Day 3...
Today is our 12th anniversary. Went to Crane Flatts in Yosemite for coffee... nothing better than coffee and heated seats first thing in the morning in the wilderness.
Went straight to the visitor center and was able to figure out that the best way to get around the park was through the shuttle system.
We watched the Yosemite movie... it always gets us ready to see the park and excited to explore. Kiddos and John Muir.
First stop was to see Vernal Falls. It was a steep climb up but it was worth it to feel the mist spray onto us from the bridge.
There was also a drinking fountain and Ainsley said it was the best water she’d ever tasted... in fact it was her highlight of the trip. The kiddos finished up their Jr. Ranger booklets while we visited the Indian Museum and watched arrowheads being formed. I loved the baskets that were made by the Ahwahnechee Indians. (sorry thought I had a photo)
We squeezed in a ranger program about Black Bears and visited the Ansel Adams gallery, which I could have spent the rest of the day in admiring the photos.
This deer was just hanging out at the visitor center... munching leaves and watching everyone...
We started catching on to Yosemite and found the best time for a hike was around 6ish (while everyone was eating dinner) so we took one more hike up to Mirror Lake and were pleasantly surprised at how much more relaxing it was.
Picture of half dome with mirror lake...
Half dome reflecting in Mirror Lake.
We decided to splurge on dinner... in the Mountain Room it had a view of the falls and was pretty fancy for us campers. You know cloth napkins and real silverware... something not seen at our campsite!
I had the Halibut with carrot and cauliflower puree on a bed of hash browns with crispy onions and bacon…mmm…Stewart had Prime Rib with a southwestern corn puree and green beans also mmm.
Kiddos had spaghetti and were most excited about the ice cream and wafer cookie. ..we had lemon blueberry cheesecake... tart and not very sweet but refreshing.
A great 12th anniversary and a better day in Yosemite.