Feeling right at home in Yosemite

Half my lifetime ago (OMG? really ? wasn't that just a few years ago?)  I toured California with a group of exchange students.  It was great fun, good international bonding, sleep was for the bus, ... the end of the tour was 4 days relaxing in Yosemite valley.  Before I got there I had never heard of it and I had consistently wrongly pronounced the place (cfr Dutchspeaking readers, it is not stressed on the "mit" like 'might' but on the te at the end with a very short i ...josemmitieee).   But it was a great place to come "home" at, hang out and recover some energy from all the touring and lack of sleep.  I remember hanging out on a little beach along the river most of the days after an early morning hike to the top of some falls and a picture walk with a Kodak tour guide, watching the sun rises above Half Dome.   Glorious memories of gorgeous landscapes.

I was so excited to go back and be there with my little family this time.  Unfortunately not to hang out and relax for 4 days but to enjoy and suck in the breathtaking landscapes nevertheless.  And breathtaking they still are....oh the glorious El Capitan,...the massiveness of Half Dome, the beauty of the multiple falls, ... Wow, just wow.

Besides driving around in the valley we also stopped on our way out of the national park at Mariposa Grove where we had a pre-taste of of some giant sequoia trees.   The next day we'd see many many more.