Yosemite

At the end of July, my mom, sister, and brother were in our neck of the woods. My sister had a friend's wedding in Oakland/reception in Sonora to attend. My mom drove Brittany and her friends here for the wedding (and for some sightseeing). Brian flew in just for the weekend. We all stayed in Sonora at a cute little hotel there. The day after the big wedding day, Brittany and her friends went to a fun little lake in Sonora for the day, while Brian, my mom, Ricky, and I went to Yosemite for the day. I had heard from a lot of people that Yosemite was awesome, but I didn't know what it would be like or what to expect. I was happy with what we fit into our one full day there. We saw many of the waterfalls. They were so pretty! We first saw Bridal Veil Falls. It was pretty and not much of a hike to get to it. Then we hiked lower Yosemite Falls. It was so nice to sit at the bottom and feel a little mist from it! Lastly, we hiked Vernal Falls. Vernal Falls was definitely the big hike of the day for us. It was so uphill and so hot! Then, we made it partway and saw this little view of the falls still so far away. It was kind of a disappointment after all that. But we could luckily fill up our water there and then continue onward. I'm so glad we did. We walked right up by the waterfall with the mist from the falls just soaking us! It really cooled us down and gave us the energy to keep going! Then, we got to the very top of the waterfall! It was so amazing to have made it to the top of it! We relaxed and ate some snacks before heading back down. It was a full and amazing Yosemite day! Here are a few pictures:

Right when we arrived in Yosemite, Ricky spotted a bear! We pulled over to see it. It was enjoying a snack from this tree.

so pretty!

On our way up Vernal Falls - you can see how soaked we got!

A happy squirrel relaxing at the top of Vernal Falls