Before I get into this posting, I want to say that Kyle and I have decided that Yosemite is a MUST if you are traveling around California! This place has become one of our favorite places and we are definitely already planning to return. π Enjoy some of my favorite photos from our road trip! If you want any road trip advice and you missed yesterdays posting, check it out!
DAY 1/2: LOS ANGELES
Kyle and I flew into Los Angeles on a Tuesday knowing that we could get an awesome deal β¦ which we did! Always advise flying during a weekday to save some mulah! After flying in on Tuesday, we picked up our rental car and immediately went out to a local mexican restaurant with my one of my best friends who lives in Los Angeles! The following day, we met up again and traveled around the beach of Santa Monica. Very relaxing time but was short lived as we knew we needed to depart before the LA rush hour after 3 p.m. We were off for a 5 hour drive to Yosemite! Ended up getting caught up in traffic after all, but we were patient and survived. π And nevertheless it was WORTH the drive after realizing we were driving through a forest of redwoods to get to our cabin for the next two nights!
The adventures begin! Love the contrast of the mountain scape vs. the city scape.
Kyle, Katelynn and I ventured around Los Angeles, more specifically Venice and Santa Monica. Visited the pier where we took a few snap shots. π Katelynn is one of my best friends since middle school! π She is an AMAZINGLY talented fashion stylist out in LA! Check out her work!!!
To add to the above caption, Katelynn, Kyle and I all went to the same middle school β¦ which if you did not know, that’s how Kyle and I met. π Love him!
Then it was off to Yosemite Park! My handsome driver!
DAY 3/4: YOSEMITE
It’s easy waking up on the West Coast with the 3 hour difference β¦ so we were able to get an early start on our hiking trip in the Yosemite park to sight see the the Giant Sequoia trees! AMAZING!!! After the 5 mile hike around the Mariposa Grove, it was time for lunch. I definitely suggest going to a local grocery store and picking up some fruits, loaf of bread, peanut butter and jelly. Easy and simple! But don’t ever leave the food in your car as the bears will find a way to get to it! Of course during our lunch breaks, we caught up with the Olympics so we weren’t too out of touch with the world. π After our lunch, we drove 45 minutes up and down the Yosemite valley to get to the valley floor. AMAZING views along the way β¦ seriously β¦ breathtaking. Once you’re down on the valley floor, you cannot help but to stare up above at the canyon that surrounds you! The towering rocks are each named, like El Capitan or the Three Brothers, Β and you can drive around sight seeing the beauty of nature. Dare devil rock climbers will climb these STEEP cliffs which make my heart racing just thinking about it. You have to see it to believe it! We left just in time before the sun set on our 45 minute travels back to our lodge. Driving back to the lodge before the sun set gave us some relaxation time and time to plan for our next adventures for San Francisco. Day 4 arrived and we decided to travel back through the valley all the way to make our exit out to San Francisco! Along the travels, we stopped at the Yosemite meadows and see the natural fire sights. I’m a little nervous for the forrest this coming up summer time because they have had the worst drought so far with having not their typical 18 feet of snow β¦ When Kyle and I were hiking around the park, we rarely saw snow on the ground so I’m praying there will be some sort of rain or snow storm that come through this last part of winter time before the summer heat kicks in!
We had a full day to go hiking through Yosemite, so we started bright and early! AMAZING 5 mile hike!
Even though this photo doesn’t include the famous sequoia trees, it was a gorgeous hike up the trail!
Yes, this is NO joke! Look at the size comparison with Kyle at the bottom of the tree! CRAZY. *IPhone Quality*
Β The Grizzly Giant!!!! One of its limbs is 7 feet in diameter! CRAZY!
You can get a sense of how big this tree is β¦ I’ll admit it was kind of weird walking through a tree. Lol!
Then I found a secret place! So we had a sneak in a shot!
Oh yes, our little rental car! This Corolla did us well during our 1,200 mile trip!
After hiking all day, it was time to venture the Yosemite valley and the floor!
Really, no photo can give the height justice as the photo to the right, the rock “El Capitan” rises a staggering 3,000 feet up from the valley floor! And there are climbers who will CLIMB it!
This tunnel was pretty crazy and I felt like I was inside of a mountain as they left the sides raw and rocky.
Of course I had to get a shot with my love!
The views were INCREDIBLE.
I’ll admit that every time I walked to an edge to capture a photo, my breath was taken away β¦ not necessarily by the view but by how SCARED I was about falling off the cliff in front of me! Lol!
Whenever setting up my self timer for a shot of the two of us, I always get a chance to capture an unexpected photo of him to “test” the lighting. He never knows it, but I want to hang this handsome shot of him on my office wall. π
Love this shot!
On our way out of Yosemite! Stopped by the other part of the valley in the meadows.
It saddened me seeing the fire debris and the remains of previous life β¦
I had to take a photo of this β¦ its incredible to see the contrast of life/death from the left/right side of the highway.
THIS PLACE. Holy cow! Kyle and I were craving a little coffee so we stopped in this random cute house in downtown Groveland called Mountain Sage. If anyone were to travel through you MUST stop by! It was so inspiring to Kyle and I because this could possibly be a future business for us! Photography β¦ coffee house β¦ AND a plant nursery?! Really?! Lol! If you didn’t know, Kyle is a huge coffee fanatic and is a plant expert! So naturally, we fell in love with this little business! And the photography we saw in the gallery was by Robb Hirsch β¦ amazing natural photography work!
Next posting, I will share photos from the San Francisco travels. π
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