Yo-Semite...

Half Dome

For our "something different" summer trip we decided on Yosemite. Both Blair and I were envisioning forests full of Giant Redwoods (wrong) lots of bears (wrong) and it being as beautiful as Yellowstone  (wrong wrong wrong). We have come to the conclusion that we are glad we saw it, but once was definitely enough. We are officially Yellowstone people.

The trip wasn't miserable by any means. And Yosemite is beautiful, but you can only drive so far through a forest with nothing to see but forest. And the super winding roads were killer on all our stomachs. Especially the little two. (Yes Mom I was prepared with barf buckets... but Dill puked on himself and in a snack bowl and Jordan made it to the parking lot and puked all over my feet.)

In the sun at the Glacier Point overlook

Found some shade!

Yosemite has some amazing waterfalls. We went at the perfect time of year when all of them were running. They have a few that only flow during the melt off of early summer.

Bridal veil Falls from Tunnel View

Getting wet underneath BV Falls

Two crazy boys in fromt of the rushing rapids

For me the most noticeable difference was the lack of visible animals. I know they were there but it was nothing like driving through Yellowstone and seeing bears, bison, moose, elk, coyotes etc... We saw a couple squirrels and that was it. 

What I was looking forward to the most was seeing the Redwoods. Growing up I watched the movie "The Gnome Mobile" and I envisioned that Yosemite was just like that. In reality there is only one grove of the giant trees. They are still pretty amazing.

Two Sisters

The Midgets in comparison to the California Tunnel Tree

While not entirely as expected the trip was fun. We got out of the heat and saw the beauty of the country. All our trips this summer have solidified the desire I have to travel with my children (come what may) and show them the beauty of the world that we are lucky to live in.