last weekend while ryan was still in florida post-knee injury waiting for his flight home on monday, ellie, my parents and i spent two nights at my mom’s friend’s cabin in dorrington, a small town on highway 4 between murphys and ebbetts pass just outside calaveras big trees state park. see, big trees (and a cute little church):

the drive up was smooth, ellie slept for awhile and when she was awake she was content with her new dora doll (do i know how to appease a kid on a long drive or what?) and we didn’t hit any significant traffic, so we made it to the cabin by late afternoon. ellie and pop were both thrilled to have made it in such good time ;)

my mom arrived shortly after us and we headed back down the road to arnold where we had dinner at snowshoe brewing company. ellie enjoyed her quesadilla and fruit and i had the most amazing burger and fries (secret: i wish sautéed onions came on everything).

ellie was exhausted by the time we got back to the cabin, so i put her to bed and she fell asleep instantly. my mom, dad and i warmed our tootsies by the fire for awhile, watched a movie and then went off to sleep ourselves. it was a nice first day spent together.

more tomorrow, including adventures by the stanislaus river!