us have EVER experienced this much snow. It truly was amazing. As we were leaving we passed some one who told us the road into Yosemite was closed and the snow was still falling.
About 10 miles South of the hotel, the roads cleared and the weather turned to rain. We removed the snow chains which we now have become pros at. We continued the drive to Fresno where the weather turned from rain to sun. We changed highways and stopped for snacks and gas then headed to Kings Canyon. The park road from Kings Canyon through to Sequoia is closed which meant we had to decide if we still wanted to head to Kings Canyon and then take a major detour to get to Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia. We decided we had to go because when would we ever get to again. The drive wasn't bad but again the weather turned to rain as we went down the empty CA Hwy 180. As we neared the park and got back to about 4500 ft, we once again needed the snow chains. As we got near the park entrance there was a ranger checking for tire chains. He asked us where we were going and we told him Grant Grove. That's where the General Grant Sequoia and a whole grove of Sequoia's is. When we asked about the roads, he said they were bad and getting worse. The he said "Good Luck". That left us feeling a little ominous. As it turns out, the feeling was warranted. When we arrived at the visitor center, it was like a blizzard had hit. The snow was more like ice pellets and it stung your eyes. We stopped in to the heated bathrooms and then toured the visitor center. Of course while we were in there, the power went out. A tree had apparently hit the power line/building in the Village. We paid our entrance fee, got our map and took the road down to the Grant Grove parking area. It was a short hike into the Grove to see the General Sherman tree. The kids looked like Ralphie's brother in A Christmas Story with the scarves and hats and gloves we had them in. Scott and I did not buy ski bibs for the trip and our jeans were literally frozen by the time we finished our hike. Scott had to carry Lorelei on his shoulders most of the way and I piggy backed Luke for part of it. The trees were amazing and you can not even capture their size on film. After the hike we ate lunch in the car while we thawed out and then decided we needed to get out of their because the snow was just CRAZY!
Since we had to take a detour from our original route, we debated between the CA 245 and the CA 63. The CA 245 was 15 minutes shorter than the 63 and we felt like we might have a better chance of not having to take the snow chains off. Just because we were getting good at them doesn't make us less lazy. That road turned out to be a MISTAKE. I think the 245 is the curviest road in California. Picture Hwy 9 in North Carolina. All of those switchbacks going through Chimney Rock towards Asheville. Now, fill up 30 MILES, yes, I said 30 miles of switchbacks. We had to roll the windows down to keep from getting sick. The wether went between pouring rain, sunny and then hail. By the time we had finally gotten off of that road, we were nearly insane. It was the kind of drive where EVERYTHING becomes really funny, even when it's not.
We were finally on CA 198 headed towards Sequoia and it was already 4 PM. We were really worried about getting into the park before dark because we knew that there was snow. As we pull up to the entrance gate and show our pass fro Kings Canyon, we asked about the road to Wuksachi. Apparently 5 miles ahead the road was being cleared from some falling tree limbs and Wuksachi had been without power since 8 AM this morning. OH CRAP!!! The ranger suggested we call because they were advising people not to stay there. We called up the lodge from the first visitor center. There was no power and the chance of it coming on soon was not good. We could stay for free with dinner on the house if we came. Now, this lodge was $250 dollars a night including breakfast so we were definitely considering it UNTIL, I asked what the temperature was supposed to be tonight. The guy said 6 degrees. Now, let's do the math. No heat since 8 am and the temperature has been in the teens all day. Even if the inside temp dropped 1 degree every hour and the room started at 72 this morning, those rooms would have been in the low 50's by tomorrow morning. There was no way we could stay there with the kids. We got our room refund and are now at the Comfort Inn and Suites in Three Forks.
Of course that made dinner a problem. Every where we went in the 6 miles between the park entrance and the hotel was closed. We were in good spirits despite the problems and decided if we had to eat out of the vending machines we would. Luckily there was one place in town open for dinner. The Sequoia Cider Mill Restaurant. Back home, this kind of place would have Fried Chicken and homestyle mashed potatoes with biscuits and fixin's. In California, this place has steak and enchiladas. Luke and I ended up with shrimp and Lorelei had chicken nuggets (again). Scott thoroughly enjoyed his steak which had been mesquite cooked outside on the grill. He also enjoyed the Flan, which he said was excellent. I had the apple pie which was decent although not up to homecooked standards. Despite the lack of "Christmas dinner" food, we had the best time laughing and making jokes. We played 20 questions which is the kids favorite game. You can be sure that these things will be mentioned when we play that game: poop, chuppa cabra, bigfoot, naked mole rat and the phrase "goat sucking devil monkey". We had a ton of laughs and took a few pictures and then returned to our hotel for some TV and internet.
So things are a little strange. We have seen every kind of weather possible today. It hasn't been how we intended to spend Christmas day but still good. This morning feels like it was days ago. We are having a great time together even when we fight and that is the lesson I hope the kids learn. Tomorrow, we will try to fit in both Sequoia that we missed today and the butterfly grove at Pismo State Beach which is nearly 4 hours from here. Should be a long day. Hopefully we will have sunny weather. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!