Our first full day at Evergreen Lodge started off with a breakfast buffet of all the Seal family members in attendance. The evening before had been great with Max getting a key to the cabin and bringing himself home at 11p after spending the time with cousins.
After breakfast we went on a bike-hike-swim adventure. 24 members of the Seal family (including the patriarch) rode 16+ miles on bikes, followed by a short hike, concluding with a few hours of swimming. At the Rainbow Pool there was rock jumping and waterfall sliding. The water was very high in all of Yosemite, due to record snows this past winter. It snowed in Yosemite on May 29th, one of the latest days on record.
Our guide, Andrea, was great at pointing out scenic spots along the way, and passed on interesting tidbits of information about the valley. Lucy rode the 16 miles on a tag-a-long bike behind me, and Toby did very well on the hills. The ride was mostly downhill, but had just enough uphill sections to make it challenging. When we got to the Rainbow Pool, the bikes were loaded up onto a trailer and we rode home in Suburbans after swimming and lunch.
[flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="72157627175140368"]

Tonight is a BBQ dinner followed by Bingo!
Lucy loves spending time with Papa in the hammock.http://www.vimeo.com/26286343

We left Reedley and cruised up to the southern entrance of Yosemite.
Just before the park entrance, we stopped for lunch and a ride on the Sugar Pine railroad. This was a restored narrow-gauge wood fired steam driven train.[flickr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/theule/5926339943[/flickr].

The kids also panned for gold. We learned how to tell the difference between fool’s gold ( 2 different kinds, mica and pyrite ) and real gold : density.[flickr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/theule/5926894690[/flickr]
We spent some time hiking in the Mariposa Sequoia Grove. The trail was very crowded, but we were able to catch up with a tour group led by a parks service ranger. He was very informative and entertaining. We saw the Grizzly Giant tree which is the largest sequoia in this grove at over 200 feet tall and 29 feet in diameter, but only the 25th largest in the world. The Grizzly Giant had branches that were over 6 feet in diameter.[flickr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/theule/5926343921[/flickr]
After the tour ended, we took a side trail back to the visitor’s center and experienced long periods of time of having the trail to ourselves. On the way into ‘the Valley’, we stopped at Tunnel View to see El Capitan, Half Dome and Bridalveil Fall (and more) from one spot.[flickr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/theule/5926911878[/flickr]

Arriving at Evergreen Lodge was a treat. The camp is very well laid out, and has wonderful amenities for both kids and adults. This is going to be a great time with the Seal Family.