We are now officially on day 7 of our vacation - June 10th. We made this our travel day as we drove from Los Angeles to outside of Yosemite National Park. We stopped in a cute little town called Mariposa, California. Mariposa in Spanish means butterfly. There were painted butterflies everywhere! We stayed the night at a nice little hotel and walked around the town getting our dinner to go. I went to the local grocery store to purchase the items we needed once we got to the park. Our condo in Yosemite had a full kitchen, so that was nice to be able to actually eat "at home". We chilled out in our room til we headed to bed. Bright and early Thursday morning, we got up, ate breakfast, and headed to the park. We entered the west gate around 8:45 am. The lines were short, so that was nice. We first started out by just driving to the visitor center to ask questions and plan our day. We hiked over to The Awahnee Hotel - it was big and beautiful with huge ceilings and fireplaces. It was quite a sight. We then drove around on the valley floor - getting acquainted with where everything was. We drove the loop again and stopped along the route. Our first stop was El Capitan. There is a picture of it above. This "rock" was spectacular. We stayed at the base and took gobs of pictures. It was awesome. We headed down the road to a nice "turnout" where we were right at the Merced River and directly in front of us was Bridal Veil Falls. This is one of the smaller falls, but so beautiful. We parked here and had a little picnic. The river was flowing quickly as the mountains still had snow and it was melting away. After our picnic we were ready to tackle a trail. We started to drive over to the Sentinal Dome Trailhead, but stopped at the famous "tunnel view". The picture above with the whole family has the view in the background. After this photo opportunity, we continued over to the trailhead. All four of us started up the decent to the top of the Sentinal Dome. Now...the actual distance was only 1.8 miles - which isn't much when it's flat...but this trail was pretty much straight up! One of the pics above is Matt and Bill walking up the rocks. Do you notice our long sleeves? Yes...it was cold!! That was actually nice because we were hiking up a mountain...but it was cold. Our legs were so red! Okay...once we got to the top, the view was unbelievable. The pains in the legs were well worth it. We could see everything - El Capitan, the Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls, and the famous Half Dome. The pic of all 4 of us above shows Half Dome between us. The wind was blowing hard! We stayed on top of this dome for awhile. We just didn't want to leave. We also met the neatest people along the way. There was a mom with her son from Houston - in fact, every place we went, there were people from Texas. I guess we all wanted away from the Texas heat. Okay...it was time to head back, but Bill and Jack decided to hike over to the top of Glacier Point. Matt and I went back to the car and drove it over to meet Bill and Jack. Of course, this was another beautiful view - until it started to rain. It rained just enough to get us wet and make us colder - but we found out that this was typical of a Yosemite afternoon. After this adventure, we decided to check into our condo. It was pretty close to Glacier Point (so to speak) and we dragged in all of our luggage and took a little break. I made a quick dinner, then we headed back out. We went to the famous Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. See the pic of Jack and Matt trying to wrap their arms around them? The trees were really pretty. Sadly, there had been some fires and a lot of the trees were burned and lying on the ground. We went back to the condo after a very long day of hiking and exploring and hit the sack. Friday would come quicker than we would want. Morning came and our adventure continued. Jack and Bill decided they would hike up to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls - this was a 3.5 mile hike straight up a mountain. Matt and I dropped them off early to begin their hike. They brought a backpack and fanny pack full of water and food. Later we found out they ate and drank it all! Matt and I headed over to Bridal Veil Falls and we hiked over to the base of the falls. Again, we got wet and cold, but took a bunch of pics. We slowly walked back to the car, taking in the views all around us. We then headed over to the swinging bridge - this bridge went over the Merced River. There were tons of brave folks rafting down the river. Matt put his fingers in and shivered. Can't imagine falling into that ice bath. Anyway...we wandered around the valley floor and then headed over to Curry Village for lunch. Curry Village is where all the tent cabins and RVs can park. It was packed full of people. It made me very grateful for our quiet condo far away from the hub of the valley. We ordered the smallest, yet most expensive pizza I've ever eaten and caught the Valley Shuttle over to Happy Isle Nature Center. Matt was signed up for a Junior Ranger Walk - this was a fun little mile walk around the top of the Merced River where Matt was chosen to be the assistant along the way. They were taught a lot about Ecosystems and Producers, Consumers and Decomposers. Afterwards, Matt got his Junior Ranger book signed since he had completed all the requirements. He was awarded a patch and pin and is now an official Junior Ranger at Yosemite! Bill and Jack had just finished climbing to the top of the Falls - we got a text - woo hoo!. The pic above of Jack is at the top. They stayed up there awhile and had a picnic lunch and took a little nap before their trip down. When we got the call that they were almost done, Matt and I drove over to pick them up. By this time, it was dinner time and we headed back to our condo. We made dinner and played a family game of Yahtzee. I'm pretty sure that Jack won. Falling asleep was pretty easy and the morning came once again. Now, it's Saturday, June 13th and it's time to pack the suitcases all over again. We loaded up the van and started the final leg of our trip - to San Francisco. Yosemite was absolutely beautiful and being able to spend some time in this awe-inspiring place was the highlight of our trip.
We are now officially on day 7 of our vacation - June 10th. We made this our travel day as we drove from Los Angeles to outside of Yosemite National Park. We stopped in a cute little town called Mariposa, California. Mariposa in Spanish means butterfly. There were painted butterflies everywhere! We stayed the night at a nice little hotel and walked around the town getting our dinner to go. I went to the local grocery store to purchase the items we needed once we got to the park. Our condo in Yosemite had a full kitchen, so that was nice to be able to actually eat "at home". We chilled out in our room til we headed to bed. Bright and early Thursday morning, we got up, ate breakfast, and headed to the park. We entered the west gate around 8:45 am. The lines were short, so that was nice. We first started out by just driving to the visitor center to ask questions and plan our day. We hiked over to The Awahnee Hotel - it was big and beautiful with huge ceilings and fireplaces. It was quite a sight. We then drove around on the valley floor - getting acquainted with where everything was. We drove the loop again and stopped along the route. Our first stop was El Capitan. There is a picture of it above. This "rock" was spectacular. We stayed at the base and took gobs of pictures. It was awesome. We headed down the road to a nice "turnout" where we were right at the Merced River and directly in front of us was Bridal Veil Falls. This is one of the smaller falls, but so beautiful. We parked here and had a little picnic. The river was flowing quickly as the mountains still had snow and it was melting away. After our picnic we were ready to tackle a trail. We started to drive over to the Sentinal Dome Trailhead, but stopped at the famous "tunnel view". The picture above with the whole family has the view in the background. After this photo opportunity, we continued over to the trailhead. All four of us started up the decent to the top of the Sentinal Dome. Now...the actual distance was only 1.8 miles - which isn't much when it's flat...but this trail was pretty much straight up! One of the pics above is Matt and Bill walking up the rocks. Do you notice our long sleeves? Yes...it was cold!! That was actually nice because we were hiking up a mountain...but it was cold. Our legs were so red! Okay...once we got to the top, the view was unbelievable. The pains in the legs were well worth it. We could see everything - El Capitan, the Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls, and the famous Half Dome. The pic of all 4 of us above shows Half Dome between us. The wind was blowing hard! We stayed on top of this dome for awhile. We just didn't want to leave. We also met the neatest people along the way. There was a mom with her son from Houston - in fact, every place we went, there were people from Texas. I guess we all wanted away from the Texas heat. Okay...it was time to head back, but Bill and Jack decided to hike over to the top of Glacier Point. Matt and I went back to the car and drove it over to meet Bill and Jack. Of course, this was another beautiful view - until it started to rain. It rained just enough to get us wet and make us colder - but we found out that this was typical of a Yosemite afternoon. After this adventure, we decided to check into our condo. It was pretty close to Glacier Point (so to speak) and we dragged in all of our luggage and took a little break. I made a quick dinner, then we headed back out. We went to the famous Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. See the pic of Jack and Matt trying to wrap their arms around them? The trees were really pretty. Sadly, there had been some fires and a lot of the trees were burned and lying on the ground. We went back to the condo after a very long day of hiking and exploring and hit the sack. Friday would come quicker than we would want. Morning came and our adventure continued. Jack and Bill decided they would hike up to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls - this was a 3.5 mile hike straight up a mountain. Matt and I dropped them off early to begin their hike. They brought a backpack and fanny pack full of water and food. Later we found out they ate and drank it all! Matt and I headed over to Bridal Veil Falls and we hiked over to the base of the falls. Again, we got wet and cold, but took a bunch of pics. We slowly walked back to the car, taking in the views all around us. We then headed over to the swinging bridge - this bridge went over the Merced River. There were tons of brave folks rafting down the river. Matt put his fingers in and shivered. Can't imagine falling into that ice bath. Anyway...we wandered around the valley floor and then headed over to Curry Village for lunch. Curry Village is where all the tent cabins and RVs can park. It was packed full of people. It made me very grateful for our quiet condo far away from the hub of the valley. We ordered the smallest, yet most expensive pizza I've ever eaten and caught the Valley Shuttle over to Happy Isle Nature Center. Matt was signed up for a Junior Ranger Walk - this was a fun little mile walk around the top of the Merced River where Matt was chosen to be the assistant along the way. They were taught a lot about Ecosystems and Producers, Consumers and Decomposers. Afterwards, Matt got his Junior Ranger book signed since he had completed all the requirements. He was awarded a patch and pin and is now an official Junior Ranger at Yosemite! Bill and Jack had just finished climbing to the top of the Falls - we got a text - woo hoo!. The pic above of Jack is at the top. They stayed up there awhile and had a picnic lunch and took a little nap before their trip down. When we got the call that they were almost done, Matt and I drove over to pick them up. By this time, it was dinner time and we headed back to our condo. We made dinner and played a family game of Yahtzee. I'm pretty sure that Jack won. Falling asleep was pretty easy and the morning came once again. Now, it's Saturday, June 13th and it's time to pack the suitcases all over again. We loaded up the van and started the final leg of our trip - to San Francisco. Yosemite was absolutely beautiful and being able to spend some time in this awe-inspiring place was the highlight of our trip. 
