Yosemite National Park

Our first stop was the Cedar Lodge, not quite inside Yosemite, but close enough on the way in the Sierra National Forest.  A really nice play to stay, with huge carved bears all over the property that seemed to have been carved out of the giant sequoia trees.  The Lodge's restaurant was excellent.... delicious fish, great desserts, a really nice menu.  Only downside there was one of the other guests in the dining room had a very bad cold... and the next day, that cold was mine also.  I woke up in the middle of the night with a cough.... my husband went to the lobby and they opened up the little store so he could get me orange juice and cough drops.

We took a tram ride into the Mariposa Sequoia Grove... giant sequoia trees wherever you looked...... so massive that your neck started to hurt because you had to look up so high.  And if you remembered to look down on the ground, you would find the most beautiful red flowers called SnowPlants.... they come up after the snow melts, and only last a month or so. 

We had lunch at the Wawona Hotel.... huge white 1879 Victorian hotel with a wrap-around porch.  Beautiful grounds, very peaceful... reminded me of our own home and property. All you needed to enjoy yourself there would be a stack of books and a comfortable chair.  Lunch was delicious, dining room was beautiful, and the views were postcard-perfect.

We also ate one day at The Ahwahnee.... another huge hundred-yr-old hotel with massive stone work and Indian motifs from floor to ceiling. Yet another four-star menu, great service, delicious food.... and if you have yet another stack of un-read books, this is the place to read them. (You also need a stack of money to stay there overnight.)

After two nights at Cedar Lodge, we stayed two nights at the Yosemite Lodge, right in the center of the park.  A little sad and tired, not as nice as Cedar Lodge, but more convenient to all the waterfalls and granite mountains.  We took gentle, sane walks to see the falls and the postcard-worthy views, nothing strenuous (especially since I was still popping cough drops and using tissues by the handfuls).  I'm sure the cold germs that I had were passed on to some of the other visitors in the park. My apologies.

Two surprises in Yosemite--- all the dogwood trees, wherever you looked... all of them blooming and beautiful and looking so delicate and out-of-place next to the giant trees and cliffs.  And blue jays--- large blue jays, called Stellar's Jays...... black-capped heads, midnight-blue bodies.... gorgeous birds that seemed to be comfortable getting close to the park's visitors.

Funny thing about the squirrels in Yosemite..... the squirrels along the walking trails looked to be in excellent condition, lean and lithe and jumping from branch to branch.  The squirrels near the lodges and hotels, however--- very hefty, soft little bellies that touched the pavement as they walked slowly from one park visitor to the next, silently begging for food. There's a $250 fine for feeding the squirrels.... not to mention a $5000 fine for trying to feed the bears. (Are people that stupid?)

We saw Mirror Lake, The Swinging Bridge, Upper & Lower Yosemite Falls, Vernal Falls (my husband hiked closer to that one that I did), Bridalveil Falls, Half Dome, El Capitan. I bought postcards of all the famous sites within the park.... kept some for me and mailed some out to my cousins.  My husband takes pictures when we travel, I buy postcards.

We left Yosemite Lodge right after breakfast after the second night there. We were due to leave that day anyway, but they had some sort of 'pre-planned power outage' that was set to begin at 7:00 in the morning and last till 5:00 that afternoon.   We weren't happy about that, nor were other guests of the Lodge.  It seems to me that if the power outage had been pre-planned, then the Lodge should have told their guests about that when the reservations were made.  Not nice.