Yosemite - Driving There

Even though #Covid19 cancelled all our travel plans for the year, we still wanted to have some time with the boys this summer, so they can have summer memories, and have a feeling of having had a summer vacation.

When we met Archana and Family for Miraya’s birthday at the end of May, I had pitched a group vacation with all of us, giving us all more time together than the occasional weekend visit. The suggestion was well received, so we all coordinated this trip to Yosemite.

The first time we had visited Yosemite, was almost 10 years ago, soon after we had moved to california, and we had my parents, as well as Archana come visit us from NJ and Texas respectively. This time, was a re-union of sorts, with larger families added. We stayed in Wawona that time, and remembered that we had long drives to go into the Valley, and had previously opted to not visit Tuolumne because of said long drive. We decided to try and stay a little closer this time, and found a nice house in Yosemite West to stay in for the extended weekend.

On Thursday morning, we packed up and drove to Brentwood. After a delicious lunch with parents, we loaded Parents and their supplies into our car and began our drive to Yosemite. The drive was mostly event free, and only had brief stops for snacks, group photos and views.

We entered Yosemite via the Big Oak Flat entrance. The views were spectacular on our way in, and we were shocked and stunned by the devastation from the fires in 2018, that caused the closure of the park, and cancellation of our summer Yosemite plans with mahesh, Suba and Family that year. Some of the burned areas were obviously visible. We nevertheless enjoyed the teasing views of half-dome, and the grandeur of the mountains as we drove into the valley, stopping several times to take pictures and take in the views.

Aarav was getting a little restless with all the stops for views, and was too excited to reach the vacation house, so we curtailed further stops along the merced river, and drove straight to Yosemite West, to our home for the long weekend - “Cedar Star”

We scoped out the place, drank some tea on the deck, rode the elevator a few times, and settled in for a nice dinner of Pasta, while enjoying the evening skies and the lovely outdoors.

Amma and I went for a walk through the neighborhood, and had a lovely conversation, while spotting deer, and admiring a very beautiful sunset.

Archana and family were leaving the bay area a little later and would end up arriving at Cedar Star at around 10.30 pm that night.