Yosemite Pines

Trip Start Jun 12, 2008

Trip End Jun 20, 2008

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Where I stayed

Yosemite Pines RV Resort and Family Lodging Groveland (aka. Yosemite Pines RV Park)

(Groveland hotels)

Flag of United States Mariposa, California
Monday, June 16, 2008

The next day, we headed east from the bay and inland towards Yosemite. Driving the middle of state it was getting very hot and not too exciting. I decided that it would be great to knock out a daytrip to the far end of Yosemite while in transit to the campground. So we headed to the Mariposa Grove on the south end of the park. Firstly, it took a pretty long time to get there. Second, there was no easy way to backtrack to the campground without either going way around or going through the park.

Before we dealt with that, we made it to Yosemite just in time to get into the parking lot at the Mariposa Grove of sequioa trees. I had been to redwood grove up north so I wasn't totally blown away but they were still very impressive. Yosemite has a few guided tram tours that are well worth the money. They are open top and drive right through the park taking you to the best spots. There are recorded tours as well as personal tours. The sequioas are not to missed especially if you've seen these types of trees. Redwoods are taller and seem to grow in more dense forests but these trees are fatter and are majestic.

Leaving the grove, we decided to go thru the park to the campground. Driving up and down 7,000 feet in an RV obviously is not a fun task and definitely not fast but we did it. The drive into Yosemite is beautiful but when you come out of that tunnel and see El Capitan ahead, it's amazing. The valley really is the most amazing natural site. The road winds down to the valley floor where you can walk along the Merced river and hike to waterfalls. We stopped a little but were intent on getting out while there was still light. There was road construction (even in Yosemite!) and we got stopped for a while trying to leave. As we were leaving I missed the turnoff sign that was hidden among the construction signs but Julie saw it right as we passed it. I stopped the RV and tried to see if I could still make it. I even started to back up. Bad idea and I'm glad I didn't run into the car behind me. But there was no way I was going to take the wrong road out of Yosemite. It was already near 8:00 pm, everyone was exhausted, and it was getting dark. I ended up turning around right there. This was my "idiot" moment and I couldn't care less. Sometimes you gotta be that guy who doesn't know what he's doing. But what should I care? I was driving a rented RV and obviously didn't know what I was doing. As it turns out, after I got the thing turned around there were several others who did the same thing.

After that near disaster, we weren't out of the woods - no pun intended. It still took over an hour to get to our campground in Groveland. As we were driving the brakes started burning so I had to move to gear shifting to slow down. I actually got the hang of it and was making great time. I was chasing the sun and for the most part made it to Groveland as it got completely dark. We found a campsite and setup for the night. Whew!