I was the first to wake up in our beautiful rental house, and the first thing I did was open the front door. We had arrived in the dark the night before, so I hadn’t been able to see our surroundings. The house looked out on a field with grazing cattle and a forest beyond. The air was cool and inviting, so the first thing I did when I went back into the house was open the kitchen window as I began to prepare our picnic lunch for that day. That’s one of the great things about renting houses or cabins on vacation; we make our own breakfast and lunches, and also have the option to eat dinner “at home.”

We wanted to get an early start to the day, because it was going to take up to two hours to get to Yosemite due to the fire and road closings. Normally, the house was only half-an-hour from Yosemite. We hadn’t brought coffee with us, so we stopped at the grocery store/gas station down the street to get our caffeine start to the day.

Jackie, the awesome cashier working that morning, told us that the store closed at 6:55 that evening. She said she had a heck of a time getting the locals to understand when the store closed, and they were always rushing in that the last minutes to buy groceries! I wanted to stop back on the way home to buy something for us to grill for dinner.

After driving that torturous mountain road again, we finally arrived back in Yosemite Valley. What I didn’t expect was how crowded it was. When I think of National Parks, I think of wide-open spaces, wilderness, and quiet. But this was summer, peak tourist time. So we found a parking spot and took advantage of the National Park’s shuttle service.

One advantage of being in the middle of throngs of tourists is that there is always someone who will offer to take a picture of your whole group if you return the favor. I took a lot of photos with other people’s cameras! I hope they all turned out as good as this one did:

Due to the three year drought, Yosemite Falls was a little on the thin side, but still beautiful. A nice man with a British accent took this photo.

The girls were working on their Junior Ranger books, so we went in search of a Ranger Walk. We found one at Happy Isles! It was hot that day and so our hike was not very long, with frequent stops. The ranger talked with the girls about the importance of water, and we went into The Fen, where it was cooler. Water came bubbling up from several springs, and it was green, lush and full of life in the Fen. And we were the only ones there. Even in such a busy place, Yosemite is so huge that there are quiet places if you know where to look. We didn’t know, but the ranger did.

At the end of our adventure, Lily and Emmy received their Junior Ranger badges.

We knew the day would be a hot one, and we also knew that there were a couple of beaches on the Merced River. Ed and I had planned ahead of time to bring swim suits and towels so that we could take the girls swimming after our hike.

Remember how I wrote yesterday that entering Yosemite Valley is surreal?

Swimming in a river surrounded by such beauty is surreal. I only wish my pictures were clearer, but smoke still filled the air that day.

After splashing in the river for far less time than we wanted to, we needed to head back to the house. The grocery store closed at 6:55, and I didn’t want Ed driving on 49 to Coulterville in the dark! We made it to the Greeley Hill Market just in time to buy some steak and salad for dinner. Perfect!

 
More posts about our California trip:

Meeting Gretchen from Second Blooming in Los Angeles
Hiking the Lemon Grove Loop Trail in San Luis Obispo
Yosemite, Day One

Our family had a amazing two weeks in California; we covered so much ground–literally–that it’s going to take me a few posts to tell you all about it! From the time we picked up our rental car in Los Angeles to the morning we turned it back in, we drove about 2,500 miles. We knew that we were going to have to drive a lot, but we also had a couple of setbacks.

Our plan was to drive from San Luis Obispo to the south entrance of Yosemite, drive north through the park, and take Hwy 120 to our rental house. As we were driving to Yosemite, Ed noticed some interesting cloud formations. “What’s that?” he said, pointing. I, of course, said it was nothing.

We arrived at the Ranger’s station about an hour later. Ed asked the ranger how it was going. “Okay, except for the fire that started two days ago. The road to Hwy 120 is closed.”

It was early enough in the day that we had plenty of time to see some of Yosemite before we heading to our lodging for the night. Ed looked at a map, and we would have to backtrack out of the park and go north on a different road. It might take us a little longer, but it didn’t seem like it would ruin our trip.

We didn’t have to drive far into Yosemite to see the fire. As we stood at a viewpoint, about seven green firetrucks drove by us, the firemen waving at the girls as they passed by. Many of the fires that start in Yosemite are named. This was the El Portal fire.

It’s hard to describe driving into Yosemite Valley. As we drove, we were surrounded by these breathtaking walls of granite that reached up into the sky, almost higher than you could image. If anything makes you feel small, it’s entering that majestic valley where the Merced River flows. The smoke made everything hazy and a little surreal.

Ed, Lily and Emmy were thrilled because there were rocks to climb on. Climbing rocks makes them happy. I may have also climbed on a few rocks.

And then my sister and I took a selfie. Which Ed and Lily tried to photobomb.

After exploring the Valley for a little while, we decided we’d better get back on the road. It’s a good thing we did. The section of 49 from Mariposa to Coulterville is one of  the scariest roads I’ve ever been on.  It twisted and turned along the sides of the mountains, and as soon as I said, “Now that’s a hairpin turn if I ever saw one,” there was an even tighter hairpin turn! Ed couldn’t drive more that 15 miles an hour, and when the section of road is 13 miles long…it takes an hour to drive it.

When we finally arrived in Coulterville, we breathed a communal sigh of relief! We ate dinner at Hotel Jeffery. The service was slow because the men were all out fighting the fire, but once we got our food, it was very good. Hotel Jeffery is a historic building, and it still has hotel rooms you can stay in. We were staying six miles up the road. As we found out later, finding places to eat was a challenge in some areas on this trip.

In the next few posts, I’m going to include some links about where we stayed and ate. Maybe this will help you if you plan on traveling to Yosemite!

Where we ate: The Historic Hotel Jeffery in Coulterville

Where we stayed: When we travel, Ed loves using VRBO (Vacation Rent By Owner). This time, we rented a beautiful house about six miles north of Coulterville.

More posts about our California trip:

Meeting Gretchen from Second Blooming in Los Angeles
Hiking the Lemon Grove Loop Trail in San Luis Obispo