Yosemite Adventure

In the Spring while we were visiting Michigan, I was chatting with Erika about their visit out to California in the summer.  I wondered what we could do?  Erika mentioned she’d like to go back to Yosemite where we went with them 3 years earlier for our 50 Wedding Anniversary.  She has since forgotten that conversation, but I didn’t.  Bob and I arranged for 3 days there in early July when they were out in Berkeley.  As the word got out in the family as to what we were doing, the group expanded to include all our children and their children, plus Bob and me.  So Monday morning, we set off in three cars to go to Yosemite.  It was an adventure, especially for Bob and me as the bouncy old Dodge truck has no air conditioning.  We stopped in Merced at a little Mexican restaurant in an aging strip mall and all enjoyed our meals.  Then, as we drove out of Merced on Highway 140, the landscape changed slowly from dry grassland of the Central Valley to rolling oak covered hills of the foothills to a narrow canyon with pines and the Merced River roaring through it.  We were in the Sierras!  We got to our motel in El Portal, just outside the Park, and were pleased with our rooms with a view of the River.  Three of the guys collapsed into deep slumber while the rest of us sat on the patio and relaxed from our journey.  In the late afternoon, the six awake ones went into the Valley.  Each time I go to Yosemite I am overcome by its extraordinary beauty and immense grandeur.  We stopped to admire the view of El Capitan in the angled light.  We could even spot a climber near the top with the binoculars.  Next, we stopped at Swinging Bridge and strolled into the meadow.  There were spectacular views of Yosemite Falls and the steep gray granite walls of the Valley.  The girls frolicked in the meadow and played in the river until the sun set and they got cold.  The next morning we got into the Valley early to get a parking place.  Cars secured in place, we took the Shuttle bus to the start of the trail up to Vernal Falls.  It was a steep hike in places, but we all stayed together until we reached the wet steps of the Mist Trail.  There, I decided I didn’t want to go any further.  Bob and Erik joined me and we waited while the fathers hiked up the slippery steep exposed trail with the kids.  We waited and waited and wondered if they had taken another route down.  Eventually they appeared, grinning and all wet.  As we had a snack on the rocks, Elsa discovered stone carving graffiti from 1881.  That girl amazes me with what she notices.  We returned to Half Dome Village (Curry Village) where we waited in a long line to get ice cream.  At 4 o’clock, all except Bob and me left to float down the river in rafts.  Only four people were allowed in each raft and I didn’t want Grandpa to wait alone.  We found some rocking chairs and I wondered if this is what old age is like, waiting in a rocking chair while the others do a fun activity.  Early the next morning, we went back into the Valley.  Erik, Paul and his girls rented bikes and biked around the Valley while the rest of us hiked up to Mirror Lake.  Everywhere one looks in Yosemite, there is something of beauty: the stunning iconic grand views, the beauty of the sound of a nearby deer crunching leaves or the close up beauty of flowers and plants.  A few of the favorites of the group:  Erika loved the meadows best; Sonja liked El Capitan; Elsa liked all the rainbows at Vernal Falls;  Erik liked the roaring river, by the motel and in the Valley;  Bob liked the first mellow evening in the Valley;  and I loved watching everyone have such a good time.