We pack up and head out to the van to pack everything in and attempt to get started on the day. Now, I can't recall if I mentioned it previously but shortly after the start of the trip there has been a slight rattle coming from the van that sounded like the heat sheild for the radiator coming loose. I had kind of written it off as that and expected that we would get it fixed when we get to a normal repair shop again. As we came out this morning Court points out that there's a large silver panel on the ground under the van and asks "What is that?". It was the heat shield. I guess it had finally given up the ghost and come off completely. The good news I guess is that we were here to see it and take it with us so that it get disposed of correctly. We pack the rest of the stuff in with the heat shield and head off for Yosemite.
As we drive towards Yosemite we get to see some very impressive valley views again with the towering mountains hemming you in. It's gorgeous and I get excited to see a lot more of this throughout the day. Now, while this park was less painful to get a reservation for than Glacier was, we still needed a reservation to enter between 6AM and 5PM according to their rules. We of course have one and are all ready yet again to check in and such at the ranger station. We arrived there around 6:30 and found not a soul at the ranger station but instead a sign saying that you need to fill out a self report paper and put it on your dash. Are you serious?!?!? If you're going to say that people aren't allowed to be entering during that time window, you need to have someone here checking reservations at the gate otherwise people are just going to walk around your rules. At least this time there's a place to get maps. Off we go to experience the park having filled out our paperwork.
A short while into the park we see a meadow with a small stream and the way that the light from the rising sun is filling it is just breathtaking. We stop and take some pictures and all have some of those feelings welling up inside of us. It is truly a wonderful view and I feel like I could just setup a chair here and watch this all day. We keep moving down the road and find all sorts of people who have "camped" in RVs on the side of the road inside the park. Who knows how many people are getting around the rules doing this as well. We continue to take in the sights of beautiful little lakes, cliffs and mountains. We pull off at one stop and are greeted by a chipmunk rushing about and we can see Half Dome from here. I almost miss a pair of lizards while they were out warming in the morning sun but Court was nice enough to let me know.
We reach the valley floor and start doing the loop here. There is a pull off marked swinging bridge so we stop figuring that would be a good time. We head out to the bridge and it looks like a standard wooden foot bridge. We start walking out on it and sure enough, you can feel the bridge moving a little bit under foot. As we look at the river under the bridge it's hard to imagine why the signs about not jumping off the bridge are needed. It's probably 3 feet deep at most but it is still really beautiful watching it flow along. We head back and on the way we hear something chirping. I kind of assumed it was a bird and was looking around for the bird when I realized that it was a ground squirrel at it's burrow yelling at everyone walking by. Adorable and hilarious at the same time. We pack in again and head towards the village for some breakfast and gifts. On our way there's a back up around a bridge and as we approach it, we see why. There's a deer just walking across the bridge among the people! We pull in to the village and there's plenty of parking which we didn't expect. It was a nice treat so we head in.
We head out again to see a few of the remaining views that are left and are impressed each time. Now with it being later in the day though the traffic is increasing and the mostly empty pull offs and vistas that we have enjoyed so far are no longer happening. That being said, other than showing some good old fashioned American laziness by waiting for spots that are maybe 50 feet away from open spots or waiting in a line for a bathroom when there's one with no lines another 200 feet or so away, the people in general have been pretty pleasent. We head out of the park and head to our hotel for the night in Clovis, outside of Fresno. We are finally back into a "normal" hotel brand at a Townplace and are excited for a normal bed. We also decide to head to Texas Roadhouse so that we have a normal meal as well. Other than being so busy it was a nice treat.