A Walk Through Yosemite

Finally, I have had a chance to sit down and tell of our little trip last week:-)

Last Thursday, we headed off with my FIL to spend a day in Yosemite. We packed up the kids and our car, leaving at about 1:30pm. From where we live it is about a 3-4 hour drive. The first bit was dull and full of the usual highway scenery, including an accident that sent a man flying from his car. As we drove by(not really having seen it, only the aftermath, and several folks had already run to his aide)I sent up a prayer for the man and his family. I hope he was not as badly hurt as we thought.

After about an hour and half or so, we started seeing the lovely countryside dotted with farms and trees. I always love that:-)

The kids were getting impatient and every once in a while, Fiona would ask," How long have we been driving for?" Ugh! Really, she was just so very excited and so was Brenna(and to tell the truth...so was I!), so I forgave the annoying questioning:-p Liam slept for the majority of the ride. Unfortunately, he woke up in time to experience a frightfully twisty road and threw up. After a brief stop to clean him up, we made it to our eating place and then on to our sleeping destination. Instead of camping we decided to spend a night at a lodge, about 30 minutes outside of the park.

Bright and early, we headed to the park and enjoyed a slow, but beautiful drive. Once inside the park, we had to drive for a bit more and then got stopped for 30 minutes by a....stop light! Yes, in the park there was a stop light...for construction work that was being done on the roads. So I looked out my window and saw this:

Aren't these lovely? I think they may be Lupine, but I'm not really sure. There was alot to admire as we sat there...the river rushing by, some lovely bees buzzing in the flowers, very tiny yellow birds that, hard as I tried, I could not get a shot of!

I'm not sure how I got this next picture, but I love it! There is just something so powerful about rivers and the sound they send forth..well, just awesome! This picture also gave me a taste of what was to come...

As we drove through to the valley, I kept seeing these beautiful trees with white blossoms amidst the pines and oaks. They looked strangely out of place...almost as if they should have been in the land of fairy. This one shot is not half so glorious as some that I saw, but this was the one I could actually get. If you look closely you will see a few white blossoms. My FIL told me this was Dogwood. Well, it is a new favorite:-)

Once we got to the Valley, we got ready for our day. My FIL wanted to take me up to Vernal Falls. He said if no one else got to go up, he wanted me too. Later he would go with Dan and the girls(only as far as they could/would go..which wasn't all the way). So, I set Dan up with the baby and the girls, donned a hat and sunscreen and Tom(my FIL) and I headed off. Dan wandered to and fro with the kids, checking out the Indian Village, Lower Yosemite Falls, the Museum and such. Tom and I headed up a steep climb and made our way towards Vernal Falls. I'll share more about that amazing trip tomorrow:-) With pics even! I'll just say, that it was awesome and forced me out of my comfort zone.

After we spent the majority of the day in the valley, we made our way up to Glacier Point...with a few stops along the way;-) This picture below was taken from a lovely vantage point. From here, you see no sign fo roads or buildings....just the beauty of Yosemite. Excuse the funny looks from the girls...the sun was directly in their eyes. The kids really had a great time. Fiona took several opportunities to draw in a little notebook what she saw..so lovely!

On our way up to Glacier Point, we enjoyed the site of snow...again and again. Brenna really loved this...she's never been in snow. She really wanted us to stop and let her play in it, but we couldn't. Once we got up to Glacier Point, Grandpa Tom got her a ball of snow...she was tickled and held it in her bare hand as long as she could:-) Sweet!

This picture below is some of what could be seen from Glacier Point. It was just breathtaking. You can see Vernal Falls(the lower one) and Nevada Falls(the upper one). From here too, we could see Half Dome. I felt dwarfed compared to the expanse of Yosemite. Just one small person in the amazing creation that God made! Truly awe inspiring.

Every where I turned I saw beauty. Even though we have built roads and buildings here, the awesomeness of Yosemite overpowers. How anyone can go here and not feel God's power and be taken back by the beauty is beyond me. I didn't get enough...I could have sat hours in one place and not have seen all it had to offer.

We hope to go back again next summer and make even more memories!

Tomorrow, I hope to post about my hike to Vernal Falls. So tune in again....

Blessings,

Sommer