Yosemite National Park

Ben had a nice, long Thanksgiving break from school, so we wanted to take advantage of the time to see a new part of the country - California.  We invited ourselves to hang out with Andy and Amy, my brother and his fiancee, for Thanksgiving, and they graciously accepted.  Amy even offered for us to stay at her house, since Andy lives in a small apartment.  How nice!

We originally wanted to go to Redwoods National Park, but it would have been too much driving.  We decided on Yosemite, since it's relatively close to the Sacrmento area, where Andy and Amy live, and there were many cool things to see there.

We began our trip on Monday night, driving just a few hours into Nevada and spending the night at a very cheap (but clean) motel.  Then we drove all day Tuesday and stayed at a place near Yosemite.  It took quite a bit of driving, especially since the road that cuts through Yosemite from Nevada was closed for the winter, so we had to take a longer way around.  (The detour was through the Sierra Nevadas, though, and it was absolutely gorgeous with the snow everywhere.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures during that leg of the drive, but if we didn't have 3 kids in the car, we'd consider taking that road again even if the direct route was open.)

We drove straight to Yosemite after breakfast on Wednesday morning, but because of unclear signs, drove an extra hour to a remote section of the park.  You see, Yosemite is huge.  And its various sections are distinctly separate, about an hour apart from each other.  So our first stop was in the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir part of the park, which you've probably never heard of.

There isn't much to do there except a driving loop and a few hikes.  We decided we'd try to take the kids on an easy, though longer, hike to see some waterfalls.  Did I mention it was cold and foggy/cloudy/rainy the day we were there?  Below is one of the waterfalls we were trying to see on the first hike.  Check out the fog.

We ventured out into the cold mistiness, where the beginning of the hike takes you over a big dam.

Ben loved the dam, and the kids loved the tunnel at the end of it.  We walked right through the mountain!

Cool!

Looking back at the dam and the mountain we walked through after hiking for a little while.

The kids didn't love hiking in the cold, wet, weather.

(Admittedly, they're not enthusiastic hikers in the best weather...)

 

They managed to put on a happy face, or, a face of some kind, anyway.

We decided it wouldn't be wise to torture the kids at the beginning of our visit,

so we turned back before reaching either of the waterfalls.

Here's the gang heading back into the tunnel.

I thought the terrain on the drive around Hetch Hetchy was really interesting. 

After an hour of driving, we made our way to Yosemite Valley.  From what we could see of it, it was awesome!  If only the fog wasn't blocking the top half of the cliff faces...

We were all still cold and wet, and now hungry, so we drove around for a little while looking for a cheap and not too crowded place to eat lunch.  You'd think that wouldn't be difficult considering the time of year and the weather, but let me tell you, Yosemite was crowded in the middle of November.  I can't imagine it in the summer!  After a few stops at places that either weren't open during the off-season or were sit-down (too-expensive) restaurants, we found a cafeteria where we could eat lunch.  The kids were ecstatic, and the food was pretty good, so it worked out fine.  We felt much better after lunch and were thrilled to see that the clouds had lifted a bit during our meal.  It was even clear enough to see Yosemite Falls!

What a cool - and huge - waterfall!

(Supposedly the tallest in the US)

We took a short hike to get a better view of the waterfall.

And I was there too!

All of that took a few hours, and by the time we left Yosemite Valley it was late in the afternoon.

We began our 1-hour drive to the Mariposa Grove, and made a quick stop at this overlook for a few pictures.

Can you believe all of the clouds?

But even with the clouds, the view is awesome.

Besides Yosemite Falls, the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias is what we really wanted to see.  Unfortunately, it was beginning to get dark when we finally arrived there, so our pictures aren't great.  But it was still incredible to be there among those enormous trees.

 

The kids at the base of a tree.

The root system of a Giant Sequoia that fell over.

Our favorite tree was one that was hollowed out at the bottom for some reason.  It was big enough and tall enough for all five of us to stand comfortably inside, and it had multiple openings, so the kids loved climbing in and out of it.

E coming out of the House Tree.

Honestly, it kept reminding me of a book I read in 6th Grade

(My Side of the Mountain, I think?) in which a boy lives

on his own in a hollowed tree.

Outside of the House Tree.

Here is a video of us exploring the House Tree.

Again, be warned that the lighting isn't great.

And I'll leave you with two more pictures, both of us with the same tree.

It's hard to capture the immensity of these trees in pictures, but we tried...

By the time we left the Mariposa Grove, it was dark, and it was just about dinner time.  The kids had requested McDonald's - not at the top of Ben's or my lists, or even on our lists, but the kids had been great all day, which was saying a lot.  It was a long, busy, cold, and wet day.  We found a McDonald's, then drove a few more hours to Amy's house.  Of course, the kids all fell asleep in the car, and had no trouble going back to sleep at Amy's.

What a day!  Note to self - don't try to do Yosemite all in one day next time.  And I sure hope there is a next time!  Maybe when the kids are a little older and, hopefully, more willing to hike.