Oct 29 - Yosemite National Park, California - Yosemite Valley

  We decided to drive up to the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center to get maps and suggested hikes and things to see.  However, the 18 mile drive from the entrance station is a "Thing to do" in itself.  We kept stopping at the waysides and turnouts, to see the very far distance vistas.  Lots of deep canyons, mountain valleys, and rock formations.  The winding, twisting road took us to the one-way loop road around the Yosemite Valley.  We stopped at the Bridalveil Falls.  A short hike, on a paved trail, took us to one of the two waterfalls in the park that still has water falling.  Actually, is was a stream, that the wind would take and make into mists.  But it was really a high waterfall, and very impressive.  I imagine in the spring and summer it is phenomenal.  We then stopped to view the amazing vistas of Half Dome and El Capitan mountains.  The sheer size of all these Sierra Nevada mountains is magnificent  .  They rise up so high, with sheer sides.  They evoke an incredible presence.  This is the park that John Muir and Ansel Adams made famous (or maybe it made them famous).  We saw people climbing the sheer sides, using our binoculars, they were so high up.  Many people die or are injured each year, yet they still climb.  Not sure why.
   We finally arrived at the visitor center, and found a nice picnic table to have our picnic lunch.  Then, I went to watch the 1/2 hour video about the park.  Peter decided to stay at the picnic table and use the internet and cell service.  We haven't had coverage at all now for a few days, and he needed to catch up a bit.
  We picked one of the trails that the park ranger suggested, to hike a bit in our remaining time.  It gets dark here by 6 pm, and I wanted to drive the roads back to the RV in the light.  We went over to the Half Dome Village Upper Pines area, and walked through the woods for a bit.  We found the original stone visitor center, that was beautifully designed, using local stones.  It fit right into the scenery.  It is now the Sierra Club's park headquarters.
  The drive back out of the park, was just a beautiful as the drive in.  The sun was shining on the sides of the mountain tops, and the image was breathtaking.  This park is quite large, and we picked a few day trips to different areas --more on them in the days to come.
  Returned to the RV and found out the electricity is now on - yeh!  Made dinner, and came up to the lodge, which does have WiFi, but no cell service.  At least I can update my blog.

Yosemite Valley photos: