i don’t know if i’ve ever traveled as an adult just to visit a national park. well, that happened about a week ago! yosemite national park has been on my list for a while, and megan and i headed out to california to check it out.

we left late morning from MSP and landed about 1:30 in san francisco. after getting our car, we checked out a sourdough bread place, then the beach, then we were able to get into our airbnb, which i think was either in an asian district, or there are so many people of asian descent in sanfran that it stood out to me. we had supper at a vietnamese restaurant with some amazing pho!

the next day we headed over to yosemite, which is about a 4-hour drive from sanfran. we stopped at a super cute cafe for breakfast first, where i had a bagel smothered in cream cheese, avocado, and bacon. delish! then onward to inland!

on the way we stopped at a roadside fruit stand, which has plenty of fruit, pies, poinsettias, jam, pumpkins, and was a good way to distract from the acres of almond farms we were driving past.

the trip into the mountains was harrowing. we were on the outside lane of a two-lane road on the side of a mountain that just got higher and higher and higher, and let me tell you, i was about ready to quit. but we made it through and up and then into the mountains! and then…

there it is – el capitan. you can’t describe the immensity or capture it in a pic. it’s just ginormous.

we ended up staying in curry village, which is comprised of some lodges, cafes, and a bunch of white canvas square-frame tents. i had the foresight to spring for the heated tent, which was a good thing because it got cold at night!

the first full day in yosemite it rained. it was pretty terrible outside, so we checked out the gift shops and museums, as well as watched the informational video about how the park was formed. we tried to go on a bus tour, but after getting the runaround about 10 times, it was full. boo!

the next day, however, was pretty awesome. the above pic was the view from the walkway that led from our tent to the lodge. that morning, we were on a mission to be able to get to the base of yosemite. after a failed first attempt, the second did the trick.

there was a lot of hiking over big rocks and tricky maneuvers, but thanks to the hiking poles i had the foresight to bring, we got to the base!

that rock is sheer. i don’t know how people climb it! then we headed to the mist trail/john muir trail, where we climbed up and up and up and up along a paved path to check out a waterfall. there was a lot of uphill and it was not fun. but the views were great when we got up there, and good news – it was all downhill from there.

then on monday, we packed up early and left yosemite valley. we took a different route home, which was much less harrowing, and we got to the airport around 2:30, took off a half hour late due to medical, and then we got to MSP about 10:30. it was a short trip, but it was a good one! also, highly recommend yosemite.