When we left in the morning we really didn't have a destination in mind. We just knew we would go to a lake. So we drove up through Friant, and passed Millerton lake. There was no way we would find a good fishing place there. That lake was so full the water was almost running over to the road. So on to Shaver lake!
When we got to Shaver we found this great 4 wheel drive trail that lead us right down to the lake. It was so beautiful. So green, but so cold. When we were getting ready to go we all had on our swim suits on under our clothes. Thinking maybe we would take a dip. Not! As we were walking out the door Shannon suggested we should grab sweaters, just in case. Good thing. I was wearing a sun dress over my suit, and so was Mia. Rich, and Shannon had their trunks and a t-shirt on. Flip-flops, and sunglasses! Ready for the sun, Not! I grabbed a blanket to sit on lake side, the blanket ended up wrapped up around me! Mia ended up wrapped up in Shannon's Duck hunting jacket, and Rich had the hood to his hoodie on his head. Shannon is never cold so he just put his sweater on and he was good. Us girls froze our butts off.
So Shannon taught the kids how to bait their lines, cast their lines, and he taught them how to look for a bite. It was pretty special. Mia lasted all of about 10 minutes. Rich did pretty good. He stuck it out.
By the end of our Shaver excursion Mia and I were bundled up in the back of the car reading a book, and Rich had pink hands. So needless to say we were ready to go around 1:00 p.m.
Since we were in the Dodge, AKA "the beast" we found some really cool 4 wheel paths around the lake. I thought we might flip at one point!
Shannon asked Rich if he wanted to drive! I thought my son was going to pee his pants. He was so excited. He jumped in that drivers seat and took the wheel like a champ. He took us around curves, and over hills. He did really good. Mia kept saying "I'm so scared." She was a typical "peanut gallery" making fun of her brother.
I never knew that 4 wheel driving can lead you to some pretty beautiful places. We ended up on a huge flat rock with a view that was do die for.
So, since we were at Shaver lake, on the way home I begged Shannon to go to Blue Canyon. Blue Canyon is our spot. We go camping here every summer. In fact, we have been known to go here 6 times in one summer. It is just the most secluded, beautiful place on earth. If I could live there, I would! To get to Blue Canyon you have to drive down a 12 mile road that winds and curves all the way down into the canyon. Throughout the road there are tons of 4 wheel drive paths that probably lead to some interesting place. Shannon wanted to drive through them, but for some reason I wined him out of it. I wanted to go to Blue Canyon soooooo bad! And when we pulled into Blue Canyon.................the car died! When I say died, I mean DEAD!
The key would turn.........no sound. No sputter, no noise what so ever!
The most important thing I must say is this: When we were done fishing, obviously we didn't catch anything, Mia was a little bit sad. She was very discouraged that nobody caught a fish. I gave her this huge speech about how God had already planned this day out and he didn't want us to catch any fish for some reason. I told her that before we even planned this day ourselves, God had it all planned out. So, when the car died we all knew why I wined so much about not wanting to drive up a 4 wheel drive path. You see, nobody knew where we were going to be that day. If we would have driven up a path guess what would have happened......the car would have died leaving us stranded in the middle of nowhere! With no cell phone service. God definitely had his hand on our day!
At the camp site we were able to get a ranger to charge up the battery of the car. We then attempted to drive home.
Attempted being the key word here!
When we reached the bottom of the four lanes, the car died. Shannon called the road side service and guess what.......none on that car! Why not? We were so mad. We had no idea that cars with only liability didn't receive roadside coverage. We were so frustrated. My Granny and Grandad live in Friant so we called my Grandad to rescue us.
This is where the story gets good......
My Dad happened to be at My Grandparents house, and so him and my Grandad came to save us.
What they determined to be the problem was that the alternator was bad. Apparently the battery only starts the car, and the alternator keeps the car running. When your alternator goes bad, the car will only stay running until the battery is drained.
So as these 3 men stood around the front of the car humming and haaing, I suggested that we just jump start the car, charge the battery, drive as much as the battery would last, pull over and repeat! The only solution at this point.
My Dad said "Well, you don't want to do that, you'll blow the battery up."
My Grandad said "Na, that won't work"
My husband said "No, we need an alternator"
I said "Who gives a rip if the battery blows up, yes it will work how do you think we got here, and where the heck are we going to get an alternator out here!"
Clearly my opinion didn't matter. So guess what we did..........we stood in front of the car, tapped things, wiggled things, blew the dust off of things, and hummed, and haaed for about another 20 minutes. And by we, I don't' mean me. I went back into the car and sat with the kids and waited to see the the geniuses would come up with.
Wanna know what they decided to do after all of this...............jump start the car, charge the battery, drive as much the battery would last, pull over and repeat!
Oh Man, I found myself saying things I heard my Mother say about my Dad when I was a kid.
So we ended up pulling over about 4 times between the bottom of the four lanes and Friant. We parked the car at my Grandparents house and ended up having a nice dinner there.
Shannon went back the next day with an alternator, switched it out and drove "the beast" home.
Wow what a day.
The worst thing about the day was that my camera battery died at Shaver lake, and I didn't get to take pictures of this production of a day. I did get a few good pictures of fishing......not catching.
Shannon so proud of the first four wheel drive trail that "the Beast" conquered!
This is what we drove down to get to the lake. So pretty.
Teaching the kids how to Fish.
Mia all bundled up, toughing it out.
Rich driving on the big trail!
We were scared about Rich driving.
(We are so related! I could never deny this child. But, why would I want to? She's so darn cute!)
Shannon and the kids on the rock we drove to. I love this picture.
And then there's me! So coooooold.
Rich being my Pride. He makes me so proud. He defeats, and concurs everything he sets his mind to. Any goal this boy of mine makes he accomplishes. He has total pride in himself, and it definitely shows. He is not a quitter. He will finish everything that he sets out to do. Not only will he finish everything, Rich will make sure he is doing his absolute best! He does not halfway do anything. The impression he is leaving, and the role model hie is being for his younger siblings, and friends is such a good one. Everybody that comes into contact with Rich has great things to say about him. What mother wouldn't be proud to have a son like this! I feel so blessed to have Rich in my life. He is one of the best gifts that God has given to me.
After Richie's graduation Shannon and I took the kids to Perko's. We started talking about how important this night was. It was the first time our family had a big day like this. Two members of our family shared such an important milestone. Then we started figuring out all the other days in our lives that would be similar.