Yosemite Valley Trip

We've been to Yosemite twice before with the kids, but both times were in the summer and most of our time was spent in the Glacier Point/Wawona area. Dan had the great idea to stay in Yosemite Valley for a few days in early January 2018, towards the end of Winter Break. We were hoping for snow, and while we were disappointed on that front, we were happy to take full advantage of the gorgeous weather (highs in the low 60s and sunny). After a 5-1/2 hour drive (including a stop in Fresno for lunch at Chick-fil-A, Charlie's favorite fast-food restaurant), we arrived in Yosemite Valley:

Requisite pic at the Valley entrance viewpoint

We stayed at the Yosemite Valley Lodge, which was less like what I think of as a lodge and more like a large number of small two-story motel buildings. The location was terrific: 1/4 mile from Yosemite Falls and about a mile from Yosemite Village. We brought our bicycles and only drove the car once during our stay.

We ate dinner at the Yosemite Lodge Cafeteria the first night, and saw the Supermoon rising on our walk back to our room. I couldn't take a good picture with my phone, but here it is anyway:

Supermoon!

The next morning we set out to do some exploring:

Alice strikes a majestic pose at the shuttle stop

We took the shuttle to the Vernal Fall trailhead. It turned out to be a much longer hike than I thought, but totally worth it. There were tons of great climbing rocks along the way:

Girl On A Rock

Boy On A Rock

Boy On Another Rock

The trail took us through a valley - here is a view looking back towards Yosemite Valley:

If you continue far enough on the trail, you can get to the Half Dome or even Mount Whitney! We were happy to just get to Vernal Fall.

Once we got to Vernal Fall, there were some rather steep rock stairs going up:

That's Vernal Fall in the back

Dan and Alice went most of the way up the stairs:

Charlie and I were lagging a bit behind and halfway up Charlie decided to follow a dirt path towards the Fall and ended up with a pretty good view:

Charlie wanted to get a little closer:

The sound of the water hitting the rock at the bottom was quite thunderous.

In the afternoon we rode our bikes to Yosemite Village and checked out the visitor center. The theater showed an excellent short movie about Yosemite by famed documentary director Ken Burns. 

After the movie we "visited" John Muir:

Note the bunny ears

The next day we rode our bikes to Mirror Lake:

About halfway there

This time of year, Mirror Lake is more like Mirror Creek, but there was still plenty of water.

"Kids, you had better not get your shoes wet!" Amazingly they kept their shoes dry.

And even some ice:

There were plenty of good rocks to climb on:

We saw some people on the other side of the creek and walked upstream a ways until we found a fallen tree to use for a crossing:

Surprisingly no one fell off!

It was readily apparent why the water had been named "Mirror":

We walked through a small meadow on the way back:

The view of Half Dome was fantastic

Then more rock climbing:

You can't take a bad picture with Half dome in the background

Looking upstream

Looking downstream

On the way back I made everyone stop for a photo op in front of the Royal Arches:

You can also see the North Dome.

We took a small detour to check out the Ahwahnee Majestic Yosemite Hotel:

One of the decorated windows had a cat!

Outside:

In the afternoon we walked the short distance to the Yosemite Falls. 

At the beginning of the trail

It took us about 40 minutes to traverse the 1/4 mile to the Falls because the kids wanted to climb on ALL the rocks. They found a great one with a crevice just *barely* kid width:

Charlie found a climbing buddy. Those two were crazy!

A Girl And Her Stick

Once we got to the bridge at the Falls, Charlie and his new friend were off like a shot, climbing the rocks up to the base of the Lower Fall. The parents struggled to keep up!

This was as far as I got:

Charlie is the gray blur in the center of the photo

Dan made it a little farther:

Charlie told me that he and his friend made it all the way to the pool at the bottom of the Lower Fall! He said it was really neat but sadly he did not have his phone to take a photo. Or maybe it was a good thing he did not have his phone. I witnessed a pre-teen kid accidentally losing his phone down a crevice. Oops!

The view back towards the bridge, about halfway up:

It was a long way back!

We were only able to convince the boys to come back because it was getting dark!

The next morning was our last, but we made the most of it with breakfast at the Ahwahnee Majestic Yosemite Hotel:

Fancy menus!

The Grand Dining Room was definitely Majestic:

Books for the kids means a pleasant meal for everyone

The breakfast buffet was extensive and delicious, a perfect match for the beautiful setting. Only problem was that we all ate too much!

After breakfast, we checked out the Great Lounge:

Comfy chairs!

Their were several Christmas trees at the hotel. My favorite was this one in the lobby. The disk-shaped ornaments were of several unusual motifs, such as these:

We realized after a bit that the ornaments were based on the floor patterns. Cool!

There were "presents" under the tree addressed to various important Yosemite persons:

John Muir also had a present.

Alice and I took advantage of the sleigh photo op location in front of the main entrance:

On our way out of the park we stopped at Bridalveil Fall for a quick hike:

Dan did some exploring off the path and found a great view of El Capitan:

Alice found a tree root to walk on:

And Charlie found a rock.

Charlie trying to avoid having his picture taken

As we passed the viewpoint again, this time on the way out of the valley, I managed to snap another photo of the valley through the passenger window:

So long Yosemite! We had a great time and hope to see you again soon!

NYC Trip #1 - The Lay of the Land - September 2015

Whelp, it's been a while since I've been able to post. Long story short, we're back in SLO and working on catching up to, well, everything. If you follow me on Facebook, you will be happy to know that I did find the rest of my shoes. Still looking for my sketchbook and the bag of souvenirs.

I still have hopes to blog about the rest of our trip, though. So here is Part I of our New York Adventures.

One of the things on my bucket list while we were back East was to spend as much time as possible in New York City. I had only been there once 25 years ago when my college Art History class took a field trip to MOMA for a Cubism exhibition*.  Dan and the kids had never been there.

From our house in Connecticut it was about a 2.25-hour trip from our door to Grand Central Station, which meant that day trips were feasible, although they were certainly long days. It was about an hour drive to the Stamford, CT train station. From there it was only an hour train ride to Grand Central. The Metro North trains were nice so it made for a relaxing ride.

Upon entering Grand Central Station for the first time, we took in the beautiful sight of the main hall, with its magnificent constellation mural on the ceiling. We had arrived!

The Main Hall

"Ooooh!"

Our main goal for the day was to wander around Midtown, hitting Rockefeller Center, Central Park and Times Square. Our first stop was lunch, however. We happened upon a great little sandwich shop/ Asian buffet eatery, so even the picky eater** was happy. We then walked to Rockefeller Center. On our way we happened upon Nintendo World, which if you know my kids, you will understand why we couldn't pass by.

Dan and a Mushroom

We finally made it to Rockefeller Center and took some touristy pictures. I loved the Art Deco architecture. Requisite photo:

 "Smile, kids!"

The flags were so pretty.

The courtyard down below where the ice-skating rink is in the winter was a lot smaller than it looked on TV.

The Lego Store was in Rockefeller Center so we stopped in.

 SO. MANY. LEGOS.

Next stop: Central Park, which meant walking several blocks up 5th avenue. We passed the famous Atlas statue.

 Loved the statue and the panels above the doors. The Lego store had a Lego version of the Atlas statue.

The kids were flagging a bit by the time we reached Central Park, so we bought them some ice cream.

 Yum!

We also bought a map from one of the street vendors. The $3 was well spent, as there are a ton of winding paths and hidden gems in Central Park. Our first stop was Hecksher Playground near the south-west corner of the park. Fortunately it was a pleasant, slightly warm day, as Hecksher Playground turned out to be a water park. Which of course meant that after about 5 minutes, both kids were soaking wet. They had a great time though. Alice found a couple of cohorts and they spent a good while "defending" a portion of the play structure. That portion included some water jets that they could redirect to spray on the other kids. I think one of her cohorts also had a container to fill and dump on the other kids. Good times.

 Also, Central Park has lots of great climbing rocks. The park was on the other side of the rock.

The other side of the rock. The Beginning.

 Wet and having a great time.

 Alice and her partner-in-crime guarding their position by the spray jets.

Wet but happy.

We walked south to Times Square. The weather forecast had called for intermittent showers all day, and we finally got caught in one. We wandered into the M&M store to wait it out. Turned out to be an excellent choice as the kids needed a bit of a pick-me-up and some M&Ms were just the ticket.

Charlie and I also had our photo taken with Yellow:

After the rain let up, we walked to Times Square. It was really neat to be there in person. Times Square is a square in the sense of a New England-type Square, which is to say, the plaza formed by the intersecting streets was not square in the least (triangular instead).

After taking in Times Square we walked back to Grand Central and took the train back to Stamford.

Personally, I thought Manhattan was terrific. It has a great energy, and I loved the vibrancy and bustle of the city. While living in San Luis Obispo is fantastic, I admit to being a big city girl at heart, and I felt at home in NYC. If I ever get the chance, I'd love to live there someday. Maybe Dan's next sabbatical? Hmmmm.

So that ends part one of our New York Adventures. Join me next time for NYC Part II: Electric Boogaloo***


*In the hour of free time we had in Manhattan prior to viewing the exhibit, I happened to meet Issac Asimov at a book signing. But that's another story.

**Charlie

***There was no actual Electric Boolagooing during part two, but I never pass up the opportunity to use the phrase "Electric Boogaloo".