Yosemite

After our big walking day yesterday we all slept like babies. Today we would drive about 4.5 hours to Yosemite towards the Eastern side of California. We drove by many vineyards and cattle farms and really had an easy drive the entire way. When we got about an hour away we started to climb and climb and climb. The Prius did fine but you could tell it was not enjoying it much. We were mostly on a curvy road with sheer cliffs to our right. It was beautiful but I had to keep my eyes on the road so to make sure that we did not see that beauty too close up by actually going off one of those cliffs. Finally we reached the Yosemite sign in all of its glory. Of course we always stop and get a picture along with everyone else. While we were waiting for our turn there was a girl about 7 who was getting her picture taken by her parents and was none too happy about it. In fact she was crying big crocodile tears while her parents yelled at her to smile and pose for the picture. Finally her Dad threw a pair of sunglasses on her and wiped away her tears. This was not enough for her Mom. The Mom insisted that she smile and put up the peace sign. So the little girl obliged and smiled put up a peace sign and still cried the entire time. Oh well at least they got there picture. We took the picture of the couple in front of us and then they took ours. We drove a little further and entered the park. Our campground was just inside the park so in minutes we were at the entrance. I told the ranger that   we were pulling our trailer we had a tent and a reservation for tent site number 42. I asked him where we could park the camper and he said the camper would not be a problem but today was no red car day so our car would not be allowed in. Ha Ha. I told him that my car was actually not red but I would have to wash it to prove it to him. :) He said he would let me in and then gave us a lecture on the bears. These were black bears and while not as dangerous to people they had gotten very adapt at getting peoples food. So of course all sites had the usual bear box but this time you were not allowed to leave water and food in your car. These bears had figured out how to break windows open locked trunks etc. They even had a few pictures of cars that had been ripped to shreds by the bears trying to get in. We had to sign a paper that we would follow the rules. Then he put a yellow paper with the rules and our signature on the dash of the car. He said that the bears could not read but that almost every car that had been broken into did not have the yellow paper on their dash. Ha ha wait what. He also told us that if we saw a bear to yell really loud with our arms in the air and they would most likely go away. I asked him when is the last time that he had to yell at a bear. He said oh I do not yell I just go in my RV but you are in a tent so it is your only option. Are you kidding?!??!?! He then told me that if we had any problems come up and see him at the big RV at the front of the park and he would ignore us. Love this guy. OK so we drove to our site with our yellow paper placed on the dash of our car and arrived at our tent section. Our site was on the back row of sites which meant we had to carry our stuff down a slight hill about 100 feet from the car. It was beautiful and backed up to the woods so we knew we were the first line of defense for the bears. Anyway we parked the camper and set up our tent that we had not used in years. After setting up we had lunch and decided to go take a quick look at the Yosemite Valley and then go back and explore the Valley the next day. The valley was a bout 25 miles away and so it would take about 45 minutes to get there. We drove down all the twisty roads and finally came to an overlook that was absolutely stunning! You could see the large stone mountains and two waterfalls off in the distance. We took pictures but they could never capture what we were seeing. We drove down a bit further and finally we were in the valley. It was beautiful in every way except one. It was super crowded. Oh well you cannot blame people for wanting to see this beautiful place. We parked our car at the Visitor center parking lot and walked about a mile to the Visitor center. They do have shuttles but as usual Jasper is not allowed so we walked and just took it all in. They do have great bike paths here and that would be the best way to go for sure if you were staying here in the valley. Once we had the lay of the land and a plan for the next day we headed back to the campsite. It took us about an hour to get back due to construction. Lyn fixed a great dinner and then we built a fire with some wood that I had purchased in the valley. After starting the fire we learned that you could actually burn wood that was laying around. This is not common at all at the National Parks. They had cut several large trees down and the bark alone made a great fire. Finally around 9:30 we went to be in our super small tent. Jasper had his normal bed but all we had was a few blankets underneath us so you could feel every bump on the ground. Finally we fell asleep looking forward to what the next day has to offer.

The sign!

Almost there!

WE made it!

Campsite 42

Campsite 42

Home sweet home!

Yosemite

Yosemite

Yosemite

Yosemite

Yosemite

Fire time!

Fire time!