Yosemite Spring 2016

This is our third year in a row spending spring break in Yosemite. It's a great time of year because it's possible to get a campsite mid-week, and the waterfalls are usually in full swing. This being an El Nino year, the falls were doing their absolute best at drought busting! Some highlights of this trip included making it midway on the Upper Yosemite Falls trail, and climbing 700 Mist Trail steps near Vernal Falls the next day. My only regret is that the Pacific Crest Dogwood trees had not bloomed yet. But as you can tell by the blue skies, they were budding and well on their way! As always, I can't wait to return.

Tuolumne Meadows

High above Yosemite Valley (at 8,600 feet) along Highway 120 is beautiful Tuolumne Meadows. We were fortunate enough to get a camping spot with friends over Labor Day weekend. Granite is prolific, and friendly enough to try rock climbing for the first time. Tuolumne River is a perfect place for kids to play, skip rocks, and find fish. Because of the high altitude, the weather is very cold at night even in the summer months. Visiting is most successful packing for both winter and summer in a single trip. The road is closed most of the year, so summer is one of the only times you can drive over the pass. Next time you think about heading to Yosemite, don't forget the alpine meadows - they are divine! 

P.S. I can't resist linking to our video of campground fun on the tandem bike. 

Yosemite Spring 2015

We spent spring break in one of our favorite locations: Yosemite National Park. This trip was different from past visits in several ways. My husband had to work, so my mother stepped in to cover a third generation. Also, we had our own RV! In the past we stayed in hotels, tents or rented RVs. But this time we had a mobile version of very own home. Third, it was raining. Rain kept crowds away and added a new dimension of misty mountains to the scenery. The sky was alive, and the ground was getting much needed precipitation. Fourth, the kids were battling coughs and colds. Fortunately, the RV enabled comforts to help pull us through. The colds led us to more low-key activities like watercoloring or pursuing a Junior Ranger badge. Yosemite offers something new every time you go, and I'm already thinking about what's next.

Yosemite's Valley Loop

We spent a few days of spring break in Yosemite Valley on the loop trail. Highlights were the newly blossoming Pacific Dogwood trees, the surging waterfalls, Mirror Lake, Mariposa Grove (visit by 8:30am, or else tour buses will descend) the art education center (never knew about that!) and the bridges, rivers and streams.

The Riverbed

The girls and their friends spent five hours in the Merced riverbed playing granite factory and fairy family. Half way through we had to fill them up with peanut butter sandwiches so they could carry on with bows, arrows, and wooden instruments. This fall weekend camping trip took a day to pack for, a day to drive to, and a day to unpack from. But the days of play reminded me that the efforts are well worthwhile. 

The Valley Floor

Yosemite Valley, February, 2011

Yosemite: It Gets You Every Time

Cozy Cabin along the Valley's bike path

View across the meadow from the Cozy Cabin

Family Photo + 1 very special friend

Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, and other partners in crime

Please excuse my month-long hiatus from Keeps Me Smiling. I was indeed smiling, but a little consumed by life's constant events. Amidst the chaos, we took a detour into majestic Yosemite Valley with family friends. If you've never visited Yosemite, consider putting it on your travel wish list. If you have, then you know what I mean when I say: "It gets you every time". Sunrise on granite, serene bike rides through the valley, and plenty of rivers running through it. It's enough to make you stop, drop, and reevaluate everything else going on around you.

The girls were less existential, but no less entertained by all the outdoors has to offer. For three hours one afternoon, they played by the riverbank with a convention of ladybugs. They rode up to Mirror Lake. They roasted a mean marshmallow. They acted out forest theater. They had fun with their friends, and ignored their parents. Life was perfect.

Camping, no matter how you slice it, is a little resource intensive for my taste. But the payoff is huge. An even huger payoff would be bypassing the RV and the North Pines Campground for the Ahwahnee Hotel. Yes, consider that added to my wish list.

Things To Do
Yosemite National Park