Weekend Story - YOSEMITE! YOOO SEEE MEEE TEEE!

Can you tell I was super excited to share this post about our trip to Yosemite National Park?

 

Yosemite is quite possibly the most beautiful place I've ever been to in my humble life. It's about 4 hours away from where we live and it's gorgeous and breathtaking. When you are there the scenery looks cut out of a portrait. Last year we went to Yosemite with a couple of my pals and I fell in love with the place. I've never seen a night sky like it. This year we went with our family, and don't get me wrong, I love my pals but it's always a good time when you throw 20 people into the mix and mexican food while camping because that's how my In-Laws roll and that just makes camping more awesome. They literally will make full Mexican dishes while camping.

 

So I had this CRAZY idea to bake up six dozen cookies for the trip Thursday nght. On my cookie menu?

 

2 Dozen Reeses Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip

2 Dozen Oatmeal Raisin

2 Dozen Chocolate Chip Walnut

 

So I had to gather round 6 sticks of softened butter, lots of brown sugar, 1 bag of Reeses, 2 bags of Chocolate chips, 1 bag of chopped Walnuts, Raisins, 3 Eggs, Oatmeal, Cinnamon, Vanilla and Flour.
 

Thursday night I was one busy lady!

 

 

Friday we were up bright and early at around 5 AM and headed to pick up a family friend and then to my Momma's house to pick up my Momma and my little sister. We would be driving her CRV which has more space then either Tony's BMW or my Honda. And off we went!

We got there fairly early at which point we set up our tents and then headed into the valley to see all the sites. I found this spot in between a few trees and I demanded Tony set up our tent there. I jokingly referred to it as the site of our honeymoon ;)

 

Our tent locale

I didn't take much pictures because I wasn't particularly in a picture taking mood and I have already been there before at which time I had taken a TON of pictures so I just wanted to enjoy my stay and not fuss over pulling out my iPhone all the time. I did, however, steal some pictures from Tony's phone that he posted. My FIL took video here and there and it will be fun to see what he filmed. He caught me stuffing my face with a mango, I'm sure that will be super attractive to look back to in the future.

Bridalveil Falls

 

Scenic Landscape

 

 

 

Merced River (runs through Yosemite)

 

 

 

El Capitan

 

We didn't take any pictures of Half Dome and I'm kind of bummed we didn't but we have pictures of it from last time. By the way, can you tell these pictures were taken with my husband's Galaxy Note with a WAY better camera than my iPhone?

We came back to our campground after seeing the Valley and waited around for everybody else to get there. First, my In-Laws got there, then Tony's cousin, then we waited for Tony's Aunt and Uncle and waited some more and they would not arrive. It was almost midnight and still no Aunt and Uncle. Tony's Dad, Tony and Tony's cousin's Husband left to the valley to get reception. They didn't arrive back until 2AM. Turns out Tony's Aunt and Uncle had gotten lost in the park at 10,000 feet elevation!

I slept really uncomfortable Friday night and Saturday morning I was up bright and early. My MIL made beans, Chilaquiles and Gorditas for breakfast. It was all quite tasty! Everybody headed off to do their own thing in the valley for a while and Saturday night we had burgers and hotdogs. Later that night we enjoyed some s'mores before everybody called it a night and went to sleep.

Sunday morning it was Chorizo and Huevos for breakfast along with cereal, danishes and coffee. We all cleaned up and packed our tents. For the most part everybody was tired and just wanted to go home. It was 24 of us total so it took a lot of energy out of us to get everything organized through out the whole camping trip.

The trip back was a lot shorter than I expected and I was happy to make it home. We first dropped off my Momma and sister and then dropped off our friend Stephanie. When we got to my Momma's house we had a card from one of my brother's sweet friends to me and Tony. It was a gift card to a Sushi restaurant in Sebastopol. He found out I got married and wanted to send us a nice gift. What a thoughtful gesture! Sunday Tony and I headed to Applebee's for a post camping alone time dinner. I love going out and doing stuff just him and I because we are always with others and we don't get much alone time then the little bit of time we spend every night before bedtime.

Overall I was happy with the camping experience but I feel that for Yosemite in particular, next time I would rather go just Tony and I. We plan on coming every year and making it a tradition. It will be fun to come with our kids someday!