One Giant Trip : Part 1

I recently returned from a ten day and much needed vacation to California with Mom and Dad.  It was filled with giant views, a giant city, and my giant family.  I'll be chronicling the trip in three parts over the next few weeks.  

Day One - San Francisco to Yosemite Lakes

An uneventful, early morning flight to San Francisco meant we had the whole day to make our way towards Yosemite.  [Perks of travelling with Mom and Dad mean it's way easier to rent a car, I can pay for health insurance, vote for the president, and jump out of a plane but renting a car is still out of my responsibility reach!]  A pit stop for all of our first In-N-Out experience which met all my expectations but definitely doesn't beat Whataburger.

This meal gave us our first taste of the beautiful weather to come!

We made it out to Groveland which is the last town before the Yosemite gates.  Lots of stores and restaurants for those passing through as well as plenty of accommodations.  We spent a while in California's oldest saloon, Iron Door Saloon.  There were a ton of dollar bills stuck to the ceiling, beautiful chandeliers that held true to the original style, and a window into the ice cream store in case you were hungry on the way to pee.

We soaked our feet in the stream at Yosemite Lakes for a long time!

A slight hiccup with the original reservations led us to the Yosemite Lakes campground.  The hiccup was such a blessing in disguise.  We snagged the last available cabin for the night, stretched our legs in the creek, and had a picnic dinner on the cabin porch.  Under a beautiful pole barn, we listened to a country cover band that played everything from the 1950s on.  It was a picturesque Fourth of July evening sans fireworks.  Families gathered together, s'mores roasting, and a smattering of languages being spoken.  It was a scene that made me proud to say "yes, this is my country".

Day Two - Yosemite Lakes to Wawona and Mariposa Grove

We began the drive into Yosemite after a makeshift breakfast of granola bars and fruit on the cabin porch.  Winding roads and plunging valleys brought us to our first view of El Capitan through the trees.  First breathtaking moment of the trip.

Tunnel View with Dad.

We wound through the park and stopped at Tunnel View.  Fun fact of the day - back in the 1850s, the first white people who stumbled across this view said hey, let's build a tunnel here because it's a bomb view.  Food for thought on the access we have to the wonders of America that came at a price to the Native Americans and their way of life.

I digress though.  Tunnel View led to more valley views and winding roads to get to the Wawona Hotel.  Straight out of Dirty Dancing y'all.  European style boarding - individual rooms with communal restrooms.  Perk of this is the super comfy bathrobes they provide for bathroom trips!

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias.  It just so happened this was the last day the Grove will be open for two years as they conduct restoration efforts to save the existing trees and insure new trees are able to grow.  I don't like to plan too much for trips but was very glad I saw the closure notice on the NPS website or else we may have missed these beauties.

Wawona Fallen Tree after quite the hike.

The trees took my breath too many times to count.  I have made the comment before that it's insane how some houses Europeans live in are older than my country but those castle have nothing on these trees.  Big Foot is about 1900 years old and two trees survived having a tunnel cut through them (sensing a theme yet?).  All in all the Grove was a phenomenal hike.  If you ever visit, take the trail all the way to the Fallen Tree!

Wawona Swim Tank

A cool down swim in the 1918 swim tank followed by a delicious dinner in the Wawona Victorian dining room topped up this fantastic first Yosemite Day.

Day Three - Yosemite Valley and Glacier Point

I'm a fan of big breakfasts and the Pioneer Breakfast hit the spot for our full day ahead.  Once down in the Valley, we parked for the day and used the shuttle or our handy dandy feet to get around the Valley.

Whoever said "don't go chasing waterfalls" was sorely mistaken and has never been to Yosemite.  Lower Yosemite Falls was low enough that we could scramble over the rocks and get up close with the falls.  This is one perk of coming the time of summer we did, it's the tail end of snow melt feeding the falls and word is by the late teens of July they'll be done flowing until spring.

These two are always up for an adventure.

Vernal Falls was our next destination.  A casual 2 mile hike in Florida is fine, 2 miles with an 1000 foot elevation game kicked our Floridian butts.  A butt kicking I'd be happy to take again and thank goodness for whoever hauled and cut the granite for the last 600 steps.  It would have been near impossible without them.

Vernal Falls behind me...

...Vernal Falls below me.

On the pit stop to Vernal Falls (the viewing bridge for those who aren't able to make it to the top), we stopped to eat lunch and met a wonderful couple from Colorado.  They live right near where my sister used to live, the husband is an elementary school teacher, and they were just super chill people.  Meeting people like this and chatting for the 30 minutes is why I travel.  So next time you're out on a trail or in a hotel bar, introduce yourself to the person next to you!

I didn't dare let go of this railing.

We left Vernal Falls, grabbed soft serve ice cream, and headed up to Glacier Point to get the view looking down into the Valley.  An easy hike took us out to Tate's Point, at the point you can look directly down into the Valley.  And by directly down I mean you stand at the top of a cliff face and a small guard rail separates you.  Mom loved it up there, I got somewhat used to it, and Dad was not a fan.  The view was incredibly terrifying.

A small dinner of salads and brie wrapped up this epic day at Yosemite.