Yosemite National Park

Up until now, my favorite place we have visited was The Painted Desert, but now we have a new favorite.  Yosemite was awe-inspiring. We are camped 24 miles outside the park, and the ride in was very pretty.

But then we entered the park. The main reason we came here this year was because of the waterfalls. California had the wettest and snowiest winter in 20 years, resulting in amazing waterfalls. And April and May are the best months of the year to see waterfalls any year. We were not disappointed.

 Bridal Veil Falls

Another view of Bridal Veil

 Yosemite Falls, which is higher than twice the height of the Empire State Building.

The river below Yosemite Falls

 Every time you round a corner there is something spectacular to see.

We spent hours, just driving and stopping. Because of my bad knees we were not up to a big hike but still managed to walk a couple of mile-long mini-hikes. 

Unfortunately, Mariposa Grove ( with the best stand of Giant Sequoias in the country) is closed for renovations at present, so we will have to wait until Sequoia National Park to see those magnificent trees. We have just broken even on our National Parks Pass ($80) that I purchased a couple of weeks ago so we are going to use it as much as we can and get as much value out of it as possible.