It really could have been worse . . . . really!

Here is the last facebook entry that I made . . .

Back from camping. . . . Got hailed on, tent got mauled by a bear and we didn't catch any fish - but believe it or not - we had the BEST time!

That's our week in a nutshell, but of course you come to my blog for details, details, details.

We first started planning this trip because of a very special lady. Annie's great-grandmother (affectionately called Grammy) had expressed an interest to see Lundy Lake again before she died (her words, not ours). She just said it in passing, but we took it as a challenge. Lundy Lake (in the eastern Sierras) is where Grammy spent a lot of vacation time when her children were growing up. That lake is also instrumental in teaching most of her grandchildren how to camp, fish and enjoy nature. Her grandchildren (of which I am married to one) decided that it was time that we fulfilled this wish of a fine old lady, and we would do it this summer before her Alzheimer's really sets in. It was time.

In January, we looked into renting an RV so that Grammy would be comfortable. It was going to be expensive, but we wanted to make this a good experience. We told Grammy about it and she told us that if we rented an RV just for her, she wouldn't come. "I have been camping all my life and all I need is a sleeping bag and a corner in a tent," she said. This would not be the last time this 82-year-old would impress me. We decided to give her a room in our spacious tent and we would procure a sleeping bag and a comfortable cot. She agreed to the lodgings and we made plans.

Lundy Lake is near the Eastern entrance to Yosemite, about an hour north of Bishop. From Phoenix, it was going to be about 11 hours of driving. We packed up and met up with the California contingent and started our adventure on Sunday. It rained a little as we were setting up the tent, but we settled in nicely. That would be a precursor to what we could expect all week. It rained, like clockwork, every afternoon we were there . . . except on Thursday when it hailed. It was a little "plinky" hail at first, then it got to be about the size of a pea. We only got worried when the big grape-sized hail came down. You don't realize how noisy weather is until you are under a canvas dining tent! Everything managed well through the storm, though. We were laughing, giggling, taking pictures and generally making fun of each other through the whole storm. Grammy reminded us that the last time she took the kids (John, Jason and Meridith)to Lundy Lake it hailed viciously, too. She made the remark that Grampa must be looking down on us and laughing his head off.

Thursday was also the night that the bear came. I had seen the bear by the ladies restroom the night before. It was a wee little thing - but definitely not a baby - probably only a couple hundred pounds. I guess there are a lot of brown bears in the mountains. We were told that they aren't as vicious as the grizzly, but I was still a little skeptical. It was nice to see that when we yelled at the bear, it turned tail and ran away. I like my bears skittish.

We were in our dining tent (just a canvas canopy with mesh sides) playing cards and having a good time. At about 9:30, we decided to turn in for the night. It wasn't five minutes after we all left the tent that Meridith heard a rustling. She told her brother to see what it was all about. He shined his spotlight on the scared bear and told it to "go away." It did, but not before it tore two bear-sized holes on both sides of the mesh in the tent. It was after a couple of cracker boxes that we had stupidly left in the garbage. I stayed in our tent with Grammy and Annie (who was thankfully oblivious) while John and his siblings figured out what to do next. They put all of the food in the cars, covered it up with tarps, cleaned everything really well and decided to stick it out for one more night. We never saw, nor heard tale, of the bear again.

That wouldn't have been so bad if the bear attack didn't "top off" the two days of fishing where we caught absolutely nothing. There were seven poles in the water, we were using three different kinds of bait and we were experts at casting and being patient. We really wanted the kids to catch some fish, but it just wasn't meant to be. A better angler than us offered us his one catch of the day - a pretty little rainbow trout - and we accepted his offering. We took pictures with the kids and the fish and Grammy taught us how to clean and scale our little "catch." I brought fish fry and tartar sauce in the hopes that we would have something to fry and tartar, so we fried the little guy up and shared a bite or two with everyone. We were reminded that "fishing" doesn't always mean "catching." It was two mornings of amazing weather, sitting by a lake of unspeakable beauty surrounded by people I love. How can you top that?

We speckled the week with trips to Bodie (a fantastic ghost town part of the National Park system) and a day-trip into the east side of Yosemite where we saw Tuolumne Meadows and the backside of Half Dome - gorgeous!

We made some amazing memories. I will NEVER forget the bear, or the hail, or the amazing Grammy who was willing to put up with thin air and an even thinner mattress. She was so grateful to us for giving her the experience she never thought she would have again. We were so grateful for her for providing an amazing experience for us. Those mountains are magical.

See, it could have been worse . . .