We left our campground in Marin and, yep, I left my heart in San Francisco! I’ve never been good at goodbyes, but today was especially hard to leave Sarah. I am so happy we were able to see her, but I did not want to leave.
Nevertheless, we forged ahead to Yosemite. Greg’s never been to Yosemite, and the last time I was here, I was a pre-schooler, so we weren’t quite sure what to expect. Yosemite is so iconic. What were we about to see??
First off, we didn’t realize how far off the beaten path is Yosemite. It was no short drive from Marin to our campground. Our next dilemma was that there was almost no satellite signal, which denied us the security of following GPS. Lastly, it is so so very dry in the mountains surrounding Yosemite. We drove through miles and miles of scorched trees and land. Very sad that this is the same scenario we’ve seen throughout our trip.
We’ve been talking about a trip to Yosemite since we were married 28 years ago. Too bad, we didn’t get here until now, because since the big fire 2 years ago, the face of Yosemite is distinctly different. While there are areas inside the park that are untouched by fire and therefore still green, the drought has dried up all waterfalls and lakes. We wish we could have seen it in its heyday.
When we were nearing the end of our drive for the day, almost to our campground, we saw a lady standing right next to a huge buck, laying on the side of the road. Clearly someone had hit this regal creature, as he had blood streaming from his mouth. It was unclear if she was the one who hit him, or if she was trying to help him, but she was so close to him that if he mustered one last bit of strength, she would be history (deer can inflict mortal injuries on unsuspecting tourists by their hoofs or antlers, especially if they are in distress). With cars behind us, pressing us to keep going, we were not able to stop and help. We said a prayer that God would take him quickly and put him out of his misery. So sad.
With no GPS, we were so grateful we were able to find our campground, Yosemite Lakes, which was pretty nice (although there was no wifi nor satellite signal at all, unless we walked over to the campground lodge.) We tried to grab a bite to eat at Evergreen Lodge, at the recommendation of the RV Park office clerk. Unfortunately, the Evergreen didn’t serve dunch/linner. So we were out of luck to grab anything more than snacks from the General Store. We returned to our campground and there was a fun and festive live country music band playing at the outdoor pavilion.
Lots of families were enjoying the music and s’mores by the campfire…made me wish we had camped with the kids when they were little, but alas we chose house boating as our regular summer activity, and that choice yielded amazing and lasting family memories, so it all worked out for the best.
We turned in early, with excited anticipation to explore Yosemite tomorrow.
Navigating "New" Normals 