Yosemite the Beautiful!

Wanting to spend some time together and have a little get-away, Cliff and I decided to take a ride up to Yosemite National Park.  It's nearly in our back yard.  It was a pretty special event because Cliff used his "Senior Pass" for National Parks for the very first time!  He felt very special!  Now as Cliff is a Senior Pass owner, he and any of his passengers, will enter National Parks free!!

We entered the park along with thousands of others, but that wasn't going to ruin our day!  Nope, not goin' there!  Ahead was the beautiful El Capitan, making no mistake about it!  We were in Yosemite Valley and El Cap stood strong and beautiful, just as God made it!

Up ahead we found a place to pull over and take a walk on a boardwalk through a meadow to the Merced River.  It was hot!  But was it going to ruin our adventure?  Nope, not goin' there!  Instead, we stopped by the river and took a couple of pics with my cell phone and camera.

Above, not such a significant photo, but Cliff was lookin' good, and the photo below has a huge amount of significance and it ain't that cute chick in it, but just hold onto that image in your mind, if you will.

We hopped back in the vehicle and traveled deeper into the Valley, but we actually intended to drive up to Tuolumne Meadows, which was quite a drive yet.  So, we crossed the Merced and headed back west to our Hwy 120 exit.  BUT, before leaving the Valley, we stopped at an area on the west end of the Valley that is one of the most beautiful places to take a photo of Yosemite Valley at.  I'm not sure if this stop has a name, but it's one you don't want to miss.  A couple were taking pics of each other (I got a pic of him) on the log, but I offered to take their photo with their camera.  And, then she offered to take a photo of Cliff and I.

We left this beautiful spot and headed toward our destination up a step climb and had already past through 2 tunnels.  We stopped just short of the 3rd tunnel to look at where we had come from.  At the top of this photo is Yosemite Valley.  The river below is Crane Creek.  I could barely look over the edge without getting woozy!

Back on the road and through the last of the 3 tunnels...If you look closely you will see the lady on the back of the motorcycle is taking pics as they travel.  A woman after my own heart!

It was time to find a place for a picnic lunch.  We ended up at a campground and asked the ranger in the kiosk where a nice place would be to picnic at and he told us of a place only about 3-5 miles away.  We found it and it was such a beautiful, quiet, cool place to enjoy our meal. 

I sat down and ate a few bites, but my camera was calling me.  So I got up and took this shot!  I sat back down, but before going back to my meal I reached in my pocket to get the hand sanitizer.  When I did, it triggered a thought.  "Where is my cell phone?"  It wasn't in my pocket.  I thought, "Oh I'm sure I put it back in my purse."  So just to double check I opened up the vehicle to find my purse.  I rummaged through it...again and again...and then looked under the seats, on the seats, EVERYWHERE!  "Cliff, I think I lost my cell phone!"  Panic struck me.  What if it got into the wrong hands, they could make an international call that I'm not covered for!!  "What if it got into the wrong hands, they go to my email, facebook..."  Remember that photo that I told you was so significant?  In that photo is not only me, but my cell phone in my pocket.  So I know I had it at that point and sometime after when I took a pic of Half Dome with it.  Cliff got up and helped look and he is much more thorough than I.  Nope, no phone!  We packed up and hated to leave our little oasis, but I needed to get to a ranger station pronto.  We did!  I made a report!  They let me use the phone for a courtesy call and I had my cell phone deactivated.  It had been at least 2 hours since I lost it.  A lot could happen.  But, now it was deactivated and there was no more to do until I got home.  So, I told myself, let's try to enjoy the rest of our Yosemite visit.  Well, sort of...

So, back down to the Valley to back-track.  Now on to a new adventure of finding my cell phone.  Tuolumne Meadows would have to wait for another time.  We drove past the Foresta area (in Yosemite National Park) that had a terrible fire in 1991.

Passing through the first of the 3 tunnels back down, we saw Half Dome.  It wasn't visible to us going north as it was behind us.  It was a nice surprise.

Back to the place where I believe I lost my phone...when I crouched down to take the couple's photo.  I believe when I did, it pushed my phone right out of my pocket.  Cliff and I looked in the rocks where I was with no success (if you look at the photo I took of the man, the rocks in the foreground are the rocks I believe I lost my phone in).  It was done...it was time to enjoy the last couple of hours we had before leaving for home.

What a beautiful setting...what a blessing it was to just be here, at this very place, at this very moment...with God and his creation.

We stopped at a place along the Merced River...got our snacks, our chairs and enjoyed!!  We took pleasure in watching a family playing together in the river.  They were having a blast!!

Our time...their time...the time we were enjoying so much being in and around the Merced River, and being in Yosemite National Park, was abruptly interrupted by a nude couple down stream that didn't seem to have any scruples, sense of right or wrong, and chose the wrong people to do it in front of.  We all left.  They were reported.

All in all, it was a good day, and no one can argue the beauty of Yosemite National Park!