25: Summer tales II – Yosemite NP

We spent a rest day (7/13) in Sacramento to relax and do some much overdue laundry, before heading out for another short trip to Yosemite National Park the next day (7/14).

Our first stop was Mariposa, where we were going to stay one night at the Comfort Inn Yosemite Valley Gateway. We were a little too early to check in, so we stopped at a supermarket and got some lunch items and had a little picnic in a close-by park.

Then we made our way to the southwestern entrance of Yosemite National Park, where we wanted to visit Mariposa Grove – Home of the Giant Seqouias.

Pro traveler tip: check the website for places you’re planning to visit ahead of time. If I had taken my own advice, I would have known that Mariposa Grove had been closed down at the beginning of July and that it wasn’t going to reopen for a couple of years (April 2017!) because of restorations.

Bummer! We still visited the Visitor Center nearby and got some information on where in the park to check out some other giant sequoias.

We drove back to the hotel and decided to relax at the pool for the rest of the day. For dinner, we went to the Pizza Factory.

The next morning (7/15), we checked out of the hotel and headed into the park. We took the short hike up to Bridal Veil Falls. Unfortunately, the ‘falls’ were barely some mist coming over the cliff. The kids still enjoyed climbing on the boulders and putting their feet in the water of the mountain creek.

We took our lunch break at the Sentinel Bridge on the meadows of the Merced River. The kids were able to to play in the (cold!) water.

Afterwards, we stopped at Yosemite Village, explored the gift shop and hiked to the Lower Yosemite Falls.

Then made our way up to Glacier Point.

The view was simply stunning! I think I can never get enough of this view!

We enjoyed the sunset and then arrived at the Cedar Lodge in El Portal at the west entrance of the park around 7:30 pm. We had dinner at the Cedar Lodge Restaurant, before an early bedtime.