Yosemite was the most crowded park we have ever been to.  Even though Yellowstone sees more people, it is so much larger it was not as crowded.  The same for the Grand Canyon.  Yosemite is one circular loop that everyone goes on to reach everything.  There are people trying to park on the side in the same place to see the same site and there is not a lot of parking.  There is a shuttle that runs every half hour but was so crowded you could not get on.  We saw most of the loop and walked the whole village which was very nice, but even had a problem parking at the large parking lot because it was mostly filled and cars were parking in the designated RV spots.  PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT – RV spots are like a handicapped spot – you don’t have the correct license plate, don’t park there.  There are so few RV spots to begin with and if a car is in one, it makes it that much harder.  Rant done.

Jerry had been waiting to eat at In and Out Burger since we planned the trip in February.  The day before we went to Yosemite, he had his In and Out Burger and that is exactly what happened, it went in and that night it came out.   He was so sick all night and had such an upset stomach the whole day at Yosemite.   We left at 7:30 am and did not arrive to our campsite until 7 pm and I drove mostly the whole time.   We got in and out of the RV when I could find a place to park, eventually I thought about parking at the closest picnic area parking lot and walking on the side of the road, sometimes a scary walk, to the attraction and we were able to see everything we wanted.  You could not get near the waterfalls to park.  After circling the area, we ended up parking illegally in the lodge parking lot where we had a distant view of the falls, it was still spectacular.

THE LOOP

THE VILLAGE

THE WATERFALLS

HALF DOME WITH CLIMBERS YOU MAY SEE

I went into the Post Office to mail my grandchildren their postcard and spoke to the postal worker who said the building was built in 1903.  It was really graceful and smelled of wood.   That wood smell was all over the park.  

I loved the Ansel Adams studio and all his pictures of the park he took. 

Aside from those stops and about and hour and half in  the village, we were driving all eleven and a half hours.  The roads approaching the park as well as in the park were up and down steep climbs and around hairpin curves for about six of those hours.  I thought about Andrew’s fear of heights and how he would have hated it.  I was a bit nauseous at the end.   I was totally fried when we were done and going about 25 miles per hour or less.  The total distance covered was about 300 miles in about 9 hours of driving so an average speed of about 33 miles an hour. 

We couldn’t find a campsite in or near the park so that is why we drove so far after we left.  All in all, not my favorite park. I bet I am the only person that did not like Yosemite.  But you can see from the pictures it is very beautiful and historic.  

We were supposed to stay in Sequoia National Park that night but could not complete the drive, it was too late and we were too tired and starting to bicker because of exhaustion and hunger.  We ended up staying in an Army Core of Engineers campground that was almost deserted.  The reservation machine did not work so I could not pay for the space and in the morning a ranger was knocking at our door.  We had actually parked in a space that was scheduled for renovation and the workmen needed us to move.  I told the ranger how the machine would not work and I would give him a check but he said he was not allowed to take money and not to worry about it.  When we left, we drove to Sequoia National Park and the trip was much shorter and the roads not as frightening.