Yosemite – The Great American Road Trip

The first leg of The Great American Road Trip was from Seattle to Yosemite. Warning: This is a long post; full of great photos from our cell phones and Canon camera that capture our awesome trip. 🙂

 

One of my husband’s favorite books is On the Road and I think he planned this trip channeling his long-suppressed beatnik.

Like I said in the intro HERE, this was the perfect situation where we had the opportunity to actually take our time and cross the continent and visit some remarkable places.

Moving out of Hawaii was hard work and is the equivalent of an international move in terms of shipping cars, household goods, booking flights, etc. By the time we landed in Seattle, we needed a few days at Fort Lewis with my sister’s family to recover and help them move across the post. The timing worked out perfectly; we were there in time to help out and not just be uninvited houseguests (haha!)

(Goodbye Hawaii, Hello Washington!  We were exhausted at this point!)

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Joseph was thrilled to spend time with his cousins at Ft. Lewis with their matching pajamas!

 

With Kristen’s move pretty much complete, we started pushing south. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize until we sat in traffic for four hours in Portland, that it was the Friday before the fourth of July long weekend. Note to potential road trippers – Portland may have the worst traffic in the US but is worth the visit, Maybe…Just plan to go sometime other than Fourth of July weekend.

The trip down I-5 was pretty much a blur, and we spent the night in Medford, OR. Looking back, I wish we would have taken more time in this region and stopped off at Mt. Rainier and Crater Lake but, even though we were road trip bums, we still had nightly reservations and timelines to keep.

We made the conscious [although slightly uninformed] decision to stay in the Eastern Sierras and enter Yosemite from the East. We got off the interstate by Mount Shasta and drove the scenic byways through the high Sierras – which is an incredible drive with lots to see.

McCloud is a cool little historic logging town that was a pleasant surprise, Tahoe could be a vacation all by itself, and Lassen National Volcanic Park is a lesser known but beautiful National Park.

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White Mountain Cafe was a cute spot we had breakfast in McCloud the first morning and it was delicious.

For more info on McCloud, California click HERE.

 

June Lake, California

Our reservations were at Lake Front Cabins in June Lake, California. The area around June Lake was retro, in a good way, and the scenery is stunning just like Yosemite Park. They claim that June Lake was the area old Hollywood used to go to get away from the crowds. I would describe it as old Hollywood glamour meets 1960’s Airstream RV parks.

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The community grilling area at our cabin by June Lake.

To read more about June Lake, California click HERE.

Our plan for “long stops’ was typically three nights: the first night after a day of travel, one “Mom” day, one “Dad” day, and then continue driving the next morning. Short stops were just overnighters to get to the next point.

Yosemite “Dad” Day: Of course, we had to see Yosemite Valley. We were fortunate because Tioga Pass opened a few days prior to our arrival thanks to the snow finally melting enough for vehicle traffic. (The winter of 16-17 was the best for snow in the Sierras in a long time. Our last trip to the Sierras was an epic bust… skiing at Tahoe in one of the worst droughts ever).

Yosemite

The entire park, from the drive east through Yosemite Valley itself, is simply stunning. However, being fourth of July weekend, so were the crowds. We literally drove around the park looking for a parking spot for hours. My husband and I would swap off periodically, one of us would drive while the other would run around and take spectacular photos. Beaten down by the surreal experience of fighting traffic in the most beautiful natural environment ever, we gave up on the valley and started driving out.

 

Thankfully, we found a spot near the base of El Cap and took the opportunity for a quick hike. It was short and steep, but it got us away from the crowds and the insanity of the parking lots and saved our Yosemite Valley experience.

Joseph wasn’t so big on the heights, but he was still a trooper!  At this point he was ready to climb back down…haha!

Boys will be boys!!! Even after a long hike, they are still horsing around!

After the hike, we left the valley and worked our way along the road back to the East Gate. On the way, we sought out all the Sequoia groves. Being in the presence of the giant Sequoias was humbling, and we had a great time climbing in, over, and around some of the downed ones.

Look at that tree! Do you spot Joseph on top of it?

I am sure you have noticed that I love to wear hats when traveling and especially hiking in the hot sun! Patagonia trucker hats are my favorite, so I gathered some cute ones I found online.

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(Click picture to shop)

 

Picture inside a giant Sequoia Tree

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Bodie, California

The following day, for “Mom’s” Day, we went further east and visited an old ghost town called Bodie. Abandoned but pretty well preserved, it’s a creepy feeling to walk around in a place where it feels like time stood still.

Dusty road to Bodie!

If you are curious about the History of Bodie click HERE.

And then it was on the road again! Our next long stop was the Grand Canyon with an overnighter in Las Vegas. I hope you continue to follow along!

 

 

For more travel inspiration you may like to read about my trip to Hong Kong and my must-have travel items.

 

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