Day 6 - Yosemite - LA

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Breakfast in the hotel, all you can eat $10.95 each - includes unlimited soda! So of course we took advantage of this. All normal rules are out the window...when in Rome and all that.

Packed up and headed off towards Mariposa grove. Took the 41, quick stop at Tunnel Point for some more 'wow' photos.

On arriving at Mariposa Grove, the top car park was already full, so we (luckily) got one of about 20 spots by the park entrance. People arriving after us had to strive 10 minutes back along the road to Wawona and catch the free shuttle.

On getting to the top, we made a unanimous decision to get tram tour instead of walking for hours after yesterday's hike (thanks Gary). This tour was really good. Lew (Gary's dad) would have LOVED it, even the kids enjoyed it. Learned a lot about the history of the grove, about these magnificent large trees ( not the tallest in the world, but the largest by volume). Some are over 2,000 years old...must have seen some sights in that time eh!

Time to leave Yosemite, lunch at Subway in Oakhurst. Car GPS decided not to work (unless we really were in Texas), so lucky we had ours from home. Not as good with no lane definition which when it came time to come into LA freeways at peak evening traffic would have been useful. Bad enough driving on wrong side of car and road but they go so bloody fast (edit from Gary: in my defense, I was doing 75 miles an hour, which freaked one certain person out...but I got passed by EVERY other vehicle even at that speed). There were huge trucks all over the place, but good news is they religiously stick to the 2 right lanes...great idea. Shiree experienced a slight bit of a meltdown after a few hours but we all made it in the end. Remembering that we just drove on 2 of the busiest freeways in the world at peak time, mid week... All good!

Checked in at Best Western Royal Palace, great size room, fairly average but fine. Pizza delivered for dinner (California Pizza kitchen - awesome) and as everyone pretty tired so unpacked and hit the hay.

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