There are so many fabulous far away places to see...
This one brought me to my knees.
The journey was a rough one. I set out from Ohio on the 7:30 flight via Chicago O Hare, to SFO International Airport. It landed at 12:30 am midnight. My little sis, drove up in her car, having a hard time finding the right terminal and gate etc., it was cute to listen to her navigate and finally find me. I don't remember if we hugged, but I do remember her asking me immediately afterward, "will you please drive back?" I was tired, and sick, and sick, and tired, not to forget hungry!
We found a late night sushi place in Oakland, cause such places exist in cities that are not Cleveland.
We went to Kansai Sushi in oakland (off of 44th and Telegraph Ave.), and ordered a bunch of rolls, including a delicious Ryan roll (cause it was named after my boyfriend, although he had nothing to do with its creation). It hit the spot. After a satisfying short meal, we headed to her little house in the Berkeley hills.
We got home, slept, and woke up bright and early. We went for a walk/ run through a little rose garden, a park, a very steep up hill run, and when we got home we made breakfast. We left for Yoga at the Yoga to the People studio, lunch at Udipi Palace in Berkeley and finally quick stop for groceries at Trader Joes. We were finally done by 3 pm and we set off to Yosemite - Curry Village. The GPS told us it was 3 hours and 40 some minutes away. There was traffic, the weather was wonderful and we did need to stop for gas.
As we got closer to Yosemite we got onto Rt 120, there was a very scary portion of the road after passing "Moccasin Point", (near a place called Groveland), where the road was very windy with hairpin curves and turns, and it was 20 miles/ hour speed limit, and there was no barrier to the steep drop. It was daylight still and we could see this steep drop. I was flipping out, and my sis kept reminding me her GPS was saying 30 miles for the last 30 minutes as we slowly took the curves carefully. Shortly after that nightmare of a windy road, we entered Yosemite National park, but then it became dark. The road was pretty smooth, other than signs for watch out for large herds of cattle- Ok! It was still 47 miles so it took about an hour, and we passed all the great rocks - El Capitan, Cathedral Rocks etc. However we had no idea, because it was pitch black.
Curry Village was cute set in the heart of the Yosemite Valley Village. It has a skate rink, and there are shuttle buses running in the day, all the way up to 10 pm. There are a ton of activities one can pursue there from ice skating, skiing, to bicycling, rock climbing, horse riding and just hiking. I think in the summer there are food and wine events and there are also other fancy lodges there. Anyway we checked in, found our tent, settled in and headed to meet some friends from Ohio for dinner at the fancier part of the Valley Village. After which we were so tired and cold, and cold and tired, we passed out (before which I walked to and from a bathroom three times since I couldn't figure out how to get in. Ah see you would think it would be easy, but the bathrooms have a code!). There is a quiet time after 10 pm however we had noisy neighbors so I had a hard time sleeping, besides having to wake up to go to the bathroom, and having to wake up to shivering, since the bottom of the mattress was not insulated, and also because the warm air rises, so I was warm from above with three woolen blankets, but freezing. It was only a little below 30*F that night (mid-February).
My sis woke up and said- "Hey let's get going", or something to that effect. We got out tooth brushes, some towels, and got ready to go to the bathroom. We stepped out of the tent, and it was a jaw dropping, falling to your knees kind of sight. The tents were scattered in a grove of red woods, which were relatively young. Looming up and around the valley around us, above these young trees were cliffs, chunks of massive rock, greeting us by reflecting the rising sun. I couldn't stop looking, and I had stopped breathing. There's something about that sight. It's gigantic rocks split in half, so odd, yet natural. So normal yet so fantastical... I don't know what it was about that place but it is insane as in, it's unimaginably magical in an inexplicable way.
Finally my sister reminded me we needed to get closer to those things (the rocks), but we had to wash, eat breakfast, check out and then head to the trail. So we did. We had breakfast at the Curry Village Coffee shop very quickly and headed on to "Mirror Lake Trail Head". This is an easy hike, and it leads to this crystal clear lake which gets its water from the depleting glacier, and is thus a mirror to the amazing cliffs around it which include Half Dome. The hike was easy, but since it was in the shade of the cliffs, and in the valley, it was still frigid, and the cold was biting. We kept moving to stay warm. There were other hikers from all over the world; it was amazing to see so many people there in February, I can't imagine what Summer is like. We got to see the amazing sights near mirror lane, we saw the glacier and snow capped peaks beyond the lake. We hiked the loop, got lost, and had to turn around. So what was supposed to be a 2 mile hike max, became a 5 mile hike. Anyway we ended up right by Curry Village.
We went to some of the scenic stopping areas and took pictures. We were so awestruck we were just taking it all in. I knew this is why we needed a short trip so that we could absorb the shock of the beauty, and let the overwhelming immensity of Nature sink in, so that next time we could hike and see more, without being stunned. I don't know if others experience this, but I sure as heck do and did. This time we did see El Cap, Cathedral rock, and other amazing rocks. The drive back was still scary but the weather was perfect. We said good bye, and vowed to return again soon. I kind of want to live there.
I highly recommend adding Yosemite to your places to visit, and see.
This one brought me to my knees.
The journey was a rough one. I set out from Ohio on the 7:30 flight via Chicago O Hare, to SFO International Airport. It landed at 12:30 am midnight. My little sis, drove up in her car, having a hard time finding the right terminal and gate etc., it was cute to listen to her navigate and finally find me. I don't remember if we hugged, but I do remember her asking me immediately afterward, "will you please drive back?" I was tired, and sick, and sick, and tired, not to forget hungry!
We found a late night sushi place in Oakland, cause such places exist in cities that are not Cleveland.
We went to Kansai Sushi in oakland (off of 44th and Telegraph Ave.), and ordered a bunch of rolls, including a delicious Ryan roll (cause it was named after my boyfriend, although he had nothing to do with its creation). It hit the spot. After a satisfying short meal, we headed to her little house in the Berkeley hills.
We got home, slept, and woke up bright and early. We went for a walk/ run through a little rose garden, a park, a very steep up hill run, and when we got home we made breakfast. We left for Yoga at the Yoga to the People studio, lunch at Udipi Palace in Berkeley and finally quick stop for groceries at Trader Joes. We were finally done by 3 pm and we set off to Yosemite - Curry Village. The GPS told us it was 3 hours and 40 some minutes away. There was traffic, the weather was wonderful and we did need to stop for gas.
As we got closer to Yosemite we got onto Rt 120, there was a very scary portion of the road after passing "Moccasin Point", (near a place called Groveland), where the road was very windy with hairpin curves and turns, and it was 20 miles/ hour speed limit, and there was no barrier to the steep drop. It was daylight still and we could see this steep drop. I was flipping out, and my sis kept reminding me her GPS was saying 30 miles for the last 30 minutes as we slowly took the curves carefully. Shortly after that nightmare of a windy road, we entered Yosemite National park, but then it became dark. The road was pretty smooth, other than signs for watch out for large herds of cattle- Ok! It was still 47 miles so it took about an hour, and we passed all the great rocks - El Capitan, Cathedral Rocks etc. However we had no idea, because it was pitch black.
Curry Village was cute set in the heart of the Yosemite Valley Village. It has a skate rink, and there are shuttle buses running in the day, all the way up to 10 pm. There are a ton of activities one can pursue there from ice skating, skiing, to bicycling, rock climbing, horse riding and just hiking. I think in the summer there are food and wine events and there are also other fancy lodges there. Anyway we checked in, found our tent, settled in and headed to meet some friends from Ohio for dinner at the fancier part of the Valley Village. After which we were so tired and cold, and cold and tired, we passed out (before which I walked to and from a bathroom three times since I couldn't figure out how to get in. Ah see you would think it would be easy, but the bathrooms have a code!). There is a quiet time after 10 pm however we had noisy neighbors so I had a hard time sleeping, besides having to wake up to go to the bathroom, and having to wake up to shivering, since the bottom of the mattress was not insulated, and also because the warm air rises, so I was warm from above with three woolen blankets, but freezing. It was only a little below 30*F that night (mid-February).
My sis woke up and said- "Hey let's get going", or something to that effect. We got out tooth brushes, some towels, and got ready to go to the bathroom. We stepped out of the tent, and it was a jaw dropping, falling to your knees kind of sight. The tents were scattered in a grove of red woods, which were relatively young. Looming up and around the valley around us, above these young trees were cliffs, chunks of massive rock, greeting us by reflecting the rising sun. I couldn't stop looking, and I had stopped breathing. There's something about that sight. It's gigantic rocks split in half, so odd, yet natural. So normal yet so fantastical... I don't know what it was about that place but it is insane as in, it's unimaginably magical in an inexplicable way.
Finally my sister reminded me we needed to get closer to those things (the rocks), but we had to wash, eat breakfast, check out and then head to the trail. So we did. We had breakfast at the Curry Village Coffee shop very quickly and headed on to "Mirror Lake Trail Head". This is an easy hike, and it leads to this crystal clear lake which gets its water from the depleting glacier, and is thus a mirror to the amazing cliffs around it which include Half Dome. The hike was easy, but since it was in the shade of the cliffs, and in the valley, it was still frigid, and the cold was biting. We kept moving to stay warm. There were other hikers from all over the world; it was amazing to see so many people there in February, I can't imagine what Summer is like. We got to see the amazing sights near mirror lane, we saw the glacier and snow capped peaks beyond the lake. We hiked the loop, got lost, and had to turn around. So what was supposed to be a 2 mile hike max, became a 5 mile hike. Anyway we ended up right by Curry Village.
We went to some of the scenic stopping areas and took pictures. We were so awestruck we were just taking it all in. I knew this is why we needed a short trip so that we could absorb the shock of the beauty, and let the overwhelming immensity of Nature sink in, so that next time we could hike and see more, without being stunned. I don't know if others experience this, but I sure as heck do and did. This time we did see El Cap, Cathedral rock, and other amazing rocks. The drive back was still scary but the weather was perfect. We said good bye, and vowed to return again soon. I kind of want to live there.
I highly recommend adding Yosemite to your places to visit, and see.
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