Keeping up with the Jones': Ducy Ershim camping trip!

Ducy was an exciting trip that we planned for a while, nobody had ever done the whole trail though so there were a few unknowns. Things definitely did not go as planned but we had a blast!

The kids were very excited!

So pretty already!

We waited for a bit for the whole group to arrive.

Still waiting...

Finally on our way...now its raining!

You cant imagine how steep this is!!

These are the last pictures I took this day. But after waiting for half our "group", we spent the rest of the evening chasing them. As it started to get dark we were hoping they were camped around each bend. And once the trail started climbing we realized we were on Thompson Hill, the worst part of the trail! It was dark, we didn't know the trail, and there was nowhere to stop or turn around! Martin was suffering from altitude sickness and we hadn't even stopped for dinner. The kids were sleeping after eating a dinner of snacks. Dan and Dusty moved rocks for hours while we slowly inched one truck at a time up the hill. At about 2am they finally found a section that we could pull over to camp at. But we found that our tires weren't turning. The guys were able to use a ratchet strap to maneuver the truck off the trail so we could sleep and deal with the damage in the morning. That morning the guys took the tire off and realized the damaged was not trail repairable! They worked until noon getting the bad parts off to send with Dan and he started the 10 mile trek down the mountain, then he would have to drive the truck to Fresno to get the parts he needed! We all hoped it would go smoothly and he would make it back without problems! We spent the day hanging out with the kids and dogs! Martin, Jen, and Dusty were awesome helping me keep the kids entertained!

Napping in Dustys hammock!

Dusty teaching the boys to shoot sling shots!

Frisbee!

Emmy was losing her mind to Purple Rain!

This kid likes dirt!

Chewing on pine needles like Daddy!

Elaina working hard to make Brinkley her friend!

The dog whisperer!

So Dan didn't make it back until way after dark. We were all getting convinced that he must not have made it in time to get the part and probably had to get a hotel and wait until the morning. But we built a fire and waited anyway. occasionally calling out on the radio but never getting a response. Finally around midnight he came back, hearing his voice was such a relief but he said he still had a long way to go. The next time we heard him he asked for help getting his bike up the hill. Whhaattttt bike?!! Apparently there was no safe way to get back in the dark walking, so he bought a new dual sport while he was in Fresno! Then biggest problem I had with that was who was going to drive the Cruiser now!!