December Bark Box

Our December Bark Box arrived about 10 days late due to the holiday shipping issues.  But it's ok because the dogs didn't know it was on its way.  This month's theme was Snoopy.  I love the pic below - I was trying to take the pic of all the toys and that is Astrid's snoot coming in to get Snoopy!

 

Xmas 2020

Xmas 2020 was bittersweet.  It was good to be at the cabin, employed and healthy but we missed our families and had to make do with a zoom xmas.

Ahi made out like a bandit with a new sleeping bag for camping and pet grass for me to grow.  First of all, she gets cold while camping so she sleeps inside my sleeping bag which leaves little room for me.   However, Ahi seemed lukewarm to the new sleeping bag but Hops loved it!  So back to the drawing board for ideas to get Ahi out of my sleeping bag.   Secondly, Ai likes to eat grass but at the cabin and in the backyard at home, there is an extreme shortage.  So G got me this kit to grow out own!   I have already planted it and have little sprouts.  If it works well, we will be growing more.

This was Astrid's first, and likely last, xmas with us.  She seemed to enjoy the day and followed Hops' lead.  We will miss her next year but hopefully she will be with her new person providing much needed support.

Uncle B got Jim this cool Oregon State board and new "vintage" hat.

This is pretty much the way I feel most days during the pandemic!

A new travel mug from my mom!

This was an experiment - tea drops that you just drop into water and stir for a cup of tea.   The taste is good but they are lightly sweetened which is not the way I enjoy my tea.  But we will keep trying them.

A gift from Auntie D which is unique to this year - a chain to hold your mask around your neck!

The best part of this one is Uncle B has a matching shirt.  They plan to wear them when they trade the beardies (the usually meet somewhere in a parking lot).  The nerd reptile niece didn't fall far from nerd uncle tree!

Oh YEA!  Goats milk caramel from Big Picture Farms. A real holiday treat.

And while I was ordering caramel, I got myself a goat sweatshirt.....because....why not!?  Anything goes this year!

After opening gifts, I took the hounds out to fetch sticks behind the cabin.

 One last gift, we got this for Jim.  It's cool that it shows the shape of our lake and lake facts.

Tuolumne Grove

We were supposed to go on a boondoggle yesterday to lower country but G had a migraine and stayed home with the dogs.  So that allowed Jim and I to do a Yosemite hike.

As we drove in, it started to snow and we did the first half of the hike with snow coming down - which scared away other hikers.  

It was fun to visit this grove since we visited the Merced Grove at Thanksgiving.  We are hoping to get to the third grove in Wawona later this week.

 

Graham Ranch

Because of the pandemic stay at home orders and our utter commitment to avoid people, we have been exploring new places.  This was a walk out to Graham Ranch.  We walked down a dirt road and looked over into the Toulomne Canyon.  Stunning!

 

Home Away from Home

This year of pandemic the cabin truly became a home away from home.  We spent almost 3x as much time here as normal.  Here are the numbers of nights spent at the cabin:

2015 - 61

2016 - 53

2017 - 62

2018 - 61

2019 - 65

2020 - 177

Xmas Eve Dinner during a Pandemic

It is just me, Jim and Grace for Christmas this year as we are committed to avoiding exposing or getting exposed to covid.  And to further distance, we are at the cabin.  After a day of hiking we built up an appetite and were happy to have fondue and homemade pretzels for dinner.

We made a total mess of the kitchen.  There was a flurry of activity while we made pretzels, cheese sauce, potatoes, veggies and cut up meat.  Grace made the pretzels and they were probably the best she has ever made.

 Dinner turned out great and it was fun to eat it while we had a xmas special on in the background.  

Christmas Eve 2020 - Yosemite Boondoggle

We spent the day on Christmas Eve hiking in Yosemite and taking a driving tour of the Valley.

We hiked up to Crane Flat Look out which is one of my favorite hikes.   It has stunning views and there was just enough snow to make it fun!

Astrid got to experience the snow for the first time but really didn't care about it.  What she did like was the endless supply of sticks in the forest.

After the hike, Grace and Jim did taste testing of sour starburst gummies.  Jim's favorite was watermelon.  Grace's favorite was strawberry.  I chose not to participate because....yuk!

Yosemite Valley was so sparse with people that we saw 3 coyotes!   Due to the pandemic they are only open from 8 am to 5 pm and have no overnight guests so you have to live pretty close to be able to visit.  It was a pleasure to be there without crowds.

Christmas Week - Pandemic Style

I worked at the cabin during the week of xmas.  And it was a stunning week with temps close to 70.  So at lunch time we would take a hike.   These first two pics are a hike out by Lumdsen Bridge Rd.  The highlight of the hike was Astrid finding a dead cow!

On another day we hiked behind the cabin.  We saw the mine entrance (above) and ice at the creek.

Astrid couldn't believe we had never brought her down to the creek to play!