Yosemite!!

We had an absolutely amazing time in Yosemite. We were there for 3 days (2 nights), and it was really the perfect camping trip. The first day we set up camp, and then drove into Yosemite Valley to visit the gift shop and see some of the cool views from the Valley. We also stopped by The Ahwahnee Hotel, which is BEAUTIFUL! I'd never seen it before, because we always just tent camp... but it's a really cool hotel (I still think I'd prefer to tent camp though... ). Then we headed back to our campsite, and enjoyed some grilled turkey burgers for dinner, and Smores for dessert!

 The dining room inside The Ahwahnee

The 2nd day we woke up pretty early, and had a really lovely breakfast of pancakes and bacon, and then we drove to the Tunnel View area and enjoyed the beautiful scenery there. The trailhead for our hike (to Artist Point) was across the street from Tunnel View, so we walked over there and started our hike nice and early before it got hot. The hike was pretty deserted, which was good (peaceful!) and bad (bears?). Little Addison ended up getting pretty tired of hiking fairly quickly (she has little legs!), so my parents headed back down the mountain with her a little bit before halfway. Cassidy (a hiking champ!), Brad, Amanda, McGee and I all kept hiking, and after we reached the part of the hike where we had to turn onto another trail, we saw some fellow hikers that said they'd stopped because they'd just seen a bear. So... that made me, Amanda, and Cassidy quite nervous. Brad and McGee wanted to go find the bear, but they eventually decided they should just stick with the rest of us. We continued hiking for a tiny bit more, but I was feeling like we should head back, and Amanda and Cassidy agreed with me. And then I saw a pile of bear poop, and that clinched it for me: We turned around and headed back down the mountain. We didn't get to reach Artist Point, but we still had some really amazing views of Half Dome and El Capitan on our hike back down the mountain.

Brad, Amanda, Cassidy, and Addison at the Tunnel View parking area

Yosemite!! That's El Capitan on the left, and that's Half Dome in the distance.

 Me and McGee and Tunnel View! 

The view on the way back from our hike! Not too shabby.

The bear poop! Just in case any of you were curious what bear poop looks like...

More views from our hike... That's El Capitan in the distance.

We were singing (mostly "Let It Go"...) to keep any bears away.

 After our semi-failed hike (it was still really cool and beautiful, and we didn't meet any bears... so I call that a success I think?), we met back up with the rest of our family, and then drove into the Valley for a nice lunch. Then we started the drive up to Glacier Point! I love Glacier Point. The views are spectacular.

Half Dome. I can't believe my dad, brother and I climbed that years ago! 

So beautiful! 

The whole family! 

Another view from Glacier Point! 

After Glacier Point, we drove to Bridalveil Falls and did the mini-hike there (McGee hiked all the way up to where the Falls usually are, but with the severe drought that California is in, the waterfall was barely a trickle this year. After Bridalveil, we were quite exhausted and ready to head back to camp. We had a really awesome time back at camp eating dinner (hobo chicken and steak!), playing dominos, making Smores, and just relaxing by the fire. It was really perfect :)  

Mom and Dad!

Addison and McGee! She was having fun talking his ear off. 

Cassidy!! That's McGee's bandana. She said she had a headache, so McGee got his bandana wet and tied it on her head! Her headache magically disappeared after that. 

 On the final day in Yosemite, we just packed up our campsite and headed home! We all had an amazing time, and it's been far too long since we've all gone camping!! I loved every second of it.