Yosemite for a special occassion
What is your next special occassion? April 2009 was my wife’s and my 20th wedding anniversary. We dreamed of Greece but decided that staying in country was going to be easier on our finances and was a better fit for the time we had available. But where to go? We settled on the Yosemite Valley. Why? We had both been there before. Both with our children and as children ourselves. The reason was that we had always visited at the height of the summer season. This meant crowds but above all else, a dry Yosemite Falls. Here was a chance to be there with the plumbing leaking in all its glory and enjoy each other’s company without the weight of parents or kids.
And so Yosemite it was. Things didn’t start out perfectly however as we were summarily dropped from our original flight (first class level miles points down the drain) and then found that the sporty little car we rented had no trunk. Not a small trunk, no trunk. We arrived in compromised fashion but savored the spring air and bright sun as we rolled into the valley. We settled nicely into the Ahwahnee hotel and were lucky enough to have a high floor room with an expansive, half dome facing balcony. Things started looking up.
We woke the next morning to gray skies. It proceeded to rain for the next three days. Before you go and weep for us, here is a run down of how we extracted chips from such a lousy hand. We hiked to the top of Yosemite Falls and while the views were obscured from the mist, we got to enjoy a water world that is not always there. Rainwater joined with the big spring runoff giving us surprise tributaries that crossed the hiking trail and extra cascades popping seemingly out of nowhere which gave us something different. What we didn’t have was a dry place to sit or dry feet. So, we were tired. But we did it anyway and are glad we did. Further, the Ahwahnee bar was waiting for us with an El Capatini.
The bar scene was a thrill. We sat for hours trying different concoctions while watching the visitors come and go. We took most of our meals in the main dining room. And took baths in the nice tub the recently refurbished room offered. Not too shabby, really. On our departure day the sun shined once again. We took plenty of morning photos and then off we went.
In a way, the trip was a metaphor for our marraige. Not quite what either of us expected but definitely what we needed. And, we returned to our lives without a complaint (until I wrote the first paragraph. of course). Yosemite is simply a great place to make and share memories no matter what the circumstances.