Yosemite: Day 1

Can I just start out by saying that Yosemite is NOT over-hyped!?  This is seriously one of the most stunningly beautiful landscapes I have ever seen!  There is a reason people keep coming back here.


We stopped in Bishop on the way up for lunch and ate at WORLD FAMOUS (okay maybe not that famous, but still kind of a big deal) Schat's Bakery.  And if you're like my husband, who was questioning the pronunciation, it's pronounced like shots...not like the past tense of a naughty word.  For some reason, they won't let you take pictures inside, but I at least snagged this one of the sign out front to prove we were there!  For the record, their famous sheepherder bread is like heaven in a loaf of bread!  Speaking of sheepherders, John Muir, who was one of the main driving forces behind the founding of Yosemite, (and is probably one of the most quoted nature-writers ever) got his start here as a sheepherder.  I don't know why, but that is so cool to me.  Talk about hidden talents.

So...as a preface to some of these pictures...London gets carsick.  Like, that is the understatement of the year.  She barfed probably ten times, all over her brand new car seat.  After going through two outfits all before noon, we decided to just leave her in a diaper and jacket...so that was a really classy look, but London was having the time of her life out here exploring.  But just so you know (in case you didn't already), babies who get carsick do not mix well with long, windy mountain roads.  I just hope she doesn't forever have a horrible association with her new car seat from this experience...

Our first stop in Yosemite was at Toulumne Meadows where we did a quick little hike up to Soda Springs.  Gorgeous.  After being in the car seat for hours on end, London didn't want to go in the hiking back pack.  Fortunately she has plenty of admiring aunts and uncles who were more than willing to carry her and hold her hand (thanks a ton, guys!!).  We kept joking that she wanted to get to as close to nature as possible in nothing but a diaper.

Right when we started down the path to Soda Springs, we saw a couple of mule deer!  And then we laughed because we saw this sign.  So I guess we were pretty lucky!

The Soda Springs were pretty cool.  Water just bubbles up from underground!  They had this really ambiguous sign titled, "Can I drink the water?" The answer was yes and no--the water is naturally purified and filtered when it comes up fresh from the ground, but there's always a chance it has been contaminated by people or animals while sitting in the little pools.  Zach was brave enough to try some--his rationalization being that he had probably had dirtier water in a third world country.  The verdict?  It really is carbonated, just like soda!  ...And it tastes like metal.  Which I guess doesn't taste very good, because he spat it right back out.  So I guess that's one way for it to be contaminated by humans.

After our hike and a couple of stops at viewpoints, we arrived at our cabin.  Oh my gosh.  This place is like a 70's wonderland!!  It takes split-level to a new meaning, and if only I could show every groovy light fixture in the house!  The pink bathroom tiles!  Your grandma's furniture!  The paneled walls!  I feel like I'm in a time machine! But my favorite room is by far our bathroom.  I took a couple pictures of my favorite features.  Sorry, they're just from my phone--I felt weird going in there with my camera to take a picture of the toilet.  That's just where I drew the line.

We've had a lot of fun looking at all the different views of Half Dome.  But as we drew nearer and nearer I think it started to freak out those that were preparing to hike it.  I have to admit, it is pretty intimidating.  But even after less than 24 hours here, I'm already seeing the truth and beauty in this statement by John Muir, "The grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never dried all at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising.  Eternal sunshine, eternal dawn and gloaming on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn as the round earth rolls."