Yosemite National Park to Los Banos, San Luis Reservoir
Woke up slow and enjoyed every bit of where we were, tucked in Yosemite Valley. Shared a pot of tea over a late breakfast in the sunshine. Loaded up the van to head out when check out time neared. We were joyfully surprised to be greeted by a beaming man and his two boys who inherited his radiant smile. Over the past couple days we had been stalking each other, our first interaction was climbing the road into Yosemite, Robin happy to roar up the mountain going 25 mph, and the O’dell’s van pulling their camper seemed the perfect pair taking the mountain on together, but Chris pulled his van over and happily waved us passed, later he told us he had only been passed by a VW once in his life and intended to keep it that way, we laughed and laughed. Meeting them in person felt like being welcomed by old friends as well as a part of ourselves in the future. Their family takes two months every year to adventure and travel and explore the world! The boys are homeschooled allowing their folks to work and save up money at their jobs to adventure every year! What a wonderful gift their presence was for us to know our potential family in the future can work exactly as we hope! To live on the edge makes life that much more real! After leaving our camp site we finished the loop around the valley. Sat in the shade under a huge ponderosa pine to enjoy lunch in a meadow at the foot of El Capitan. A half mile later, we stopped to gaze at Bridalveil Falls as the wind blew its mist to the side, the movement mimicked a bride’s veil. It is a tradition that if a man and woman walk to the base of the waterfall, they will soon be wed 😉 haha you never know! The last stretch of the road to Yosemite boarders the Merced River, each bend in the river is a bend in the road. Leaving Yosemite was hard, knowing how much more there is to see and do, but that will be left for different adventure, because the ocean is beaconing us to find its shore. Rested for the night under the stars at the San Luis Reservoir after sunset streamed rainbow colors across the sky. Drove down to Fisherman’s Point by the lake to watch, spotted three jack rabbits on the way, their ears are the length of their body! Twenty minutes later climbed back into the van to pick a site and we were startled to hear what seemed like a hundred high pitched buzzing sounds coming from inside, but we had closed all the doors! How could this be?? Oh no a window was left fully down! So a hundred little mosquito flies that don’t bite (thank God) joined us for the ride, then Mitch had an idea. If we turn just one light on in the night they will flock to it, then we can kill them. And so a massacre broke out, hundreds of little bug bodies, we felt bad but couldn’t share dinner and sleep with them too. Slept with the curtains open but windows closed to the sky and the night, felt like we were the only two people in the world, or at least in the state park.
