waterfalls galore

Once inside the park, we saw several waterfalls before we even got to Yosemite Valley. We took our time, made many stops, and took lots of pictures. (I'll try to give information along with the pictures, but I actually can't remember where they all were taken.) Many of the waterfalls were simple, seeming like trickles along the rock faces, and would be easy to miss if one weren't paying attention. Of course, others were grander and demanding of attention.

This is one of the first bigger waterfalls we saw. I think this is located pretty close to the Arch Rock entrance, and is on the right side of the road. I don't know what it's called.

We saw this waterfall again the following day on the way out of the park, and I think this is really one of prettiest waterfalls, especially from the vantage point of going out of the park (it's actually easy to miss on the way into the park). But it's hard to take a good picture.

Later, this time on the left side of the road, we saw Cascade Falls. (I know this only because there was an informational sign, which I forgot to take a picture of. Well, I actually forgot to take pictures of most of the signs.) Here are a few shots: wide-angle, up close, and up close including the top of the lower falls.

The water flows all the way down to the road, under the bridge, and down the valley (I think).

off to yosemite

Having come in late the night before and knowing that we would soon be sleeping out in the cold and have no Internet access for the next few days, I was loathe to get out of bed on Monday, the official day 1 of our Yosemite trip. But get up we did after a while to partake of the free breakfast. We then went to the local grocery store to get some more foodstuff and stock up on wood. (The wood inside the park was actually cheaper. Many reviews I read said that the stores inside the park often ran out of wood, but maybe that's in the summer. I think the wood we got may have been much better for making fires, though.) We filled up the tank, checked out, and off we went.

It was probably almost noon by the time we headed out. It was a cold and cloudy day. We passed through mountains with lovely-colored rocks and wildflowers.

After a while, much of the road ran alongside the Merced River.

We entered the park through the Arch Rock entrance.

off to mariposa

I think we left my brother's house closer to 7:30pm. When it was about 9pm, we started to think about maybe getting a quick bite before stores closed at the small towns that were on our way. We ended up at the McDonald's in Salida (part of the Modesto metropolitan area).

Patti pointed out how the restaurant had cafe-like seating areas, where customers could take advantage of the free wifi. I then noticed the bar seating. I don't go to McDonald's much (I tend to only eat it when at airports), so I don't know if this is a common set up in many of the stores. I thought it was cool.

But what I was really impressed with is that this McDonald's offers free after-school tutoring, complete with free milk and cookies and bilingual tutors. The employees themselves do the tutoring.

For a Modesto Bee article about this program, go here.

I think we were in Merced at around 10pm. I was tired by then and wanted to stop at that point, but didn't say anything. I regretted not saying anything soon afterwards because we started to get some elevation and some windy roads. And it's dark out there. I was so glad when we finally got to Mariposa. I think it was around 11pm when we checked into our hotel and settled in for the night.

early start

The plan was that I would fly up to the Bay Area and spend a few days with my brother and his family. My friend, Patti, and I would then be in Yosemite beginning on Monday, May 10. Well, we never really talked to each other until the Sunday before. Though I had played with the idea of maybe going early and staying outside the park on Sunday, I didn't actually think it was going to happen since Patti and I still hadn't talked to each other. When we did talk on Sunday, it turns out that Patti wanted to have an early start, too.

So, after a late Mother's Day lunch with my brother and his family and my sister-in-law's family, late Sunday afternoon became a rush of trying to pack what I needed for the trip. My clothes were pretty much packed in one duffel bag, but somehow there were other things I needed to bring that went in another duffel bag. I also raided my brother's pantry for food and other stuff I could bring.

Patti picked me up at past 7pm. That really was rather late to be starting the trip, but off we went anyway.

trip planning

I seem to be so busy all the time these days that I can't even indulge in one of my favorite pasttimes--trip planning. I found someone early on to go with me, but had to wait a little before I could set the dates. Once the dates were set, then I had to decide about accommodations since those can be the hardest to get.

I knew I wanted to stay inside the park and, though I would have liked to have more comfortable lodgings, all that were available were the basic accommodations--camping, Curry Village, and Housekeeping Camp. After much mulling over whether to stay at Curry Village or Housekeeping Camp, I finally opted for Housekeeping Camp because: a) the set up seemed to allow for slightly more privacy between tents; b) you can have fires and cook there; and c) if lucky, you can get a cabin by the river.

Though I borrowed a couple of guidebooks from the library and looked up stuff on the Internet, I never quite had the time to plan a real itinerary. Nor did I have time to plan a menu, or at least make a list of what to bring for cooking. Though a friend tried to help me with the itinerary and menu, it all ended up being very last minute in the end.

4 in 4

A few years ago, a friend of mine mentioned that she had a friend who was celebrating her 60th (or something meaningful like that) birthday and whose husband arranged to have a corresponding number of friends to do something with or for his wife. I know I have nowhere near that many number of friends, and so that could never happen to me. Thinking proactively, I thought that I should do 40 things by the time I'm 40. But being more realistic, I thought I'd make it easy and instead plan 4 big trips by the time I'm 40. By a big trip, I was thinking of a trip abroad and for an extended period of time. I think I was 36 when I thought this, so the timing fit.

In 2008, I spent two months in the Philippines before I started my new job. That counted as big trip #1; I started to blog about that trip, but never quite finished. In 2009, I had two major trips: one to Southeast Asia (for six weeks) and another to Peru (for two weeks). Well, neither of those were really quite just for me--the trip to Southeast Asia was for work and the one to Peru was my mom's 70th birthday present--but I figured I could count those as at least one trip; that would make the combo big trip #2.

This year, I had thought about going to Australia/New Zealand, but I didn't have anyone to go with me. So, I have a bunch of little trips--all domestic--planned instead. (It is still quite possible that I'll plan an overseas trip at the last minute, though.) So, in honor of my birthday, I decided to plan a trip to Yosemite National Park instead. This is not a trip abroad, but Yosemite is on my life list, so surely this counts as a big trip.

So, this blog is about my birthday trip to Yosemite.