Home Again Indeed: Road Trip Days 8, 9, 10

 YOSEMITE !!

We followed Susan out of Aptos on the five hour trip east to Yosemite, stopping for gas, a picnic lunch, and "bio breaks," though one restroom was locked, so Susan and I, uh, broke out in the brush. Her unhappy cats, in carriers in the backseat, with temperatures climbing toward 90, got aired out best we could.

We arrived at the office of The Redwoods of Yosemite. Susan claimed the cabin she has stayed in 14 times previously, while Paul and I claimed one down the road. 

Our Cabin, "Arnett's"

I would love to give you a tour of each of our days in the park, but as I am realizing, it all washed over me: Yosemite Falls, Bridal Fall, Glacier Point. I remain agog at what we saw but unable to repeat the many lessons and specifics that Susan pointed out. People started seeking her out, saying, "Wow, you know more than the rangers." And in some cases and places, she does. Paul absorbed all the specifics and is reporting them in his concise descriptions on Facebook.

Meanwhile, below are photos of our visit to Yosemite, May 31-2nd. (I'll pick up on our last day in the  next blog.) 

Before that, I have to note that on June 2nd, I received word that my dear dear friend from Findlay days and beyond, Lu Capra had died a few hours before.  And I will post my memories of her here. 

We took photos of us and falls, all of Yosemite Falls (the three of them). I loved Bridal Fall but don't seem to have a photo.

Susan tries to teach me topography

Susan's vegetarian t-shirt 
 

We stopped in the historic  Ahwahnee Hotel, looked around 

A lounge in the Ahwahnee

A view of the Ahwahnee Hotell obby from above

and had lunch, greatly reduced in presentation (plastic boxes) but not in the dining room views.

A view out of the Ahwahneed

Susan pointed out the three parts of Yosemite Falls, the three falls, and we took a meadow walk, hoping to see wildflowers, but they were all gone early this year because of the heat and lack of rain. It was hot everywhere every day we were there, the very beginning of June. 

The last night in the cabins, we ate on Susan's deck, finishing up the vegetables and babaganouj and pita and cheese we'd lived on most of the week, except one night when I made mushroom risotto and our Ahwahnee lunch, and we said good-bye, thinking it was for the last time before we meet up this year, probably on the opposite coast.

Our cabin had a notebook for visitors to record their impressions. I left with this: 

We came to accompany a dear friend who has been visiting here for 50 years. So for us, this was not so much about Yosemite as it is, as we age, about previous moments together, from the heights of Glacial Point and El Capitan or the foot of Bridal Fall, dinners and lunches catching up on all the books and movies and experiences of the past year. 

At every stop, we and some of the strangers we meet pause to comment on the year we have been through, shaking hands, even sometimes hugging. It's been a very hard year for the folks, especially for those who live alone and those who lost loved ones without a last hug. So it was the time here that was as precious as the setting. We hold tight to the memory of this time and place.