Northern California Day 7 - Yosemite

9:45pm - sitting in the lounge with a million teenagers loudly playing some stupid game after a long but fairly peaceful day. Took the morning slowly, which resulted in having to wait a little for breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Then we technically left the park and set out for the nelder sequoia grove, since the main grove in Yosemite near us is closed for restoration. The grove was quiet and peaceful with a few really amazing giant trees. One was 71 feet in circumference! Really amazing! Sadly on the roads there, there were huge burned areas and it still even smelled. Apparently fires are important for forest regeneration, but it's still sad.

On our was back we were going to stop at a pizzeria we drove by, but it doesn't open for lunch. We settled for gross sandwiches at the "general store." Came back to the hotel to rest for a bit. We pondered walking around the meadow behind the hotel, but it was about 95 degrees and we didn't really feel like. then got ready/dressed up for dinner back in the valley at the Ahwanee hotel, THE luxury resort in the park. Very swanky! Bought a little ceramic dish made by a local artist in the shop and wandered around the hotel for a bit before dinner. The dining room is just as gorgeous as everything makes it sound. Had prime rib, which was delicious. Great view out the window into the park. 

We were trying to make it back to the tunnel viewpoint for sunset but we had to wait a little for the check and missed the best light by probably 10-15 minutes. Still gorgeous though!!! On the ride back after the sun set, the sky turned gorgeous orange/purple.

Can't believe I have to go home tomorrow!

P.S. Still unable to really upload full sets of photos from the last few days due to the slow connection, but some are on my Flickr photo stream here (mostly from my phone) https://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/ I'll upload them all when I get home!