The Rest of Yosemite June 2009

Ally arrived Monday afternoon after an interesting journey. I should have given her more explicit directions, since it was her first trip. Since I can make the trip with my eyes closed, I assume everyone else can. Anyway, first order of business was getting her a decent pair of walking shoes, since that was the bag she forgot. We were off to the village. Shoes were located at the Sports Shop. She wasn't particularly thrilled with them, but the were affordable and they fit--they grew on her--by the time we left, she admitted they were cute.

Next order of business was off to Yosemite Falls. Since it was Ally's first visit, I tried to do the obligatory things, without cramming things in, and without taxing my stamina. We walked slowly to the falls. Ally was horrified to see people ignore the signs about the danger of scrambling on the rocks. I really like this girl. Anyway, here's the shot of the falls, taken as we were heading over to the Lodge.

We had dinner at the Mountain Room--my favorite place to dine in the valley--then made an early night of it.

We got a late start on Tuesday--no problem--we were in Yosemite--if we wanted to sleep in, we were entitled to sleep in--which we did. We almost missed breakfast at the Ahwahnee, but they took pity on us. The adventure of the day was Happy Isles. First stop was Sentinel Bridge for the requisite picture of Half Dome--but first I took a picture of the falls from across Cooks Meadow.

We walked to the chapel. We spent some time remembering Ally's father, Al, in the chapel. We were undignified and did some laughing, but it is impossible not to laugh when you remember Al. Al was a funny guy.

After our visit to the Chapel, we were back on the bus to Happy Isles.

Here is Ally with Tanaya Creek in the background, then standing in front of a blooming Dogwood tree

We had afternoon tea at the Ahwahnee, where we met a couple from San Mateo. Both of them had worked for The Phone Company, though the wife worked there several years before I did. Still, we knew a surprising number of people in common. Yosemite is one of those places where you realize what a small world it is. We made it a busman's holiday for Ally that evening and dined in the Pizza Loft.

There were still many places to show Ally on Wednesday, but Glacier Point won out, even though it was a long drive, and I don't really believe in driving in the park. Driving was cheaper than taking a bus tour, even figuring in the cost of gas. Wednesday was our worst weather day. As we got closer to Glacier point, there were increasingly large patches of snow--and the temperature was decreasing. The lowest we saw it was 45F and the rain was increasing. No problem. Ally had a jacket--I hadn't gone back to the room for mine--she found hers in her mother's trunk. We stopped in the gift shop where I bought something warm and got ponchos for both of us. Here is Yosemite Falls from Glacier Point on a not very nice day.

Here is a picture of the Ahwahnee from Glacier Point.

And this, my dear readers, is why they call it Half Dome. You can see the weather was not the best.

We got enough pictures, and then got back to the car and relative warmth. We made the obligatory stop at Tunnel View. Here is a picture of Bridalveil Falls from the viewpoint.

We got back to the hotel in time for tea with Fran and Hank, from San Mateo, then took a short rest and went to the Mountain Room for our last dinner. It rained quite a bit that evening, but I was safely in the hotel for all of it--Ally was outside for part of it, trying to get a phone signal.

Thursday morning was bright and beautiful. That is a rule for your last day. After breakfast, we had time for a short walk, so we went down to the Merced River--where tragedy struck. My beloved Nokia 9300 cellphone squirted out of my pocket, then, as in slow motion, turned end over end, down the slope, and into the river. Oops. Big oops. Bless her heart, Ally was able to rescue it, but CPR was in vain. I was able to save my contacts, so all was not lost.
Here is one last picture of me with my real hair--in front of another blooming Dogwood.

We both got home safely. I know I'll be back in October--already have the reservation. I hope Ally can get back someday. She definitely got the Yosemite Bug.

I got home to the bad news that my dear Dr. Kubin's cancer is out of remission and he will be closing his practice. I have one more appointment with him on Monday, when we will seriously discuss Plan B, finding me a new primary care physician. He will be in my prayers and has my eternal gratitude for taking good care of me for nine years.

Yesterday I was off bright and early downtown for my second haircut of the year. After that, I spent quite a lot of time at the ATT store. There is nothing like my Nokia 9300--everything now has little teeny keyboards. So I now have a new Iphone. I hope I can figure out all the doodads on it.

That's all for this morning.

xxooxx