Mariposa Chinese Food

Every summer growing up, we would hike Half Dome. It is a day hike. As in, it takes an hour and a half to drive into Yosemite National Park and 5 hours up and 4 hours down and another hour and a half on the way home. Maybe I'm squeaky on my memory of time elapsed to climb up and down...Specifically, I remember when we got a late start (6 am instead of 5 am) and we were running pell mell down the mountain to make it back for a shift at Baskin Robbins. No shower, just gratitude for the mist of the falls that at least took off some of the sweat and throw on the hat and shirt and straight to work.

We have been looking for vegetable oil to put in our motor home instead of diesel. We are trying to turn this aspect of the trip over to Heavenly Father so our gathering can be more efficient than relying on our own talents. He knows where the oil is. And He knows who is willing to give it to us. We just have to ask Him. And listen. And we are strengthening those listening muscles.

One gathering session took us out to Mariposa, which is on the way to Yosemite, which is where the yummy Chinese food is, where we stop after Half Dome unless you are late to work at Baskin Robbins, which is also where our dear friends, the Ketchers, now live. After gathering vegetable oil from the Chinese restaurant (thank you for the oil, no thanks on the orange chicken - it must have tasted divine because of the extreme hunger pains of hiking all day), we went to find the Ketchers. We got to say hello and good night because we had taken so long to fill our tank. Emphasis on the fact that we actually DID fill our tank halfway and re-emphasis on the fact that Heavenly Father knows where the oil is and who is willing to give it to us.

We love the Ketchers. They used to live around the corner from us. They were faithful hometeachers. They are so kind and FUNNY and fun to be around. And they forgave me for keeping them up late on a Saturday night just so we could park in their front yard before driving back to Merced for church. I can't wait to meet my nephew, Bobert, whom Catie will give birth to and name in honor of Bob Ketcher.