California Dreamin' - Part 1

On July 1, my friend Jennifer and I set off at 5am for an 8 day road trip to California.  Our first day included the most driving and some had even called us crazy for doing it.  Why were we crazy?  Because we decided to drive to Yosemite, explore Yosemite and then drive to Fresno for the night.  It was about a 17 hour day but totally worth it.  We originally wanted to camp in Yosemite but apparently you have to make reservations a year in advance.  Who knew it was like planning a wedding?  Unless you are Oprah and Gayle, you have to plan early.

Yosemite is absolutely gorgeous!  From the granite, to the waterfalls, to being with other people who want to enjoy its beauty, it's just amazing.  My inner nerd was thinking about the recent Ken Burns documentary on the development of our nation's parks and imagining cars from the early 1900's lining the roads just like we had done.

Crossing the state line

There was still 6 feet of snow packed off the side of the road!

Ellery Lake

Isn't Yosemite beautiful?

The big lesson I learned was:

Remember that folks!

I could have put so many more pictures on this post but I didn't feel like going through them or making you scroll through them.  Jennifer and I worked hard to become Junior Rangers but it sort of fizzled out after driving the entire width of Yosemite.  We saw El Capitan and the Half Dome which are the "famous" mountains of Yosemite.  Want to see a map?  Click here.  I would love to go back and actually camp there.  Stay tuned for Part 2!