There's something shameful about being a native Californian who's never been to Yosemite. How I never made it there in the back seat of my parents' car is a total mystery to me given how many California peaks they climbed, how much they loved classic camping spots, and how many miles I did travel in the back seat on road trips to other destinations. I would unwillingly pile into the backseat, only contented by listening to cassette tapes on my headphones, and try to ignore my mom excitedly pointing out cows. But those trips were proverbially, ineluctably life-shaping, and an appreciation for long stretches of road, improbable geological features, road side stops (especially gift shops), and Western destinations seeped osmotically into me. Now I dream of them. I would love to retrace some of the trips we made while I was growing up and I'm definitely excited to pull up to towns and places I've never been. Yosemite seemed like a necessity.
Spring is a great time of year to visit because the snow is melting, which means major waterfall action. They're mesmerizing moving aspects of the landscape from afar, but you can also get up close enough to feel their icy mist.
We stayed in a little cabin in
Curry Village that was old but maybe passable as vintage (it seemed they were in the process of updating and rebuilding these), and tried not to think about catching the
hantavirus. In the evening, we headed over to the
Ahwahnee Hotel for cocktails and dinner in the fancy dining room. I've always wanted to go there, and it was beautiful but dark (literally and sort of vibe-wise — it inspired the Overlook Hotel from
The Shining), so it was hard to get any good pics.
The next day, we hiked up to Artist Point. I found our route on one of the first internet lists of
Yosemite hikes I came across, but somehow not many of the Yosemite workers had heard of it, and it seemed relatively untraveled. We had the trail almost to ourselves the whole time, which was eerie and cool. I secretly hoped to see a (peaceful) bear. Once we got to Artist Point, it was just us and the view the entire time.
At the scenic point, we hid a secret message for my brother and
sister-in-law who were on an epic California road trip of their own, and had plans to visit Yosemite later the same week. I've been tweeting them clues, and I don't know if they'll follow the same trail, but I hope they find our analog geocache if they do!
This was a great first trip to Yosemite, and I hope to go back for more. I kept saying that next time I want to hike Half Dome when the cables are up, but after spying
this book in the Ahwahnee gift shop, I'm thinking twice. Would you do it (or have you)?
Today we leave for our somewhat-annual houseboating trip with 13 of our friends. We seriously look forward to it all year long and probably couldn't be more excited — I was telling Tim it feels like what looking forward to Christmas as a kid felt like. Last year, we all skipped it since so many of us were getting married and going on other trips, so we're extra excited this summer. We'll be spending our days lounging on the deck reading mags or trashy/dishy books, drinking cocktails, floating in the lake's warm, crystal waters on floaties, sharing dinners, tossing each other beers from the boat, listening to smooth music on Yacht Nite, gazing at the stars, and going on midnight canoe rides. Here are some fun houseboats from around the place — the one above is the super cool metroSHIP, a modern houseboat designed by metro prefab, makers of other prefab designs including a shed and a cabin. Obviously, I'm convinced I need my very own houseboat now.
We stayed
at the Tropicana, which people tended to grimace at when I mentioned, but it's been recently renovated. It may have “...this image as the place where my grandparents used to go,” but I love that about it. Mending is better than ending, and there are plenty of tacky new mega-resorts. Why not keep a place around that has some history but update it in a similar style? It did seem updated, and it was a great choice for a bunch of girls who wanted to hang out by the (giant, five-acre) pool.
Posts
