Day 5 - San Francisco to Yosemite

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Today the fun started for the Hjorth family as we had one last look around Union Square before collecting our rental car and attempting to drive for the first time in the United States. Didn't start well with Brett (the designated driver) getting in the passenger side of the vehicle and wondering where the steering wheel was. We then waited until every vehicle had left San Francisco before leaving the curb and heading down a one way street - thankfully the right way! Nervous times for Brett as he adjusted to the pressure of an intricate one way system, bizarre traffic signals on the main tram intersections, and a GPS system that wasn't able to cope with all the highrise buildings leaving me in charge of reading the map to get us onto the Oakland Bridge to leave the city. All in all we didn't do too badly, and I only once tried to make Brett go down a oneway street the wrong way. Thankfully pedestrians were crossing the street at the time and the incessant tooting of the friendly people in the car behind us showed us the errors of our ways, and stopped us from totalling the car in the fist 15 minutes.
Once we were on the bridge, Marvis (our lovely GPS lady) took over from me and provided excellent directions all the way to Yosemite. Thank you Nigel for the loan of this wonderful woman!The drive took us around 5 hours but that included stops and a supermarket shop for supplies.It was incredible how quickly the temperature rose as we left San Francisco. The weather had been great whilst we were in SF but the evenings cool, and chilly in the shade. Within 45 minutes of leaving town, we noticed the temperature rise 10 degrees within 10 minutes, and continue to steadily rise. The countryside turned dry as a bone, with the yellow fields littered with wind turbines which were all stationery.We arrived in Yosemite around 5pm, and headed straight to the Valley Floor for a quick squiz around. Our first view was of El Capitan - the largest granite monolith in the world - and our timing was perfect. The main face was in full sun and absolutely breathtaking. Why is it that nature beauty like that has the ability to make you feel so insignificant and privileged at the same time?After many photos, we headed for our accommodation - a cute little unit with full kitchen facilities - and unpacked. A long day by the time we fell into bed. Brett coped amazing well with the driving. He seems to have the whole driving on the right hand side of the road thing down pat, and Mavis is his new best friend.

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Comments

[Sheryl]

Yosemite
Loving hearing of your travels...sharing wiyh the kids in Room 14. We are missing you Sarah. Enjoy the resyt of your holiday.