YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

First of all, let me say, we have been without cell service and internet service for 2 weeks!  It is weird how at first, we were freaking out.  It was like how in the world are we going to manage without cell service, internet service, and television.  By the end of the 2 weeks, we had pretty much learned how to survive without those things.

We stayed at Yosemite Lakes campground.  It is a Thousand Trails park, but it also has retail sites.  It is a pretty park.  It has quite a few sites that are right on the river.  However, there was a flood in the area that pretty much wiped those out.  They have been working on restoring the area and those sites should be open in the next week or two.  The only sites that were open were 30 amp sites.  Most of the newer RVs are 50 amp, so that was an adjustment too. We didn't have to worry too much about a/c because most of the time we were there, it was cold.  There was even a day of snow! The park closed one afternoon because of it.  I think the park received 6-8 inches of snow.  We received about 4 inches at the campground. For someone from H-town in Texas, snow is always amazing and mesmerizing to me.

Our friends, Keith and Olivia, flew in the first weekend we were there.  When you only have a few days, you hit the ground running and that's exactly what Keith and Olivia did.  They managed to get a cabin at the campground so that worked out perfectly.

We immediately went on a hike, visited the Visitor Center, took another short hike, and came back and collapsed! The next day, Keith and Mr. W went to the top of Yosemite Falls.  The trail is difficult and it is up, up, up.  They were gone from 8:00 until 6:00.  When they returned, Keith referred to Mr. W as a "mountain goat".  So, now he has a new nickname! The last day they were here, we went on a couple more hikes and just enjoyed each other's company.  We always have fun with them.

Me and Olivia   

Keith and Olivia

We made several more trips into the park.  We took several more hikes.  We went to the Historic Majestic Hotel and had lunch.  We rode the shuttle to avoid trying to find a parking spot. We looked for animals. We only saw deer. Yosemite is a park of waterfalls and we saw MANY beautiful waterfalls.  The park has done a great job of making most of the trails beautiful.  Not necessarily easy, but beautiful!

We came at this time of the year to beat the crowds. Little did we know that quite a bit of the park is still closed because of snow and ice.  Tioga Road is closed.  Glacier Point is closed.  Merced Grove is closed. One of the hikes that Mr. W wanted to do wasn't available to do.  Had we done our homework and known this, we might would have visited in May instead of April.  I cannot imagine how crowded this place gets in the summer.  There is not very much parking and it got crowded on good weather days and on the weekends now.  I think the next time I visit, I will visit in September or maybe October.

It is one of the most beautiful National Parks that I have ever seen.  I would recommend it to everyone.  You owe it to yourself to visit here at least once in your life.  I love Yosemite!

Me and my friend Lauree

The Historic Majestic Hotel