Yosemite National Park - July 3-5, 2010

My daughter Tanya, was able to get a much sought after campsite in Yosemite for the July 4th 3-day weekend by multi-tasking the very second it was allowed to make a reservation for that time. She dialed and redialed while she used the internet at the same time and it paid off when she got a site for us. We did not bring the RV because of size limitation at the site and so it was back to "real camping", roughing it out in a real tent. But before proceeding we had to get new equipments since we have given our tenting equipment when we got the RV. We got a real good bargain at the REI store in Santa Rosa where we got a North Face tent, some pads, and other misc. equipment.

We left early Saturday morning and got to the park right in time for the check-in time. We saved on the $20.00 entrance fee by using my "America the Beautiful" senior card for the very first time. I got this for $10.00 when I turned 62 and it gave me and 3 other adults plus kids traveling in the same car, a lifetime free entrance privileges to any national park. A good deal and every 62 year old should take advantage of this program.

We took several hikes when we were there and totally enjoyed Yosemite, one of our favorite places to go. We had not been here several years and have forgotten why we loved this place. The first night the campsite was visited by 3 bears who were quickly turned away by the rangers shooting rubber bullets very early in the morning. It was exciting. The second night was a little more dramatic when we had a medical emergency and I had to take my son in-law to the clinic at 2:00 am and then an ambulance had to take him down to Modesto, 3 hours away. Everything turned out OK but it was a night we will not forget. - To be continued - "Under construction".