Day 27, Friday March 27th: Yosemite and travel west

Friday was much warmer than Thursday, not sure why, but it was already 70ish when we left the Campground. Our plan was to nose around Yosemite village and maybe do a short hike then either find a campsite or make our way back to the West Coast. 

Since it was my birthday, June made me my favorite breakfast, Eggs Pesto on an English muffin, yummy. 

As we drove to Yosemite Village we stopped at the Swinging Bridge Picnic area because I wanted to see this 'swinging bridge'. Well...it doesn't swing, the original bridge did, but it was taken out by floods and replaced with the current fixed bridge in 1964. 

The bridge does provide some picturesque views of Yosemite Falls, our destination for the day. 

El Capitan

The views in the Yosemite Valley are bigger than life......that is a big hunk of rock! El Capitan, which just towers over the valley. June looks like an ant and she is way closer to the camera.

Redbud Tree

Fruit trees and flowering trees grow in the green valley. 

We drove by Yosemite Village and parked where we could get the Serenity out of the road and hiked back to Yosemite Falls. Yosemite Falls is the tallest water fall in North America, falling over 2400 feet in three sections, the Upper, Middle Cascades and Lower. 

Yosemite Lower Falls

The hike to the lower falls was only a little over a mile, we were not really interested in another big hike after yesterday, we needed at least one recovery day. As you approach the lower falls the temperature drops and you get a bit of the mist, but nothing like the Vernal Fall. 

Yosemite Falls

From the Lower Falls we set out for the Yosemite Village for some lunch. As you head towards the village you get far enough away to see the entire Yosemite Falls, it is spectacular. 

As we headed to the village we stopped by the museum, it is small but still worth visiting. 

1000 year old Sequoia Tree

This is a 1000 year old Sequoia tree, it has a 9ft diameter. There are trees in the park that are nearly 3000 years old, yes they have been here since before Christ.

1912 Indian

I also enjoyed the display of a 1912 Indian Motorcycle. It was driven into the park in 1914 but was pulled over by a ranger because motorcycles were not allowed. The owner, Robert Baker, disassembled the bike in 1916 to prevent his mother form selling it while he served in WW I.  He reassembled it in 1965 and donated it to the Museum, now that is a cool story! 

After the museum we went to the Village for lunch, we split a Chipotle Chicken Sammich....it was good.  Then we got lost going back to the Serenity, I am looking at my stupid phone trying to figure out where we are when June said "I see an RV with a red Scooter..that is where I am going".

What can I say our 2 mile hike became 3.3 miles, but it was an easy hike 😏.

After our hike we decided to work our way back west and find a campground that had Laundry Facilities, so I just picked one about 150 miles out and booked it. 

The drive from Yosemite west on CA-120 is nothing short of breathtaking. It starts at over 6000 feet and works it way up and down the mountains with lots of switchbacks. We did not take any pictures, but if you get the chance driving CA-120 is worth it. 

We arrived at the 'French Camp RV Park' just before 17:00 but the gate was locked and there was no one around.  I called the number on my reservation form and saw the guy that just pulled in to answer his phone. Long story short, he got us in, but we need to sort it out in the morning. 

French Camp RV Resort, Manteca, CA

The RV park is just that, wall to wall RVs, but good enough for one night. And it has as a nice clean laundry room. 

We cooked steak on the grill for my birthday dinner, it was a nice ending to our Yosemite visit.

Saturday we will continue west and resume our trip up US1 north. We plan to skip the San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland area just because it seems like a lot of traffic for little gain. We may change our minds...you never know.