October 26: Wonderful Yosemite

 We left Mammoth Lakes early, eating breakfast at a cafe, not the motel (ugh). 

The Breakfast Club. It was just 1/2 block from the motel and had a really good menu. 

Milk can seats -- but we were in regular chairs.

It was only around 40 miles to Yosemite. We got on a highway (395) and saw some dark clouds. We choose to take the Tioga Pass. What spectacular scenery!

We never did hit rain but apparently there was rain early in the morning at Yosemite.

We saw this rainbow in Tioga Pass.

And around the corner was the other side!

Yes! Snow!

We made a stop at a trailhead, where I saw this weird tree.

Here's the beginning of the trail. No thank you!

We did run into snow, but it wasn't snowing -- we were just experiencing the snow being blown off the mountains.

https://youtu.be/Ff1vX6NGLU4

This is the view of the Core

Nearby creek

Same creek, different view.

A dome of granite. In fact, you need to take Yosemite for "granite." You are surrounded by it.

Tuolumne Meadows

At another stop, saw this dog wearing pajamas! LOL!

I think this is Tioga Lake

Same lake

Olmstead view point. Look in the very back -- do you recognize it?

Yep. That's Half Dome!

Some of the fall colors we saw along the way.

Finally we reach the Valley!

Our first view of El Capitan.

A tree lined road into the lodge.

We are spending our first night at the Yosemite Valley Lodge.

We got a little frustrated when we first arrived. We brought in our luggage and decided to go out to get lunch at the Eatery (more on that later). But we couldn't open the front door (which we had just come through a few minutes before). After some consternation, it appeared that the deadbolt would not retract. Luckily we had a side door we could get out, although it meant stepping over a rope to get to the sidewalk (not something that's easy for me). We reported it to the front desk (and learned how to sign on to the wi-fi), then went to lunch. IT WAS PACKED!

You order at a kiosk that doesn't have much of a menu. Paul got a hot dog combo (fries and drink), and we ordered an extra drink. He had the hot dog, I had most of the fries, and we both had drinks. We ended up sharing a table with an Asian family. The food was okay, just not much of a selection.  (We ate dinner there too as the restaurant required reservations and there were none available. Paul had soup and split my rigatoni with meatballs bowl).

After a quick nap, we decided to drive to Yosemite Village and Curry Village to do a little shopping and to sightsee along the way.

This place is full of ravens.

Yosemite Falls

When we got back, our lock still hadn't been fixed! So Paul went through the side door, opened it then came and got me and our packages. Just a little while later, he went back out to see if he could get the key to work. I yanked on the door as hard as I could ... and something broke off and we could now use the door. I don't know my own strength!

About dusk, wewent over to the Eatery for our dinner. These two cute little girls were at the table in front of us and kept turning around and staring. The older one even stuck her tongue out at me with food on it! I kept a straight face and, not getting a reaction, she turned around. But the littlest one seemed fascinated, particularly with Paul. When they left, she came over and waved "bye" and then blew us a kiss! So cute. 

We did go over and report the door again. Someone came over later and checked on the door. We showed him the broken piece. I guess they will come repair it later. We have to check out by 11 and then head to the AHWAHNEE HOTEL -- a very historic place. I never dreamed we would ever stay there. Our first visit was camping at Curry Village, our second visit was here at the Lodge, and now we are going to the Ahwahnee! But of course, there's more sightseeing to do!

For those of you who are not sure how this blog works, you  just need to click on any link to go to the Travel Americana blog. Then on the left is a navigation bar with the title (and sometimes the date) of each entry.

It looks like this. Just click on any blue link and it will take you to that particular entry. You can go back and forth on it. This particular trip started on October 21. 

Hope you enjoy.