Day 2, Sunday: The Magic of Yosemite (The Longest Day of Vacation EVER)

Just so you know, even though I called this the longest day of vacation ever, that's not a bad thing. It's just that we've been awake for 15 hours today and seen so many things. Committing to blog means trying every day to distill all the amazement into a few good words and images.  Let's see how this goes.

So, as Bob predicted, we were awake at 4:30 this morning. Jet lag-smett lag -- we were eating breakfast at the IHOP next door by 5:45 and on the road by about 7. We felt a little discouraged by the clouds and the light rain, but that soon cleared away and the rest of the day the heavens smiled on us.  We saw more of these than ever before:

The first hour or so was major highway driving as we headed east out of San Francisco toward Hornitos-- the legendary "almost-ghost town" (population 72) that was a real hoppin' place during the gold rush in the 1850s. We met a few interesting old folks but seriously, it was pretty deserted. Though a few shops said they opened at 10, and it was a little after 10, nothing opened. But we saw the ruins of the original Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory. And a few other really old things. And some goats that probably weren't all that old.

 

Slightly disappointed that we didn't actually see any ghosts, we got back on the road and headed to the much livelier town of Mariposa. Busy streets, happy people, and 32 food joints to choose from. We selected a place that promised good burgers-- The Charles Street Dinner House. We were not disappointed. Their "petite Charles Burger" was about a half-pounder, the fries were perfect, the iced tea strong and good.  Check in at our next lodging in Oakhurst was not available until four so we decided we'd go ahead and see if we could get as far as the visitors center in Yosemite National Park.

At this point, words begin to fail me. All I can say is that I hope from now on all my dreams will be filled with beautiful tall pines, tremendous rock formations, and stunning waterfalls. Here let some of our photos do the talking-- a few of them taken from the car window. Yes, I got really lucky on a few of these!

Bob drove all the miles we covered today-- up and down winding, narrow roads. Photos of those roads to come another day. We got to the visitors center and found out a few helpful hints for the days ahead and then headed back to Oakhurst where we found a convenient grocery store, bought food for a light supper and headed to Nature's Nook.

And yes, our little cottage in the woods has a hot tub.