During this trip, we learned so much about Admiral Yi Sun-sin who was a Korean naval commander famed for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin war in the Joseon Dynasty.

Admiral Yi Sun Shin designed and developed Turtle ships to fight against Japanese navy in the Seven Years’ War (1592-1598).The Japanese used ship-to-ship boarding combat as their preferred tactic, in addition to cannon and other artillery. The Geobukseon were clad in iron plates and the topmost decks featured a roof covered in iron and metal spikes – making boarding a difficult task.

After the bike ride, we arrived at this beautiful Rainbow Pools. This place is such a gem! Rainbow Pools are natural swimming holes along the south fork of the Tuolumne River, where one can dip their feet, take a plunge or just watch courageous kids jump the rock lined ledges into the largest of the inviting pools. Yep. We were the courageous kids!

I hadn’t planned on jumping in at first but I got inspired by my kids jumping in without any hesitation, so I decided to jump right in too. I was scared but so glad I did! When in Rome, right?

Today is the final day of backroads tour and this morning we set off to do some exploring on two wheels. This ride travels over some rolling hills before descending along the Tuolomne River, where we enjoyed picturesque views on the way to Rainbow Pools. Along
the way, we saw the evidence of the devastating 2013
Rim Fire, the third largest wildfire in California history, that burnt over 250,000 acres. Distance to Rainbow Pool: .13.6 miles

I was so proud of the kids so bravely riding their way downhill on this curvy roads along the side of the cliffs.

After about 2/3 or the ride where the roads got really steep, kids and Andrew got into the van for the remainder of the ride and I continued to ride my bike to the final destination. What a spectacular view! I didn’t get a chance to take any pictures at this point as the roads were pretty steep and I was just soaking up on  beautiful Tuolumne River canyon.

Today we are spending the day hiking in the Sierra Nevada high country. After breakfast we shuttle to Tuolumne Meadows, the largest subalpine meadow in the Sierra Nevada. Sitting at 8,600 feet, it was created by a glacier more than 2,000 feet thick and
21?2 miles long!

We crossed two forks of the Tuolumne River, whose rushing waters wind through the meadow, past granite domes, alpine lakes and deep canyons, and into the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir.

Our Tour family picture.

And picture with our fabulous leaders. We’ll miss you guys so much! They’ve been so wonderfully catering to our every needs with big smiles and such enthusiasm making our trip such an awesome experience.  It’s been so convent and luxurious to be cared by them, it’ll be a difficult transition to get used to our normal life without them. You guys rock!

Taking a leisurely break before dinner time.

At the end of our hike, there was a picnic waiting for us by the water.

We dipped our feet in this icy cold water to cool off our tired feet.

So while we were doing our walk through the valley, kids went off to do rock climbing with our leader.

We I saw Shane, I gasped! He’s hanging on REAL ROCKS!!!

SO COOL!!!!

Chloe’s turn!

We missed seeing them climbing UP the rocks because our hike through the Valley but so glad we got to catch them climbing down!!! WOW. This gotta be one of the coolest experience for them and for us as parents. Rock on!

I’ll really miss these wonderful breakfast buffets every morning…

Our walk this morning is guided by a naturalist through the Yosemite valley.

Another 1.4 miles to Glacier Point, the highest point in the park.

Breathtaking and majestic! Amazing panoramic view of with a commanding view of Yosemite Valley, Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, and Yosemite’s high country from up here. 

Our journey with Backroads started with riding a Sugar Pine railroad to meet our leaders who will guide us through Yosemite National Park in the next 6 days.

When we got off the train, our leaders had prepared us a delicious picnic lunch at the park.

After lunch they prepared us with our first bike ride