Escapades as a Burns: West Coast Trip: Yosemite Nat'l Park & Sonoma Valley (Day 6-7)

Our next stop was Yosemite Nat'l Park! Ryan was very excited to come here. It was breathtakingly gorgeous. It made both of us stop and think about the world around us. The beautiful natural world that God has created for all of us. There were so many "photo" moments during that day. We would love to go back and spend three or four days just hiking around Yosemite.

By the way, Yosemite is a strange word to me. I initially thought that it was pronounced yo-sa-mite a few years ago when I first heard about the park. Well, I was very incorrect. It is pronounced yo-sim-uh- tea. Strange, I know, but kind of neat because it is unique.

Soon after you enter the park, you start to experience the beauty of Yosemite with the "tunnel view."

Tunnel View

Us at the Tunnel View

Bridalveil Falls was very pretty and misty :). We did climb a few rocks to get closer, but I didn't want to risk my life to climb the hundreds of rocks it would take to get really close to the waterfall. Especially when Ryan saw an older almost bust her head open when we she was coming back to the rock free lookout. Waterfalls are just not something you see in Ohio very often, so I always enjoy taking it all in.

Bridalveil Falls

The Falls

Ry's Prestigious Look :)

There are so many places we went that I won't bore you with all of the details. I'll just show you the pictures instead ;).

El Capitan

Tuolumne Meadows


Another View of T. Meadows


Tenaya Lake

Panoramic of Washburn Point (you probably can't see it, but 5 waterfalls were visible from here!)

Us @ Washburn Point

Half Dome

Half Dome again :)

That night, we were supposed to camp at the Wawona Campgrounds. Well, it was around 30 degrees at night and we weren't fully equipped to sleep in temperatures that low...also our backs were both hurting from the night before since we basically slept on the ground. So, we stayed in the car! I know, not exactly romantic or ideal, but we were warm and that's all we cared about. We had a nice dinner at the Wawona Hotel (beef pot roast and warm bread) and stuck it out in the car that night. I can't tell you how many times I giggled because of the circumstances.

The next day we headed to Wine Country! It was about a 6 hour drive up there from Yosemite (are you seeing a theme yet?!). We stayed at the Timber Cove Inn in Jenner, CA, thanks to a recommendation from one of my girlfriend's who honeymooned there a few years ago. It's rustic, but cute, and we had an oceanview room. Loved it! We had a delicious dinner and the best beer I think I have ever tasted. Yes, I said beer and we were in wine country. We tried the wine too and just as yummy. The wine and beer (summer solstice, I believe) were both made about an hour from where we were staying. We met this interesting couple that we'll probably never forget. They were very quirky and were convinced that Ryan knew something about UFO sightings after hearing he works at WPAFB. We had a great time relaxing and taking it all in. The coast was clear that evening too and the hotel employees said it hadn't been clear for weeks, so we lucked out! Again!