Chauffeur

Taylor took her first "behind-the-wheel" with her instructor and is now officially permitted to drive.

I kind of like being chauffeured around!

Yosemite Day 3

 The scenery got better with each day!  Today we drove about 45 minutes into the valley.  We stopped at the Tunnel View parking lot for our first views of the valley.

 Stunning!

 We found parking pretty easy and took the shuttle bus to Camp 4 for the hike up towards Upper Yosemite Falls.  We knew we wouldn't go all of the way up, but wanted to make it to the views at Columbia Rock.  The weather was beautiful for great views, but was a little warm for hiking.  Luckily, most of this hike was through shady trees, but it was full of steep switchbacks which wore us out quickly!!

 We stopped often for photo ops and drink breaks.

 The landscape was truly magical

 and I don't even think the pictures do it justice!

 We have traveled to a lot of places, but Yosemite Valley is one of the most awe inspiring!

 Our legs were like Jello, but this view of Half Dome made it all worth it!  The hike down only took about 40 minutes and was so much easier.

Once at the bottom, we followed the Lower Yosemite Falls trail for a view of the tallest waterfall in the US.  What a site!

 Thanks to the recent rain and snow, the falls were flowing very strongly down the rock.

 It was a busy holiday weekend in the valley, but the crowds didn't cause any issues.

 We walked a little more and then took the shuttle to Yosemite Village for a delicious pizza lunch and ice cream at the general store before leaving the valley.

We spent our last few hours of daylight playing near the river by our cabin before one last dinner, fire and round of s'mores.  It was the perfect weekend getaway and we are already looking forward to planning our next hiking weekend...

Yosemite Day 2

We prepared a delicious spread of bacon, eggs, toast and fruit to get us ready for our big day of hiking. I loved the view from the kitchen window! 

 We decided to walk to the shuttle bus stop for our day at Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias.  We passed our cabin's main office

 and this adorable covered bridge on the way to the Wawona General Store.  We took the shuttle about 6 miles to the main parking lot of Mariposa Grove.

 We set out to make it to the top of the trail to see the Upper Grove and Fallen Wawona Tunnel Tree.

Along the way, we spotted a group deer feeding in the grasses

and made stops at all of the major landmarks.  This one is called Bachelor and Three Graces.

 The most amazing was the Grizzly Giant!

 The last one in the Lower Grove was called the California Tunnel Tree…just amazing!

 The higher we got, the foggier and eerier it got.  It was actually pretty cool weather for this part of the hike (about 1 1/2 miles up).

 At the top, we first saw the Mariposa Grove Museum

and finally made it to Wawona Fallen Tunnel Tree.  It was huge!! Our legs were pretty tired so we rested and enjoyed a snack before making our way back down.

 The rain started to fall which just enhanced the experience.  We went down a different trail so we could see the rest of the famous sequoias.  Clothespin Tree was the perfect name for this one

and the last was Faithful Couple.

   We got drenched waiting for the shuttle back to Wawona and still had another mile or two to walk back to our cabin, but we still had smiles on our faces!

 No one seemed to mind the rain, but we were pretty wiped out.

 This is the river that ran behind our cabin.  We all showered, started a fire, grilled some burgers and hot dogs and enjoyed more s'mores before calling it a night.

Yosemite Day 1

I'm normally the vacation planner in our house, but Matt really wanted to plan a hiking trip in Yosemite.  He handled it all…booking the cabin, mapping our route, planning our meals and organizing our daily hikes.  He did a great job!

 He booked a cabin in The Redwoods in Yosemite in the town of Wawona.  It is just inside the south gate of Yosemite and sits right along the river. Our cabin was a 2 bedroom 1 bath with a beautiful deck, cozy fireplace and gorgeous scenery all around.

 We were able to check in early, unload the truck and then head out for our first set of hikes.

We started just up the road from our cabin at Chilnualna Falls.

 I constantly had my eye up hill after seeing Mountain Lion Spotting signs all around, but luckily we never saw any!  We followed a steep trail up along the stream

 to the falls.  

A beautiful first hike!

 Then we drove a few miles Meadow Loop Trail.  This was a 4 mile hike around the golf course and meadow in Wawona.

We loved that the only sounds you could hear were birds chirping and the wind blowing through the trees.

We had a few tense moments and laughs when we thought we had gotten lost, but we successfully completed the hike and 

 ended at the Wawona Hotel before going back to our cabin.  Matt grilled steaks and we had a wonderful dinner together.  We all made note that it was the first time we have sat together at the dinner table in quite a while.  

We ended each day with a fire in the fireplace and s'mores.  

She Passed!

And so it begins!  After weeks of online training and studying on the DMV website, Taylor earned her Driver's Permit this afternoon.  In the next 6 months, she will log countless hours behind the wheel in preparation for her license test in November.

My Greatest Blessings

After waiting up late for Taylor last night, I was happy to have a lazy morning to sleep in and relax.  Matt surprised me with donuts, flowers and a bag of Adidas workout gear and Taylor and Allison make cute cards and this fun pedicure bucket!

Around lunch time we headed down to SD for a few new adventures Matt had researched.  Our first stop was the Spruce Street Suspension Bridge in Banker's Hill.

We have driven by this area hundreds of times and I didn't even know it existed.  It swayed pretty good 

but provided gorgeous views of Arroyo Canyon!

Our 2nd stop was Quince Street bridge.  This was more of a trestle bridge with really cool detail and a easy walking trail.

 I was impressed that he found these hidden gems!

We spent the rest of the afternoon in the Gaslamp…getting ice cream at Ghiradelli, shopping at Horton Plaza, walking along the trolley path and eating an early dinner at RA Sushi.  I am one very blessed Mom and am so grateful for a thoughtful husband who puts effort into planning a perfect Mother's Day and for 2 beautiful girls who bring me joy every day!  Some days I complain about being a taxi service, an ATM, a maid or a counselor, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  It is the greatest job I will ever have and I love them so, so much!