Yosemite Day Trip

Sunday we decided to drive into Yosemite for the day-- crazy, I know. The drive actually wasn't bad. About three hours each way. We were up just before six and on the road just before 7:15. We got into the park (after two stops on the way) around 10:30 and spent the day exploring. We did the Bridalveil Falls trail and experienced more water there than we'd ever seen. It was literally running down the paved path up to the falls like a river. Within a minute all our shoes were soaked through. Maybe Keens would have been a better choice. :) After getting soaked by the waterfall mist we drove to Sentinel Beach for a picnic lunch. Savvy immediately stripped down to her dress for some sandy beach fun. She had a great time making sand "soup" in her bucket and throwing things into the water for her mama to fetch. Miles just liked taking in the scenery. We also brought Puppet along for our daytrip. She napped on the beach and had to be convinced not to hop into the water to swim.

After lunch we drove into the valley a little further and meandered through Yosemite Village. I got the kids each a new book and Puppet got petted by about a hundred people. Our last outdoor foray of the day was the Yosemite Falls trail. It was spectacular. There was a TON of water coming off the falls and blowing onto the trail and the wind coming off of it was enough to blow hats off your head. I highly recommend visiting the park this time of year. After our falls experience we walked over to the Lodge at the Falls for dinner. Miles ate a bunch of D's polenta and Savvy munched on a combo of our broccoli, pork chop and spaghetti. Puppet even had a little pork chop, then we were back on the road for the drive home (after a quick swing through Tunnel View). The only eventful moments of our trip home were having a bat hit our windshield during the windy climb up through the Lake Don Pedro switchbacks and having a gas station attendant in Oakdale excitedly tell us about Bin Laden's death. All in all it was a great day with the family and reminded us why we're so happy to call Northern California home. Enjoy the pics...