Yosemite National Park

Hello from California! 

Today is Monday, and we are officially over half way through our trip! Crazy to believe! We were just able to Skype with some family and our puppy. I really miss my puppy (and family of course!)! 

Since the last time, we have visited Yosemite National Park. We were there Saturday and Sunday (a little shorter than originally planned). We got there early Saturday morning and did a little bit of sightseeing as we drove to the middle park of the park. We have been to a few different national parks so far and it is so funny (at least to me) how different they are all set up. Yosemite Valley is the main area of attraction and is a relatively small section that is definitely set up as a tourist location. There is a tram system, stores, restaurants, and even hotels. There are other parts of Yosemite Park, but this is the hub.

As we entered the park they gave us a newspaper with lots of information in it. We automatically started searching out the hikes. One of the main attractions is Yosemite Falls. There are three different hikes surrounding the falls - a hike to the bottom, a hike to the middle, and a hike to the top. They are marked easy, strenuous, and very strenuous respectively. We decided to hike to the middle of the falls. It was a 2-3 hour hike and thought that we would get a good workout. So hiking we went. Straight up a mountain. It was definitely strenuous, but we got to the middle location in great timing - about 1.5 hours. We stopped for lunch and enjoyed the view. 

Imagine this for 1.5 hours. 

Middle Yosemite Falls

I was exhausted by the time we got to this point. After eating a lunch and rehydrating ourselves, Ty got renewed energy and asked me what I wanted to do. (I should mention that if you continued on this hike it connected to the very strenuous hike to the top. Yes, the top of the falls that you see in this picture.) I looked at him and said with full confidence, "I most definitely do not want to hike to the top!" He, being the sneaky guy he is, convinced me to just go a little further and then we could turn around. However, after another 2 hours of this... 

We got to this...

and this...

I wish so badly that we could show you the end part of this hike. Let's just say we were literally walking on a one-foot wide trail on the side of the mountain (with a guide rail of course). We then went to the river to relax and cool off. 

We then departed on our 2 hour hike back down. Overall we hike 7.5ish miles for approximately 6 hours. We did have to stop quite a few times. Let's just say by the time we got to the bottom of the mountain my legs were shaking like a leaf. 

After our hike we (thank goodness) showered, ate, and got ready for what was suppose to be a good nights sleep. However, we were caught. For the first time this trip we were caught sleeping in our truck. Luckily, the lady was super nice and directed us to a spot where we had a better chance of not getting caught. :)

The next morning we slowly made our way out of the park and stopped at some beautiful lookouts. 

Tunnel View lookout

We visited historic Wawona, but we don't have many pictures from there.

We also visited Mariposa Grove and saw many giant Sequoias. 

We then drove to Marina, Ca. We have about a three hour drive today to Seal Beach where we are going to spend a few days of R&R at the beach. While we were on our hike to the top of the falls a fellow hiker suggested going to Seal Beach, so we are going to check it out. After that we are headed to the Grand Canyon.

Until we can update again... love ty and kaddie