14.06.2019 - Yosemite

[Sam_Smith]

Travelling this time was DH (54) - driver/eater/moaner/petrol head/biker

Me (51) - navigator/planner/booker/spreadsheet creator/feeder

After a wonderful nights sleep in the most comfortable bed this trip, we were up early and raring to go.

Breakfast was in reception and was really good! A selection of hot and cold items, with fresh coffee and juices, cereals and fresh pastries. Yoghurts and waffles too. All served up with a splash of Indian sarcasm

One confusing item was the egg on the hot counter. I thought it was a hash brown! A small flat circle of processed dried egg which went stone cold as soon as you took it out of the serving dish

Still ate some though!

So today was a sizable drive to Yosemite. 189 miles to be precise, which in the UK would take us around 3 hours on an average day? ish?

So by 7:15 we were on the road!

and by 11:26 we were paying to get into Yosemite National Park!

$35

Boy oh boy did we underestimate that drive!

Once through the pay station you still had a good way to go, but the drive was peppered with stops to take in the views

and can you spot the bear?

No nor me!

We finally found a parking space after stalking a couple of pedestrians to see if they were leaving. Think Tesco car park on Christmas Eve

We found the visitors centre and had a good mooch around

before deciding to queue for one of the free shuttle buses to take you around the park.

Now this is when we realised why the traffic was so bad in Yosemite. Everyone was using their own vehicles to drive around and therefore they had to stop where ever they could on the side of the road to get out and view the scenery. This causes massive tailbacks and traffic jams in the busiest places, and the buses have trouble getting through. As well as this, the buses are few and far between, so they are packed with people, making them uncomfortable, hot and not very pleasant.

What's the answer? No idea! A bit of a chicken and egg scenario going on I think. Maybe if the buses were more frequent people would use them more, but if they are more frequent the roads would be even more jammed.

Shame really

Once we had done the buses, we too got in our car to go out to El Capitan.

Just draw dropping! and can you spot the climbers?

how about now?

The mother of one of the climbers had a telescope trained on them and was sat on the side of the road watching them. We chatted to her and she said it was a 7 mile hike with all their kit to the bottom of the rock face, before they even start to climb!

We spent around 4 hours in Yosemite, and I am so glad we got to see it. It's a shame that tourism has spoilt it somewhat, but without it we would never had seen it! Chicken and egg again

As we had a long drive home we left mid afternoon, passing a fire along the side of the road that a helicopter carrying water bags had just extinguished

As we got close to the coast, the mist on the mountains was eerily beautiful

We finally got back to Santa Cruz after dark, and walked to the Boardwalk in search of food. Burgers and chili cheese fries were taken back to the room and we only just stayed wake long enough to eat them

Well he had been driving for nearly 9 hours today