Sadly, we said goodbye to our cozy little cabin on the side of the hill. We all agreed that each park is special in its own way, but so far Yosemite is our favorite. Little did we know, we had yet to see some of the best parts of it! We took Tioga Road east across the park. OK folks, I know I say this a lot, but this really was the prettiest drive yet.
We stopped four times in the first hour to look at the views and take pictures.
Each turn of the road brought a new and different breathtaking view. My favorite spot (of the whole trip so far) was Tenaya Lake. It was a beautiful, crystal clear lake nestled in the middle of the snow-capped mountains. This is a place of true peace.
God has his eye on this one!
It is 50 degrees outside, but heck yeah my family has to put "their feets" in the water!
Driving up a little farther, we spotted some tiny specks on the side of a huge, sheer cliff. Mountain climbers - now that is the real deal right there.
Toulumne Meadows was our next beautiful sight.
Then: what the heck - SNOW!!! It is July, and there is fresh snow on the side of the road.
Well hello there, Mr. tadpole!
So we finally make it down the Tioga Pass. This stretch was a little tense. Our brakes shutter something fierce on steep grades - not the best feeling when you are turning around shape curves with 1000 foot drop-offs.
The next section of our drive was fun and unexpected. The road twisted and turned so much that we were joking we were on a roller coaster. We had already drugged SE leaving Yosemite, but these roads even got to Lily. Little did we know what was to come...
A little farther down the road, we see a sign that says "dips." Hmm, what do they mean by that? They mean, "hold on folks, and get ready for the ride!" We literally had hands in the air and were screaming. You would get to the top of a hill and just pray the road continued on the other side because you sure couldn't see it until you were flying down it and your stomach was still back at the top.
Now that was fun, and it went on for 5 miles!
The White Mountains
Welcome (back) to Nevada.
Time for the desert. Guess what - the desert really does shimmer. Just like on TV, it shimmers!!! We saw tons of small sand funnels and tumbleweeds. And a coyote crossed the road - a real live coyote. Unfortunately, something not so alive was in its mouth.
Miles and miles of straight, open road. What happens when you get to the end of that stretch? Miles and miles of straight, open road. What happens when you have to go to the bathroom? You wait 106 miles until you come upon a gas station! That stretch of the ride was not so much fun.
So we are finally getting close. The directions tell us to turn off on a dirt road and follow the signs because GPS does not work well on these roads. This dirt road went on and on.
Of course we see a snake as we pull in. I much prefer bunny rabbits and chipmunks as greeters!
Finally we made it to Hidden Canyon Ranch!! Or did we?
We follow the "sign" to the lodge. We pass tractors, barns, horse stalls but still no lodge. Where the heck in the world are we? Finally, I recognize the building ahead as the lodge from the internet. We are greeted by two dogs running to see us. Still not sure we are in the right place because we feel like we are walking into someone's home. Thankfully, we were right.
We were set to stay in the courtyard rooms, which were about a mile down the road. This is a very interesting set up. There is a common area and then 10 rooms surrounding a courtyard. The rooms were nice and spacious. This wasn't exactly what I was picturing but it was growing on us.
The girls were begging to go back up to the playground area near the lodge. I was a bit testy after the long car ride, so James took them off to play for a bit. While unloading we met a nice couple and we discussed attending a night sky program at Great Basin National Park. An hour later they knock on our door to let me know that tonight was the only night for the program. The next program was the day after we leave. Oh my! We weren't planning on this after a long day of driving. James and the girls are still up by the lodge and I have no way of getting in touch with them. At first, I was mad that James didn't take his phone, but then realized it wouldn't have mattered anyway since we didn't have service out here. I waited and waited and waited. I though about walking the road up to the lodge but then I thought about that snake. I was pretty frustrated with myself - after all the planning I did and I almost messed this up. This program was the main reason we chose to come to this National Park. Finally, they pull in. We rush to put on warm clothes and fly back down the LONG dirt road to make the program in time. We did, and it was worth it. The number of stars were infinite. Great Basin is known as the best place in North America to view stars and I totally see why. Truly amazing. They had telescopes set up and we could take turns looking at various things: Saturn, a double star, and even another galaxy (far, far away). The Milky Way lit up the night sky. We saw shooting starts. We saw satellites scooting across the sky. I only got one picture of waiting for the program to start. They are pretty serious about no white light in the viewing area.
We didn't get back to our room until 11:30. We all fell right into bed. Now that was some kid of day.
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