On the road to Yosemite

Road-To-Yosemite-One, originally uploaded by Simian Cephalopod.

This shot was taken just off of the highway on the way to Yosemite. The whole drive is fantastic and full of vistas like this one. It was a bit funny though, while surrounded with this level of beauty, they still had the gall to post signs for "Lookout Point Ahead" sights every few miles or so... just in case you weren't looking around the rest of the time. I didn't fully appreciate the reason for these sings until I was the one driving. While in some cases being the designated driver is due to the fact that your entourage is looking for a night out, in this case it means you only get to look at the view when they do post those signs for the Lookout Points so you have a reason to tell those in the car, "I'm sorry I need to pull over for a second". Luckily, Kerry was never one to complain about getting a closer look!

Roadside Antics

Roadside 4, originally uploaded by craftyK.

Ah, Romero Imports. we saw your giant metal creatures and could not say no. The owner was kind enough to let us see inside his store (house?), where there was a perfect life size sculpture of a lion and a lioness with a cub in her mouth. He told us in his soft Eastern-European accented voice that if we ever are in the market to buy such an object, that he can make "anything. Anything, anything is possible". It was somehow reassuring to hear. This is a picture of the creature from the black lagoon, I believe. or maybe a giant Ape. I'm not sure.

Entering Yosemite

Entering Yosemite, originally uploaded by Simian Cephalopod.

Hot tub at Indian peak ranch

Hot tub at Indian peak ranch, originally uploaded by craftyK.

Isaac in the hot tub at sunset... yeah, it was nice.

Yosemite!!!

Taft1, originally uploaded by craftyK.

For our 10-year anniversary we decided to go to Yosemite. We stayed at a secluded mountaintop ranch in Mariposa about an hour outside the park. The park was gorgeous, and although the weather was quite hot, the crowds were not bad during the week.

On Friday we had sweaty pizza at Curry Village (in Yosemite valley), and realized what a mistake it would have been to battle the amusement park level crowds on a Saturday. Let me put it this way... there were a lot of RVs. Buy stock in Cruise America. Buy it now. To hell with gas prices.

On Saturday we cruised Hwy 49 visiting towns that time forgot (since the gold rush anyway). We will post a few photos here, but check our Flickr pages for the real tour. Oh, and yes, the cowboy hat is QUITE sensible in 100+ degree heat.

This image is from the rim at Taft Point. A terrifically terrifying hike for acrophobes... like us. The big adrenaline dump that we got when man next to us dared his seven-year-old to do a handstand on the edge didn't help either.