We get out of the motel in record time and are on our way to Yosemite by 6:20am. We have reservations for this park BUT we guess that there will be no one there to take our ticket again. We were right. We get into the park by 7am and no one is there. Instead it's a self-service kiosk where you use the honor system to write down your reservation number on a card and keep it on your dash. But they did have maps (yay!) so we hand that to Gideon and start tracking through the park. Gideon pronounces Yosemite as Yo-sem-meat over and over and I love it. I correct him a few times and he still struggles through it so we let it go and enjoy. I figured that this would not be one of my favorite parks because, so far, all the big parks have been nice, but not amazing. We've loved the smaller parks (again might be the whole human factor), but Yosemite broke the curse. Like always we are going too slow in the park and people have to pass us. We pull over frequently in the overlooks to take pictures and explore. At the second stop, we see it all. A beautiful creek, grass, trees, mountain, rocks and the sun shining down on the water in the creek making it sparkle. I cry a bit while taking pictures because the amount of peace that enters your heart and your soul in that moment is incredible. Things you thought were important don't even feel important anymore, the beauty of the scene overwhelms your brain and pushes all worries aside allowing you to enjoy the perfect setting. Adam and Abby make some jokes at my expense and I take 4389 more pictures so I can always come back to this moment. That never works, but I won't stop trying.
We move on through the park and keep stopping at tons of overlooks. We are super surprised that everywhere we go, we can easily get parking. We were expecting it to be brutal based on the current crowding and the need for tickets, but we are pleasantly surprised. At one point everyone is stopped on a bridge that overlooks some water and we are a little perplexed at the backup until a deer just saunters in front of the van and makes her way along the bridge back towards the forest. She was beautiful and I held back from talking to her for Abby's sake.
At one of the stops, there is a family sitting on a log near the water taking pictures. I assume they will ask us to take their picture for them so naturally I walk as far away from them as I can. Not because I don't want to help, but because the process really stressed me out. Do they want it zoomed out? Zoomed in? portrait? Landscape? Just the water? Mountains too? are you all smiling? Does your hair look right?! It's too much. Anyhow, despite me ignoring them and because of my idiot light, they ask for me to take their picture. I agree because I'm not a jerk and take their phone to do it. Abby comes over and I ask her to help instead and she does (thank you) and then I take a picture of them with my camera and tell the I'll email it to them. See below. They were very nice and were telling us about the hikes they did in the park and then told us we had to go to glacier point to see half-dome. (there is half-dome and north-dome rocks in the park which are famous. They are said to be the spirits of a husband and wife who were fighting and then as a punishment were turned to stone and separated. This was a friendly reminder (or threat?) to me and Adam to not fight.) We assure the other family that we will visit Glacier point and we keep moving.
We stop a ton more times and have little walks here and there. Still feeling good leg wise which is relieving and I'm elated. Each time we get out of the car, I am met with this glorious smell of balsam and cedar and sweet air and water and yellow flowers and it is very calming. We keep our windows down as much as possible and Abby and I dance our arms in the air and sometimes hold hands. We keep moving towards Glacier point and find another stop called "Washburn point". We stop there and the view of half-dome is breathtaking. We take as many pictures as possible and avoid the social media influencers as much as possible. Tons of people are here just taking selfies of themselves and trying to get the best shot of themselves. Fixing their hair and etc. In fact, that family I told you about had a daughter and her boyfriend. The daughter paid for the boyfriend to take an online class to learn how to take her pictures better. He took direction on how to take pictures of her on the log for about 10 minutes. We grab some photos, I offer to take pictures for more influencers and we go out to Glacier point.
Glacier is short on parking...or so we think. So, you would think that humans coming into the wilderness would be in tune with walking and following the trash and recycling rules and etc. NOPE. Not even a little. The laziness is insane. I mean, you can watch people who have just biked 50 miles through the park throw their trash on the ground instead of walking 10 feet to a trash can. Anyways, this mindset is incredible and is outlined beautifully at Glacier point. We are waiting in line to park and people are 'Logan-passing' it like crazy. They are fighting with each other and waiting for people to leave and blocking spaces and etc. There is also a bathroom with a line at least 15-20 people long. We assure ourselves it is worth it to try to park and go see the point and keep waiting patiently. As we move along, we see another bathroom about 400 feet from the 1st bathroom. There is NO LINE. People who came here to hike and walk and enjoy the open space won't walk 400 feet to pee, they'd rather wait in line for 20 minutes. We keep going and guess what? There are 2 more levels of parking which are almost completely empty. We zoom up and park easily and take a few flights of stairs down passing the people waiting on the bottom lot for parking. It is just a strange phenomenon.
Glacier point was nice, but no where as gorgeous as Washburn. We are a bit disappointed, but that goes with our theme. We seem to love the stuff that others just pass by. In fact, on the way back down from Glacier point there is this field. This field was COVERED in yellow flowers and the smell was incredible and the sun was hitting the trees and the grass and it was just...everything. We stopped and spent some time in the meadow enjoying the flowers while others sped by. Also, by this point Gideon had shouted out "you have to remember how to pronounce Yosemite by saying 'Yo-semitty'!" Too bad he finally got it right, I liked it better his way.
We finish the park up pretty early (around 1pm) after 6 hours in the park. We head to the hotel which is not far and we get inside, change and go straight to the pool. It is busy again but we're getting used to other peoples' pee, snot, jumping and screaming so we find our own corner of the pool and enjoy. The beds were so comfortable after the last few nights and the AC was pumping. We are in heaven. We shower and then head to another place that we've been wanting to go - Texas Roadhouse. Just like the Olive Garden, I put our names on a waiting list and when we arrive it is a 40-minute wait but we are seated immediately. Also just like the Olive Garden, we eat two rolls each (they are SO GOOD) and each eat a few bites of dinner before giving up.
A few other notes:
1. We have not yet been to an area or state that did not have murals painted on walls in towns. Why don't we have this in Boston? They are all gorgeous. You'll see them throughout our pictures. The charm is adorable and it makes it feel a bit more homey and less clinical.
2. Did you know that Subway has the most restaurants throughout the country than any other restaurant? Us neither, until we noticed there is ALWAYS a Subway in every town we go through. One broken down gas station, a Subway and an Ace hardware. Did you know Ace hardware was national? Me neither. It is everywhere right next to Subway. There is one other store that is everywhere...Dollar general. Between these three stores, you can get everything you need to survive apparently.
Summary: Yo-sem-meat is gorgeous, still deer everywhere, we're not influencers and waitlists are the key. Ended the day at Townplace Suites, Clovis, CA.