The 4
of us only planned to get together at 10:30 to head to Yosemite
National Park and “get a lay of the land”. Ken and I always like
to go to the main Visitors Center when we 1st arrive in a
new area and hear the recommendation from the Forest Rangers or the
locals.
Before
leaving, Ken and I did got to the office to check our e-mails and
send a few. Miss being able to do that in Waldo. By 10:30 we were
on our way in our CRV to the entrance to Yosemite, about 5 miles from
the CG. The high temperature today was in the 50's and it was partly
cloudy and breezy, but a nice day to be outside. We stopped at
several vistas for Ken and Melissa to take great pictures of the
huge rocks, especially the Half Dome. Their were many beautiful
areas for taking photos, especially some of the waterfalls. It was
about a 24 mile drive to the main Visitor's Center and with all our
photo stops, it took quite awhile to get there. We had about a ¾
mile walk to the center from the parking lot! Quite a distance!
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| This raven was bold and looking for food! |
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| That is the famous rock formation, Half Dome! |
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| We are happy to be at Yosemite National Park! |
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| These tunnels are beautiful! |
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| One of the waterfalls! |
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Teddy Roosevelt understood the importance of preserving
our National Parks! |
While
there, we watched 2 movies about Yosemite that were well done and
soThen it was time to check out the store where we purchased the
National Park Pin and Ken got a T-Shirt. Then we took the short hike
to Yosemite Falls, where you can get a view of the upper and lower
falls – so glad they have had some rain lately, for there was lots
of water to view.
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| A view of upper Yosemite Falls! |
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| What a gorgeous view! |
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We were able to get a photo of upper and lower
Yosemite Falls! |
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| Ken's photography is impressive! |
By the
time we returned to the car, it was 2:30 and we were all hungry. So
we found a nearby picnic table and enjoyed our packed lunches. Chuck
wanted to check out the General Store, which was very large, and
offered souvenirs and carried many grocery items. He saw a man
wearing a Yosemite T-Shirt that he really liked and found out he had
purchased it at the Lodge. So we went there and bingo, he found the
shirt he wanted.
We
made several stops in the park on the way back to the CG, including
El Capitan rock where there were several climbers scaling that high
peak and some getting ready to climb! It is amazing how they can do those climbs. We were on that
winding, curvy road on the way back to the CG that has a 7% descent.
Felt a lot better in the CRV than in the motorhome.
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| Boy, it takes a lot of equipment to prepare for a climb! |
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| Another photo of El Capitan! |
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We were in a field way below El Capitan and across the
road. These climbers were so high up the rccks! |
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| This climber was just about at the top! |
We
arrived at the CG at 5:45 and look forward to returning to the park
numerous time during our week's stay at Yosemite Lakes CG.
informative. This is the 125th Anniversary of the signing
of an act of Congress into law in 1890, by the President, Benjamin
Harrison, that protected over 1,500 square miles of land comprising
most of what is know as Yosemite National Park today. The process
was started by President Lincoln in 1864 (during the Civil War) that
protected part of this land by the Yosemite Grant Act. John Muir,
who dedicated is life to getting this land protected as a National
Park, had a 3 day camping trip with President Teddy Roosevelt who
went back to Congress to get an act passed to make this area a
National Park after seeing the beauty of the area.
After dinner we played Skip-Bo and Pinochle and each won a game. Bed by 10. A good 1st day in beautiful Yosemite!
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