After two weeks, it’s day 14, and the last day of our trip. Today we awake in Lee Vining and make our start up Tioga Pass. The pass usually isn’t open this early, but due to low snowfall we’re able to cross over the Sierras at the best place imaginable… Yosemite National Park
Right at the peak of Tioga Pass at 9945 feet is the entrance to the park. Over a day ago we were 294 feet below sea level. That’s pulling our little trailer almost 2 miles up at 10227 feet. Yikes!
Soon after entering the park we are driving through the most beautiful valley one might ever see, Tuolumne Meadows. It’s green with winding streams surrounded by granite snow-capped peaks, trees and clean air. Amazing. It was so impressive that out little puppy friend was so overwhelmed with the beauty, she barfed all over Andrea… which resulted in a full change of clothes. Yes, Yosemite is impressive. 🙂
It’s lunch time and what better place to eat than Olmsted Point. Here you get the most extraordinary view of granite topped off by Half Dome. Here we met up with a pair of marmots. Cute little guys who aren’t so little. They were making their way through the rocks under our feet which was fun to watch. After a few paparazzi photos of the pair, we took a short stroll down the trail to see even better views of the valley below.
After lunch we make our way down to the valley floor. Some oncoming cars and (large) RVs got a few choice words out my windows as they made their way (speeding like crazy) in to our lane trying to clean the dirt off the side of my truck. But we made it safely down and were pleasantly greeted by Yosemite Valley. Green meadows and beautiful trees surrounded by the largest granite formations in the world… only to be topped by amazing waterfalls around every other corner.
It’s hard to describer Yosemite with words. That’s why Ansel Adams used photography to show the world it’s beauty. It was his photos that helped preserve the park into a National Park. It’s also why we took the photos you see below. But even the best photos can’t compare to visiting Yosemite in person. If it’s not on your travel list, we highly recommend you put it on there and go check out Yosemite for yourself.
14 days went fast, and this was the last stop of our trip. As the sun starts to fall to the west it’s time for us to head west on Highway 120. Next stop… home.
Jaimi
Thank you so much for sharing your trip! I enjoyed every post and loved following you guys and the new pup (I love her!). Bryan and I hope to do a very similar trip one of these days – we’ll most certainly use your blog posts for guidance. Your roadtrip looked so much like something we would do.
I’m so glad to have met you guys in JT and can’t thank you enough for rescuing that sweet little puppy. I hope she and your kitties are playing nice and will eventually become friends.
Cheers,
Jaimi
Kirk
Hi Jaimi.
The cats and J.T. are getting a lot better than I expected. J.T. minds her own business… and the kitties are mostly curious and just watch her. They’ve never really met a dog before… so when J.T. gets excited seeing Andrea, the cats are like ‘what the???’
We’re really glad you enjoyed following along on the blog. It’s totally fun to do and people seem to enjoy it. Especially our families. It also makes answering the question, “What did you do on your trip?” easy.
Oh. Thanks so much for the letter. It was so nice of you guys to help like that. J.T. really appreciates it!
If you ever have plans to visit the Bay Area (or want to make them), let us know. Andrea is the best tour guide 🙂
You can say hi to J.T. too!