Yosemite..

After a pretty rubbish night's sleep I managed to drag my sorry backside out of bed around 7am so we could have a nice early start for Yosemite Valley Park.

Stopped off for sandwiches etc in Mariposa at a great little place recommended to us last night by one of the locals.

The drive from Mariposa to Yosemite Valley Park is literally one road. It's a perfect location esp when you want to be saving a bit of money over staying in the actual park. It took us roughly an hour to get to the car park but you are driving through about 5 miles of the park also.

WOW the sights that you see as you enter are just amazing. It was a bit of a grey rainy day to start off with but it didn't diminish the views at all.

After parking, the best way around, aside from actually on your feet of course, is to use the free shuttle buses to get you to a particular point you want and then you just jump off and go wander. There are a range of trails and hikes ranging from just under a mile (for a particular sight) and easy to 4 hours and very difficult!  We weren't exactly equipped for the very difficult ones so stayed with the smaller ones. 

We reckon we covered a good 8-9kms on foot the rest on a couple of buses. The drivers are really knowledgeable and so helpful as you would expect to be fair.

Dan walking away!

I really don't know what I can say about Yosemite as I am just not eloquent enough to describe it. It is breathtaking and mindblowing. The sheer size of the mountains is like  nothing I have ever seen before. I did get a pic of Dan walking away so that you could get some comparison to him vs the trees vs the mountains! (still having issues putting my pics on here..Dan blames Apple! Anyway, he is in charge of getting some pics on this post now!!)
There's just not much more I can say about the place as it all has to be seen. But I know I will never forget it. Every bend brought a new vista.. every 'short cut' brought another one even of the same mountain(s). We saw a family of deer grazing and squirrels so tame they would come up to you!
The weather seemed to change all the time we were there too, from grey and rainy to just cloudy to sunny back to cloudy and so on.
Apparently it can take 6 days to climb El Capitan and the climbers sleep in little hammocks that they set up in the rocks??? Many don't make it and just have to give up.

I reckon though that today was the best ever view whilst eating lunch I have ever had.. ooh and a dam fine sandwich it was too!!

Lunchtime view..

We left the park after about 6ish hours and about 10 mins into the drive home I realised i was just too tired to drive. I pulled over and Dan had to take over - for the first time (properly) that he has ever driven abroad!  I was only just about to give him some pointers and tips before I crashed out!  I only dozed for about 5 minutes at a time but it meant he had to crack on and of course he was totally fine. Worked a treat really as he got over any nerves he might have had and really enjoyed it!

So back in Mariposa for the night we stepped out for a couple of drinks at 'The Alley' which was lovely and then went for dinner at Chester St Dinner house.. A proper good old American stylee restaurant. We had said all day we wanted basically an all round 'American' dinner.. you know a stereotypical meal. Dan had a burger (the size of which was ridiculous.. not like a piled up thing just one big mahoosive  burger with the trimmings) and I had country fried chicken!  Oh my it was delicious for both of us.. YUM!!!
We headed then to this little bar we had heard about called 'the hideout saloon'. This really was somewhere you had to know where to find (thankfully one of the guys last night explained how to find the entrance). hmm it was a bit bizarre to say the least.  The barmaid introduced herself to us and then told everyone (3 other people) who we were and then Dan got called straight over by this guy sat in the corner to try 'the strongest beer he had ever had'... It was a glass of port!!!??!!
Ha ha.. Then he starts saying how he wanted an English penny and it all culminated in me tripping over to join in and show them all the sterling coins in general operation (bizarrely I happened to have them all in my purse). We told them he could have them and he was bloody over the moon!
Many conversations ensued and I got some great tips for our next destination off one of the other guys.
Next thing we know the guy in the corner is demanding a beer drinking contest with one of the other guys which we were going to hang around and watch (well film!). Anyway, when I get told by his cousin's sisters brother in law (no joke) to only stay for a short while and then make a fastmove, you know its probably best to just leave especially as they were still 'discussing' the rules! So we did.....!!! Love Mariposa!!!