We spent our road trip kinda footloose and fancy-free, booking accommodation only a day or two ahead. Consequently, due to budget and availability, this is what we found ourselves in at Yosemite. That said, however, this was actually ideal; immersed in the sights, sounds and smells of this beautiful, beautiful spot.

We stayed here, right in the Yosemite Valley. Oh I loved it.  Surrounded by soaring rock walls, domes and spires, the scale of it is awe-inspiring.  And the trees!!  I am kin to all the trees that ever grew, and this felt like a family reunion.

We arrived as evening fell, so we didn’t see much initially, just some enormous shadowy outlines. When we woke in the morning, however, we were hit between the eyes with God’s beautiful handiwork.
Funny story: Bears tend to frequent the park regularly, so everywhere there are instructions regarding them, eg ‘don’t leave food in your car; they’ll pull the doors off to get to it’ or ‘don’t leave food in your tent’. There were bear proof food cabinets everywhere to secure not only your food, but your toiletries too, as bears are attracted to what smells good. Not gonna lie – by the end of this bear information overload, we felt a small degree of concern of the nature of the canvas walls of our tent… Anyway, during the night I swear I heard a bear growling right outside our tent. It was there; it was clear; I was sure. Eventually I realised that it was actually only the man in the next tent snoring…

Beautiful stillness.

Steve and Brenna, having little ones, stayed in a cabin with the added benefit of a bathroom. As our tent and their cabin were about 300 metres apart, we kept in contact via walkie talkies, which we also used while in transit.

And there were deer!! Just kinda hanging around, not unlike kangaroos do back home.

.

And a Bambi too…

One of the first things we did was scout out the Yosemite Village, to see what was there. And there’s a lot.  www.yosemitepark.com

.

.

Rah to the lack of my ability to capture it.