Good-bye to Louie and Asa; hello to Yosemite National Park

Today is our daughter-in-law, Yukari's birthday!  We left her in good spirits this morning.  She is such a good mommy and smart woman.  Here is a bit of her handiwork:



This is the top and bottom of Louie's bento box, his lunch box for school today.  Look at that lunch!
On the left are pancakes that she makes.  These have kale, carrots, and broccoli included.  We ate some yesterday, and they are delicious.  The tiny blue round container has honey for dipping.  The variety of tiny foods for Louie is amazing.


Here are her boys, Louie and Asa.  So hard to leave those kissable faces.

But Nana and Papa had to hit the road, and we did around 10:00 am.  We drove east across the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge and wound on and off interstates for about an hour.  Finally we were in the valley, cruising through the Sierra foothills, looking at grassland. The trip to Yosemite is four hours.  We stopped for lunch at a delightful tacqueria in Manteca and then for groceries in Oakdale.  The road to the park, CA 120, went up and down mountains, a slow trip.  George spotted smoke, and we came upon the Marsh fire just past Chinese Camp.  Chinese Camp was a camp in the gold rush that the Chinese moved to after they were kicked out of other towns.  It now has fewer than 200 inhabitants.


I've never seen the actual flames of a forest fire.  We were on a mountain across from the fire.  All along the mountain, people pulled over and photographed the fire.  The smoke was in one place, not blowing, so we didn't smell it.

We arrived at Yosemite at 4:00 pm and checked into Half Dome Village and our cabin with no trouble.  (This used to be Curry Village.)  We rented a large cabin with space for 5 people, so Harper and Yukari and the boys could come too.  They couldn't make it, and we would be really crowded if they were here. It is such a sweet spot though.  Two metal double beds and our own bathroom with a tub (!). That is real luxury in a park.

Bears are a problem in the parking lot at night, so we had to unload practically our whole car.  You can't leave even unopened beverages.  Remember we had just gone to the store? Well,we hoisted a case of wine, Cokes, LeCroix, beer, a cooler, and all our extra toilet articles - lotion, shampoo, repellent - anything with a scent must move inside.  We will be here for three nights, so the twenty minute of work was worth it, but we felt rather awkward.  We are not backpackers.  That's for sure.  We enjoy living out of the car, but only if the car has a case of wine in the trunk.



El Capitan greeted us at Yosemite.

We didn't do much so far, just walked around Half Dome Village and found a bar area with tv so we can watch the Presidential Debate tonight.  We are happy to be here.  What a treat!  Tomorrow we can rent bikes to ride around the area.  There is a shuttle where we can travel and get on and off.  We are leaving the car in the lot.  Happy Monday!


Cabin 2 B in Half Dome Village


Great windows and plaid motif