Hike Mt. Shasta

So with all the fires and destruction still on going in the Wine Country, I wanted to turn my attention to something more positive. The ruination is still smoldering but life goes on and it is the beginning of the time to look to other things, the good side of life and be thankful. If you y’all will indulge me for this one last blog post, I will return to normal Hike Mt Shasta programming after this (with maybe one or two more posts on the fires down the road).

All that said, my oldest son’s birthday was this past Tuesday and we were going to celebrate it when my parents got back up here to Mount Shasta. Needless to say, with their house in ashes and business needing to be attended to down in Sonoma County, my son’s 8th birthday was kind of put on the back burner. He was very patient and understanding. He also has had plenty to distract him, since he has just started Cub Scouts, loves it, and has been having a ball with all the events we have been doing.

So, to the point. In our family, we let our kids pick what they want to decorate their birthday cakes and then my wife and I try to figure out a way to make it work. Normally it will have a toy or something on it as part of the decoration scheme. In the past we have had dragon, pony, Slugterra and multiple lego cakes, just to name a few. The one rule is that everything on the cake except for the toys must be edible. A few weeks ago my daughter turned 5 and she decided she wanted a leopard cake. We went to work on the cake, and I would say it turned out pretty well. So, now it came time for my son to pick his style of cake. He proudly stated that he wanted a Yosemite Valley cake. Thanks son!

Undaunted, I devised what I thought would be a workable way to produce something like the fabled valley. It required three layers of cake and then a lot of carving. My wife and I then iced the thing down, added some waterfalls and a river and after a couple of hours, we had a surprisingly recognizable looking Yosemite Valley! Honestly, I am a bit impressed with myself that we were able to pull it off, even to the low standard we are able to achieve. Working on Yosemite cakes is far more edifying that watching your parents home turn to ash. I am thankful they are safe and that they are able to help us celebrate my son’s birthday! Moreover, I am proud of my new Cub Scout and excited to begin this new adventure with him! (And this post is semi-relevant to this site, it’s about Yosemite!)

Definitely click to enlarge: