On the road, week one!

So, it's Saturday, the 18th, and we left on Friday the 10th.  Didn't have much internet at Yosemite, so haven't posted lately.  Let's catch up!
Friday, we wanted to leave around lunchtime, but it took a lot longer to get ready than we expected.  Pulled out about 2.  The drive to Yosemite should have taken 3 hours...ended up about 5 or so, lol.  Never having been there, neither of us expected the steep drive up that would make us crawl, and stop over and over, pulling off to let the van cool.  But we made it, and it was WELL worth it!  Yosemite was amazing.
We planned to leave there Monday, but ended up extending our stay to Thursday.  It was just so gorgeous, and the campground was great, and we had nowhere to be, lol.  We did several short hikes, saw the history center, the big trees at Mariposa Grove, all sorts of stuff.  It was just wonderful.  We took tons and tons of pics, which I still need to figure how to get off the phones, lol.  And videos and pics on the video cam, too.
We went actually into Yosemite 4 days, and spent a lot of time relaxing at the campground, too.  The kids rode bikes, waded in the river, sorted what they believe to be gold out of the sand on the banks...
Definitely somewhere we plan to return to someday!
Highlights of Yosemite...seeing Steves face as he saw Half Dome.  Lee falling in the water after being warned the rocks were slippery (one of those scary at the time, funny now things).  Lee and Sasha learning to ride their bikes WELL at the campground, and loving it.  The amazing pictures in the Ansel Adams gallery (Steve and I went alone to that, lol!!).  Watching the butterflies land on Megans toenail polish down by the river.  Jack loved the shuttle buses.  Sasha loved the history center, with the old cabins and homesteads.  Tony says his favorite part was camping, and Lee loved the tunnel tree in Mariposa Grove (got some great pics!).  Mariah says the waterfalls and rivers were here favorite part.
Then, Thursday, we left Yosemite.  Again, took it very slowly down the hill, so that we didn't overheat the brakes...or go sliding off an edge, lol.  Between that, and the slower speed on the freeways for towing, what mapquest said was a 4 hour drive to Bakersfield turned into 7-8 hours, but we made it here.  Not without a casualty, though.  Our bike rack on the back bumper overweighted the bumper and bent, so we lost a bike.  Have been in Bakersfield since, repairing the bumper and reinforcing it.  Should be leaving tomorrow, it seems.  But the kids are loving the pool, and today the park had a bounce house set up, so it's been fine.
Hopefully, I will have better internet most of the time now, so I can update better.  Sorry for the quick overview, but I've been by the pool all day with the kids, and need to start dinner now while they shower.  Keep it rubber side down, everyone!