Yosemite

Breakfast turned out to be included at the Yosemite gateway so we took full advantage. It had one of those make your own pancake machines but fear of looking an idiot and a queue made us lothe to use it, so we stuck to the usual bacon and muffins, then checked out. The crystal cave mozzies had done their job, especially on Vicky who was sporting a bubonic plague like appearance with huge pustules all over. 

It was a thirty minute drive to the Yosemite gate and by the time we arrived at 10am the queues were building, although we only had a 10min wait. Our plan was to go straight to the valley and park up today, as parking is apparently a nightmare, then use the shuttle buses, and to stop at the viewpoints tomorrow. We had brought an old friend with us to guide us round, remember Cam, the driving tourist App from Canada? Sadly, I had forgotten to download him on my phone and he didn't know where he was on my iPad so we couldn't get the full experience. He did tell us a couple of things though, such as to park at the falls car park. We decided to ignore him though, and spent half an hour trying to park in the village, then driving round shouting at each other because we didn't know where we were, before finally popping out at the falls car park. Good old Cam! So, being there, we went to the falls first. Yosemite falls are, as you know, the highest falls in North America, and they are spectacular. Photos don't do them justice, but here you go

We walked over a bridge right at the bottom and got soaked with the spray,  it was great in the heat. Then we walked across the meadow at the bottom of the valley which had a great view of the surrounding mountains. 

After buying a sandwich for lunch we caught the shuttle up to the mirror lake trailhead. A short hike up an exciting riverside path bought us to the lake itself, and guess what, it was like a mirror! We also saw a snake gliding across the water. That was fun. I decided not to paddle after that. 

Edit

Back at the shuttle stop wasn't so much fun as we had to wait 40mins in the baking heat! We eventually got back to the car and drove the short distance to the Yosemite view lodge. Similar name, different location. We were now at the west gate, not the south as before. This hotel was a big thing with loads of blocks, think Butlins. The room was nice and big though with a small kitchen and a balcony. The bad thing about it was that nothing was included. We had to pay for Internet and breakfast, the latter being $18 each! So we settled for pizza and beer for tea sat on the balcony (there was a pizza parlour on site) and bought some cereal pots for breakfast at the site shop. 

Talking of beer. Ian bought three nice looking cans, only to open one and find it was tomato juice with lime and salt and some kind of alcohol! It was disgusting, so he took them back and they gave him hismoney back. I wouldn't have had the cheek.    And so to bed, with me dozing off to the sounds of American Antiques roadshow. 

Hotel watch

Nice big room, plus balcony, but no conditioner and really noisy air con. Also no internet or breakfast.  5/10

Song for the day

River deep mountain high - Ike and Tina Turner