After a bit of homeschooling, we went into town for groceries and to get a document notarized. We also checked out some books from the one room library in town.
In the afternoon, we did some more homeschool, then got ready for Shabbos. M found a nice afternoon reading spot:
Out of curiosity, I overlaid the biggest local climb back home, up Perkins drive to the top of Bear Mountain, on top of yesterday’s climb up Whitney Portal. Perkins climb is to scale and in purple below:
This afternoon, after homeschool, we went for a short hike in the Alabama Hills in search of Mobius Arch. The cactus were blooming:
At last we found the arch:
We found smaller arches as well:
This was the first blooming Cholla we’ve ever seen:
After the hike, we put the knobby tires on the bikes and went for a ride amongst the hills. Some sections were pretty tough, but we had a great time:
Wow, what a difference a day makes, it was just beautiful today:
In homeschool, B graphed the results from a poll she did:
Wheat free cookies were baked:
And quilt squares were made from worn out clothing:
After homeschool, I rode my first hors categorie climb – 4,700 feet of vertical over 12 miles to reach the top of Whitney Portal. The climb is #5 in California’s 10 toughest climbs and is said to be more difficult than the Tour De France’s Col du Toumalet. The last 500 feet of vertical were really tough, and despite being on the edge of multiple muscle cramps I managed to ride non-stop to the top:
I took a couple photos on the way down:
Meanwhile, back at the RV, Trish and the kids worked on some art. B’s painting is on the left, the other two are Tricia’s:
I think I’ll go to bed early tonight, hopefully I can walk tomorrow.
Today we drove down to Lone Pine. Not a bad view from the visitor center parking lot:
After doing a bit of shopping in town, we headed up Whitney Portal road and pulled off into the Alabama Hills were we found a nice dispersed camping spot. The views from here are incredible:
One of the front landing gear tubes was splitting, so I cut off the last inch or so to stop the split from running all the way up the tube. Here’s the piece I cut off, notice how the tube is “unzipping” at the corners:
With that piece cut off, the tube looks good where it attaches to the landing gear plate:
Did I mention the amazing views?
B is learning about polls and surveys in math class. Trish put her survey question on Facebook, and B graphed the results:
We installed the kids’ homemade tables, and also installed the hanging furniture under the bed. We will be installing a tension rod on the underside so the kids can hang up their clothes there: