Since the moment we came back from our honeymoon in Maui, we told ourselves, "For our 10 year anniversary, we'll go back to Hawaii". Well, ten years, three kids, and twenty-four van payments later, we decided that a week in Hawaii was not feasible (maybe for our 15th). So we opted for a nice weekend in
Yosemite instead.
We stayed in the beautiful
Narrow Gauge Inn (pictured above) only five minutes from the south entrance to Yosemite National Park. It is a wonderful, quiet place to stay, tucked in the Sierra National Forest! And their restaurant is fantastic too! So after a wonderful dinner, and a great, uninterrupted night of sleep, we packed up to head into the park on Saturday morning! We parked in the main parking lot and took the shuttle to the Happy Isles trailhead to hike up to the top of
Vernal Falls. Here's me on the footbridge (left)... at the halfway point with the Falls way in the background. And here's Randy (below) at the bottom of the Falls!
We actually climbed all the way to top of the falls where there is a big pool you can swim in and lots of shady spots to rest and have a picnic. We had no idea it was so spacious at the top! There were probably over a hundred people relaxing around the pool and a dozen of them swimming in the frigid water. We took a while to rest our legs (the last 1/4 mile is STEEP steps straight up the side of the Falls) and then headed back down to enjoy a quick lunch and then hop on our bikes. We rode all around the valley floor, and made sure to ride to the lower pool of
Mirror Lake (a good viewing point to look UP at all the huge granite structures of the park). Then, after a rest at the store for water and a popsicle, we packed the bikes in the car and drove up to
Glacier Point for a birds' eye view DOWN at the entire valley. What a way to end the day...the view was absolutely AMAZING!
With the sun setting, and shadows lengthening over the valley, we said goodbye to a GREAT day exploring Yosemite and headed back to our hotel for a light dinner, dessert, and a good nights' rest! Sunday morning we took the short drive to the
Wawona Hotel for Sunday brunch. We enjoyed seeing the hotel grounds and hearing of all its history; but the food itself was just so-so. Still, it was a nice, relaxing way to end our weekend. Thanks to the Bergens and Uncle Ben and Auntie Alli for watching the kids while we were gone!
Since the moment we came back from our honeymoon in Maui, we told ourselves, "For our 10 year anniversary, we'll go back to Hawaii". Well, ten years, three kids, and twenty-four van payments later, we decided that a week in Hawaii was not feasible (maybe for our 15th). So we opted for a nice weekend in Yosemite instead. 
We stayed in the beautiful Narrow Gauge Inn (pictured above) only five minutes from the south entrance to Yosemite National Park. It is a wonderful, quiet place to stay, tucked in the Sierra National Forest! And their restaurant is fantastic too! So after a wonderful dinner, and a great, uninterrupted night of sleep, we packed up to head into the park on Saturday morning! We parked in the main parking lot and took the shuttle to the Happy Isles trailhead to hike up to the top of Vernal Falls. Here's me on the footbridge (left)... at the halfway point with the Falls way in the background. And here's Randy (below) at the bottom of the Falls! 
We actually climbed all the way to top of the falls where there is a big pool you can swim in and lots of shady spots to rest and have a picnic. We had no idea it was so spacious at the top! There were probably over a hundred people relaxing around the pool and a dozen of them swimming in the frigid water. We took a while to rest our legs (the last 1/4 mile is STEEP steps straight up the side of the Falls) and then headed back down to enjoy a quick lunch and then hop on our bikes. We rode all around the valley floor, and made sure to ride to the lower pool of Mirror Lake (a good viewing point to look UP at all the huge granite structures of the park). Then, after a rest at the store for water and a popsicle, we packed the bikes in the car and drove up to Glacier Point for a birds' eye view DOWN at the entire valley. What a way to end the day...the view was absolutely AMAZING! 
With the sun setting, and shadows lengthening over the valley, we said goodbye to a GREAT day exploring Yosemite and headed back to our hotel for a light dinner, dessert, and a good nights' rest! Sunday morning we took the short drive to the Wawona Hotel for Sunday brunch. We enjoyed seeing the hotel grounds and hearing of all its history; but the food itself was just so-so. Still, it was a nice, relaxing way to end our weekend. Thanks to the Bergens and Uncle Ben and Auntie Alli for watching the kids while we were gone!
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