Welcome to Yosemite Valley memories!

We planned our trip to be in late Spring to get: a) milder weather with extra waterfalls due to snow run-off and  b) fewer kids by traveling before Memorial Day. Turned out to be a good decision! My sister Marty found the Yosemite View Lodge, which is the last hotel before you get inside the National Park. Otherwise, it can take up to a YEAR to get a room through the vendor. We met at San Jose airport and drove across the state, but it is a very interesting drive. 

Just being there is such an inspiration! While the Grand Canyon is bigger, we saw Yosemite "from the ground up" and since the Valley is wide, you can see everything. Personally, I found Yosemite to be more inspiring. Just driving around was great, and we took some easy hikes in the Valley. Also had a great "photography walk" sponsored by the Ansel Adams museum.

Had a couple of meals at Yosemite View Lodge, but that was nothing special. Somehow, we quickly ended up at the Ahwahnee Hotel and ate there SEVERAL times. The dining room is 130 by 51 feet; the ceiling is 34 feet high. Wow! We didn't eat at any other "known" locations, but the Ahwahnee more than satisfied everyone. However, you should know that when the National Park service changed vendors from the Delaware Corporation to Aramark, it became known that the Delaware Corp. had trademarked and kept the Ahwahnee Hotel name (now they have to call it "The Majestic Yosemite" hotel). Also, they took the name of Curry Village (now called "Half Dome Village").  The Curry family was one of the pioneers in Yosemite dating back to 1899. Oh, the Delaware Corp. will give the name back for just $13 million..  Everyone there sill calls it the Ahwahnee. 

We enjoyed several of the vistas in the park, and took a couple of easy hikes. Of course you can do as much as you want, including going to the top of Half Dome. My big sister Marty back packed to the top of Half Dome and actually hung her feet over the edge (about 3,000 feet straight down) - a long, long time ago.  Parking at the various vistas was not a challenge except for Glacier Point. You should know it's a LOT busier in the summer. We did take a side trip to one of the Sequoia groves. It was well worth it, as you can see by the photo of Ellen on the left side of this page. 

We stayed three nights and didn't run out of things to do. On our next trip, we will train for doing more vigorous hikes. Also, we will SAVE OUR ALLOWANCE, and stay at the Ahwahnee Hotel. It is expensive, but worth it.

Here are some  short videos we took during our stay. IMPORTANT - There are captions for many of  the photos, BUT you need to click on the photo to see the  description!