Day 29 - Midpines, California KOA

When I got up, and was getting dressed, I over heard DH reading my blog to MIL. They were laughing, so naturally I thought he had read the whole thing to his Mom. While drinking my coffee DH yelled to me from the bedroom of the motorhome. I went to see what he wanted.  He had our two rain coats in his hand and said where are our coats? I said to him, "I thought you read my blog this morning?" He said, "I guess, I missed that part!" He took our raincoats as windbreakers to the park just incase we needed them. MIL also did not have a coat packed. MIL ended up wearing my raincoat for extra warmth as it also has a lining.

On the way to Yosemite a doe ran across the road in front of us. Lucky for us and the deer, that she was a success !

This morning we drove towards Yosemite National Park on Highway 140 to the Arch Entrance. On the way DH had to maneuver our MDX down a winding switch back road with a steep grade to boot. At the bottom of the valley the road followed the Merged River which had water in it but not a lot. It was exactly the kind of river that is very picturesque with rocks and boulders in it. We got notice via a sign that the largest vehicle allowed to proceed was a 45' vehicle. It didn't apply to us in the MDX but it would have if we were in the motorhome towing the MDX. We were actually lucky this entrance wasn't closed, as at some point there was a major rock slide that took out the road totally. The State or National Forest Service brought in two temporary bridges and made a one lane road on the other side of the Merged River. And set up two temporary traffic lights to meter a certain amount of vehicles through at a time alternating between directions. We could see the mess from the rock slide! From there we came across El Capitan the huge rock face of granite that people come from all over the world to climb. In the morning is was 49 degrees, I notice numerous people who were not dressed for the weather.

When we got to the National Park entrance we had DH's National Park Pass hanging from the rear view mirror. One of the Rangers waved us through. Only problem is we didn't get a park service map. We had another map from our campground which was not very good. Plus the signs at the park were confusing. We never did get a real park map which probably was half our problem. The other half was that the Gremlin got majorly confused by the fact that One of the major roads in the park was closed and it kept leading us back to that road. We followed Wawona Road to Bridal Veil Falls. It was only a 1000' hike to see the falls. The funny thing is when I got to the the end of the trail I totally missed the waterfall. I saw a pile of boulders with people standing on them. I saw a sign that said Warning: Rocks are slippery when wet and current is strong! The rocks were not wet. I then saw a guy with a camera on a tripod, and looked to see where the camera was pointed. Only then did I see the waterfall. Not very impressive, however I did see photos of it in the Spring after the snow melt.
It doesn't help that the area is under an extreme drought too. I had both my Canon and my cell phone with Selfie Stick. Of course it didn't help that I forgot my regular lens and only had my telephoto. DH met me half way down the trail, and I was surprised that he could see the waterfall on the trail which I never saw.

I was constantly taking photos with both cameras at every vista turnout. Everyone always told me how beautiful Yosemite was and they were right. It would have been better if it was sunny. The conditions were exactly how we saw Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon and Zion Canyon. It was if we were seeing them without their make up on. I had seen photos at sunset where the rocks were a vibrant colors instead of pastels.

After driving to the South Entrance we turned around and went to Yosemite Valley which consisted of a gift shop with fully stocked food market and liquor store. DH bought a snazzy hat!
It also had a pizza restaurant which wasn't open. We only found out after we rode the elevator up to it. We were saying in the elevator that they should have put a sit on the menu that it was closed! So we get out of the elevator and there is a sign in the middle of the menu saying it is closed for the season. DH blamed me for telling him the elevator was ready to go up, and that is why he didn't see the sign. Then we went to a deli where DH stood in line to get a roast beef sandwich, while MIL and I both got soup. I was waiting for DH bought he told me to go eat. The line for a sandwich was moving at a snail's pace and on top of it they used stale bread. Our soup was delicious ! MIL got another bowl to take back to the motorhome for later. We then went to the visitor's center, looked at the exhibits and watched a movie. Afterward we went to Glacier Point however decided a 1/4 of the way to abort as it was raining and the views were hindered by clouds. I always say, where ever we go it rains. So a friend I visited with in Abilene, Texas whom we brought rain there said we should go to California. So we went to California and the first night rain came with us and we even got to see a rainbow. Most of this trip the rain has come in the evening or on travel days.

This campground we are currently in has no phone service and slow Internet.

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