10th July 2011 – Yosemite Weekend 🙂

Late on Wednesday, we decided to see if we could get a hotel room near Yosemite National Park in California (approx 200 miles away from the house) as we have promised ourselves that we will go, but we have just never got around to it.  Simon found a reasonable deal on in a hotel that claimed to be just 2 miles from the park entrance, so we decided to go for it.  We put the bikes on the carrier on the car, popped in the trailers (for Elly and Olly), packed an overnight bag and set off on Friday evening.

The hotel was perfectly located with the room overlooking the Meced River – there were white water rapids right outside the veranda.  Frankly the hotel could not really have been better placed.  Unfortunately the food in the hotel was less than optimal (read crap really), but by morning, we got some breakfast snacks, jumped in the car and set off.  15 minutes later we were in the park (having paid $20 for a 7 day pass) making our way round past El Capitan towards Yosemite Village.  We were met by one of the most tremedous sets of waterfalls that were still flowing (ice from the winter supplies the falls with their water) over the 2,425 ft high granite (the 6th highest falls in the world apparently)

We took the bikes and cycled all around the valley floor (special bike paths were in place and so we did around 10 miles of cycling with the boys in tow) and stopped for a few minutes to take in various marvels – none significantly prettier than Mirror Lake.

We got back on Saturday night so we still have enjoyed a whole day at home – well we went into Los Gatos with the folks to the farmers market, had some lunch and then relaxed at home.

Simon went out first thing this morning with Barbara for the second ride, and while they got to the top of the hill by the Summit Bike shop in Los Gatos, Simon had to stop 4 times.  The route down was tres exhilarating, but his fitness level needs to radically improve if the overall experience is to stay high 🙂

Just 4 weeks until we are on our way to Maui – the countdown is ON.. 🙂