Why Stay at Home and Bicker with Your Family...

Nick quipped as we walked through the park, "Why stay at home and bicker with your family when you can come to a national park and bicker with your family."  Needless to say, there were lots of families and lots of kids and a goodly amount of bickering.  :)  Nick heard several father's saying to kids more than once, "Get up!  You're fine!  Get moving."  Sometimes it wasn't in English, but we still knew what it meant.

We stayed in the park for two nights in tent/cabins.  They're a hybrid that basically is a tarp nailed to a frame.  You know the kind of thing that a bear could rip through, but could trap a human.  You know... those type of things.  It had one light.  No air.  No plugins. But it did have a safe. lol.   So... here's a bit of the journey the past few days.

06/30
After the adventures from the previous post Nick was still a bit wore down from being sick and laid in the 3000 degree tent trying to rest.  Yosemite had a theater area outside where I listened to a park ranger tell horror stories of people who died or had been rescued from various predicaments in the park.  Water is the number one killer.  The rocks are slick and the water can look peaceful in one spot but have a current that takes you quickly to rapids.

06/30
10:30pm - I headed to the hot box and tried to sleep.

11:00pm - a boy gets trapped in one of the few single stall bathrooms, which happens to be right outside our tent.  As he stands on the back of the toilet, Nick and I try to coach him through the locks in the bathroom from our tent while his uncle gets a maintenance guy.  

11:30pm - the maintenance guy arrives and inserts approximately 300 keys into the lock, but none of them work. Nick and I can't quit laughing.

12:00pm - the maintenance guy asks the kid if he's tried turning the handle (which of course he had roughly 4000 times by now).  We can't quit laughing.

12:30pm - boy is freed from the restroom.

12:35pm - man in tent 2 feet behind us won't stop talking as loud as possible.  We can't quit laughing.

07/01
3:00am - wake up freezing

6:00am - new maintenance man returns to bathroom to try and fix the lock.  Swears profusely every time he tries something.  Over here him from our cabin saying "there's another new problem!"  More swearing and drilling.  Nick and I are laughing hysterically.  You know that laughing you do when it's inappropriate, but you can't get it under control.

6:30am - man in tent two feet behind us recounts his weird dream to his silent, maybe imaginary roommate.  Can't. Quit. Laughing.

7:30am - Hit the canteen for breakfast, chased the bus down to take us to our hike.

8:30am - arrive at trail head for an epic painful beautiful waterfall hike.  There are some things you can only see if you work for them AND pay for them.  They're painful and they're not for everyone.

Start of our hike. Merced River.

Look at those boulders.  Humans come up about 1/2 way.

Headed up!

Climbing the steps to Vernal Falls.  It was killer.

 

See the mist.  It was like hiking in rain.

Lots of rainbows along the way!

Vernal Falls - 1st one.  Eerie seeing the water go over the side.  I couldn't watch for long.  Made my stomach queezy.

On to the 2nd Falls - Nevada Falls

Rocking the knee brace and the walking polls!

Top of Nevada Falls.  Again... couldn't watch too long... look how tiny those people are!!!!

Nick looks like he's suppose to be here.  I look like my skin should never see the light of day.

Headed back down John Muir trail.  Looking back on Nevada Falls.

After we got cleaned up and had supper, headed back up to the Tunnel overlook.  Beautiful view of the valley at sunset.  El Capitan, Half Dome and Bridal Falls visible.

Tent we stayed in.  Bear box where all food and toiletries have to be kept.

07/02 - Headed out of Yosemite

Final stop at Glacier Point on the way out today.  Half Dome is the star in this picture.

On the Road to Yosemite!

Well, internet access has been spotty for the last few days.  While Yosemite did have WiFi, a funny thing happens when 2 million people try to use it at once.  :)  And by "funny thing" I mean, nothing at all happens.

So, let me back up this cliff hanger of a story...

We pulled into Lee Vining.  It was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it-oh-so-charming kind of place.  A place to read books, sit on the patio and watch sunrises and eat ice bream.  Oh so lovely.  That night we went out to grab a bite and at one point Nick's cell phone (a flip phone) dropped on the floor.  Someone saw it and pointed it out and the waiter bent down to pick it up.  I mentioned that he still hadn't made the switch to a smart phone... to which the waiter replied, "Yeah... I thought that might have been sitting down there for 14 years."  lol.  Hilarious.

The next morning we grabbed breakfast in the coffee shop that was also our Inn.  I had the best best breakfast sandwich known to man kind.  Fresh baked focaccia, avocado, sprouts, bacon, aioli, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

As we sat and waited there was a guy with long white hair and a long white beard.  He spends half his time in India and half in California.  He regaled us with tales about his travels, work and getting into various version of National Geographic.  You never have a boring conversation on travel.

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking...

Mel - if you're reading this, I thought this would be adorable at your house.  :)

Coming into Yosemite park.  Small line to the left is the road.

Look how clear that water is.  :)  Beautiful.  But as they tell you... don't drink it.  A raccoon MAY have peed it in at some point.

A little more beauty on the way in.  Still snow in the mountains and lots of water to behold.

Took a short hike up Olmsted Point.  Very short hike, but a scramble up the rock put us square in front of half dome.  It's the point in the dead center of the picture.  Nick came to climb it about 5 years ago, but it the poles were down up the peak due to there still being snow on the dome - it was June 17th!  Crazy.

View of the valley.  The place we stayed is somewhere in those trees.  El Capitan is the sheer to the left - climbers climb up the front shown here... I still can't fathom.  They actually sleep on it as well, as Nick has mentioned, there are ledges big enough to park a bus on... but I still don't understand it.  Half Dome is peaking through the center again.

Lower Yosemite Falls.

I'm Not a Colorado Boy

We were on the road by about 8:00am MT today and landed in Lee Vining, CA about 5:30pm PT.  Ample time spent in the car, but it was quite a lovely drive and I was able to keep reading, which was lovely. 

The drive was fantastic.  Utah, Nevada and finally California.  There's nothing like the sunshine state.

I said to Nick as we were driving yesterday, "I know you're a Colorado boy, but I'm more of a Utah girl."  To which he loudly exclaimed (he's been saying everything loudly - his ears have been plugged from sickness and altitude for days), "I'M NOT A COLORADO BOY!"  LOL.  It was like telling a toddler that they're you and you're them.  If that makes any sense.  :)  He explained that while he DOES like and appreciate Colorado, it's not his all-time favorite.  Truthfully, he's really more of a Cali boy at heart.  Who could blame him.  This is an awesome awesome place. 

Well, the big adventures start tomorrow.  We'll be staying in Yosemite for a couple days in their tent camp... We watched videos of bears going tent to tent trying to open the bear boxes (where people have to keep their food and any scented items like toothpaste or deodorant so bears don't try and come into the tents for food) in front of people's tents.  I'm hopeful that we don't have such an encounter, although it would be fun to see a bear... from a ways a way.  :)

Some pics - 1/2 of which are from a bug sprayed windshield.  lol.

The magnitude of these fins was amazing... see the road through the middle.  It was amazing as we approached them.  So cool.

The only picture with a human in it we took today.  We kept pulling off to take pictures as did some other guy traveling on his own.  So he and I took each others pictures.  I love doing that on vacation. 

I love when roads cut through these awesome structures.  It's just amazing.

We hit rain off and on today.  It was pretty cool to see it in the sky ahead of us.  The temps ranged from 71-93 today.  Next to Hwy 50, which is known as the "Loneliest Road," Hwy 6 is affectionately known as the "Even Lonelier Road."  It was just us for many long stretches.

Beautiful California.  Heading into the Sierra Nevadas.  

Our hotel.  El mono in Vining, CA.  I could spend my life in places like this.  Sitting outside typing this blog.  Life. Is. Good.

Our room.  Shared bathroom/shower, no TV.  Windows open... Ahhhhhhhhhh.  Livin'.

See you tomorrow!  xo

Sick, White and Out of Shape!

We decided to hit the open road and travel across the country to Yosemite!  We've been driving for several days now and I brought 20+ books to read.  Nick and I had several discussions about how many books I could take, but... I just kept packing them.  Mom gave me a 450 page book a couple years ago that I finally pulled out and started reading here and there last week.  I finished the remaining 400 pages driving the last two days. :)  I'm planning on just leaving books in hotels all over America.  :)

Nick started this vacation the way he has started many of our vacations... very sick.  He was feverish and congested last night and bed-ridden for the time he wasn't driving.  He woke up in much better shape today, so we were happy about that.  We still have a few days before Yosemite, so I'm hoping he's completely recovered by the time we get there.

It was a scorcher of a day.  It ranged from 93 - 103 degrees for most of the drive.  We did a short 1/2 mile hike in Canyonlands National Park that almost killed me.  My face was so red... it was reminiscent of when my mom would come in from burning brush in the backyard.  :)  It became quite apparent that my Irish German blood was not handling the heat/sun well and that I am woefully out of shape.  The good news is I'll have something to aspire to when I'm done with school.

We didn't take a ton of pictures, but here are a few of our hot hot time in Canyonlands!

Classic must-have coffee shot

Mesa Arch
Behind us is a sheer drop into a canyon abyss.  We watched a man walk on top of the arch... This is why men die earlier than women.  1) He said he didn't see the sign that said not to walk on it when his wife told him about the sign and 2) 90% of women don't look at an arch that is three feet wide with a sheer drop on the other side and think... "what should I do next?"  I know!"  "I'll figure out how to climb on top of the arch and see if I can get a better view!"  

White white girl trying not to be baked to death.

Such a handsome boy.  :)  And the scenery ain't bad either.

Ghost town we're staying in tonight.  Dust storm was starting up, you can see how foggy the mountain is behind the deserted buildings and gas station.  Ended up eating at a good Mexican restaurant.  Some folks from Thailand were there and we met another couple who were there from Burlington, IA... what in the world?  I think we represented 50% of the town population.