YO! semite

Scenes from Yosemite Valley.


We spent the weekend with the McErleans in a little cabin in the woods just outside Yosemite.


We left here around 1pm on Friday and travelled down the long and winding road that leads from the golden rolling hills of Folsom and El Dorado Hills to the fall colors and sheer granite faces of Groveland, CA and the Yosemite National Park area.


If we arrived at 3:30, we were unpacked by 4 and by 4:05 the first bottle of wine was uncorked. (I love a vacation)

I was really disappointed when I saw that the fireplace in the house was not wood-burning but propane-fueled. But my dreams of throwing another log on the fire, roasting marshmallows and singing campfire songs were not dashed for long. While exploring the property, we found a fire ring in the yard and were quickly scrambling around for the perfect s'more-making twigs.


Dinner, campfire, ghost-stories and molten-lava marshmallow treats. A few glasses of wine and we were all in bed by 9.


Saturday morning we loaded up and drove into the park. Stopping along the way at (almost) every scenic overlook to capture that Kodak moment.

This is the view Katie got every time we stopped too. Poor girl... drew the short straw and had to stay behind in the car as bear bait. Well, we didnt want them to eat our picnic lunch!

To be fair, we left Ciaran locked up in the backseat sometimes too.

Katie loves the boys. She wants to do everything they do. She follows them around like a puppy dog. Isn't this what every Northerner's senior picture looks like? Katie is very advanced for her age.
I was dying to see a bear in the park, or at least a little mountain lion, but had to settle for some deer. These were so close to the trail and they didn't seem the least bit fazed by the deer paparazzo.


Saturday night it rained and rained and rained. We had three bottles of wine, six bottles of beer, two games of Blackjack, seven temper tantrums, five fights over the toys and four time-outs. ...And that was just the adults.


But all that rain in the valley...

...was snow up the mountain.

We hiked to a grove of giant sequoias Sunday morning. It was so beautiful. A winter wonderland. And it was cold.
Just another thing we put Katie through, and she is too young to appreciate it.

But the boys loved every minute. It is safe to say a few snowballs were thrown.
Okay, maybe Katie had a little bit of fun.

She shows off her very first fat lip.

The "tunnel tree" hollowed out in 1858. Covered wagons and later cars drove through this giant sequoia. The road was closed in 1993.

Now the tree's primary use is the background for the obligatory family photo. Talk about a demotion.

And today, Nov 10th is my friend Naomi's birthday. Happy Birthday Naomi! I love ya. (not that she ever reads this, the turd..)