Blogs from Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California, United States, North America

La nuit à été bonne dans notre nouvel hébergement. On se réveille vers huit heures et on se prépare. La journée promet d'être belle, en effet, le soleil brille sans aucun nuage, et il fait déjà vingt-neuf degrés. On ne s'attarde pas, car il faut une heure trente pour rejoindre la vallée depuis Oakhurst. La route est très belle, mais elle serpente énormément et la vitesse est donc réduite. On arrive dans la vallée après avoir traversé un tunnel d'environ un kilomètre. A sa sortie, il y a un point de vue sur la vallée. On s'y était arrêté hier mais on veux voir si la lumière est mieux ce matin pour prendre une photo. Ca n'est pas flagrant, aussi, on repart très vite pour entrer dans la vallée. On veux egalement essayer de s'approcher de ... read more

My best and only travel buddy sent me an excerpt from an article he read in the Wall Street Journal. He said it applies perfectly to me. Wanderlust is a beautiful state of being! WSJ: One section explains "in many ways having traveled is far superior to actual traveling. Most of us travel in search of a story , but the pleasure of shaping the narrative comes only in retrospect -- usually within some quiet place back home, The helps explain why so many of the world's best travel writers have, paradoxically , also embraced long sessions off the road".So, yes, I agree, it does apply to me. And I do write daily blogs about our trips. But the greatest joy comes from family and friends who ask about our trips, past and ... read more

This was going to be my first vacation in two years. I usually like to plan my trips, but this one wasn't. My flight to San Jose was supposed to take off at five in the morning. I fell asleep while seated and woke up more than an hour later only to find the plane still grounded. The flight was delayed by more than two hours. By the time I got to San Jose, I was under-slept and tired. I just had some food and went to sleep. The next day was going to be exciting. The next morning, I had a freak accident. I sneezed not very violently, but somehow managed to pull my back muscle - very badly - so bad that I had trouble moving initially. I struggled to get dressed and saw ... read more

The morning dawned clear & bright, Glacier Point road was still closed when we drove past se we decided to walk there instead. We drove into Yosemite Valley & parked up at Four-Mile Trailhead. This was down as one of the more strenuous day hikes in the Yosemite, but the other one we were looking at, up Yosemite falls, was described as a "Stairmaster workout" so we opted for this one instead! It turned out to be less bad than we feared, most of the trail isn't too steep, despite going up a very steep mountain side, as it zip-zags so much. Plus we stopped loads to admire the stunning views that greeted us with every turn. We took so many photos of the vally, of Yosemite Falls, and of Half Dome all fromslightly different angles ... read more

Finally we reached our must see bucket list item for this trip, Yosemite National Park. The 6-hour drive up from Monterey was uneventful, but a little nerve racking during some of the journey; like driving the RV on CA-120's steep switch-back turns up the mountain to Groveland, our 3-day RV home. The RV park sits upon a former gold rush mining encampment aptly named Second Garrote after making a habit of hanging its law breaking residents. The hangman's tree sort of remains in front of the park along with a state historic marker detailing its proud history. I can sure pick'em... Anyway history aside, the park is really nice, quiet, and remote enough to receive wildlife visitors like deer and wild turkeys. The former mining town of Groveland proudly houses California's longest continuously run tavern, The ... read more