Day 1- 4

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g32655-i61-k218356…

Day 5

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g240329-i513-k2183…

Day 6

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g32737-i159-k21835…

Day 7-9

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60713-i30-k218361…

Day 10 – Fri 1 - San Francisco / Yosemite

Being a typical man I woke the next morning and decided that I should of done some shopping the day before so we all trekked back so I could buy some jeans. Son also bought another pair as apparently you need different ones for each of the week (or so it seemed to me!) (I seem to be turning into my dad more and more).

Left at 1.15pm for the 200 mile journey. 6 hours (yes not a typing error) we arrived – due to traffic , accidents etc.

Re driving – we did not have a sat nav and didn’t really have a map. I had printed off directions from the net on getting from hotel to hotel and then had one large map covering California to show us where places where. Was no problem so don’t think you need to spend the extra on a sat nav really.

Just before park entrance we stopped at local store to get some petrol, crisps, few beers etc and this is where we realised just how strict the law is in the USA re drinking. The items were put in the bag and my wife gave my daughter back to carry out to the car. She had gone about 5 steps when the shopkeeper literally shouted at her to stop and put the bag down as it was against the law for a minor to carry alcohol (in a bag!) let alone drink it. I am all for parental responsibility but is this really the law?

Daughter thought it would be great to live here as meant she would have to help with the shopping again.

The road in takes a deal of concentration so although scenery is breathtaking you will be taking your passengers word for it as looking around not very advisable.

We had had great difficulty booking rooms at Yosemite Lodge by the Falls (they book a year and a day in advance – don’t wait to book) and had got first and thirs nights direct and second night (at double the price) through Hotels.com.

System could not comprehend this and first idea was that we booked in and out each day to the different rooms the computer had allocated.

I gave them the ‘smile’ that you can only give after 6 hours in a car which seemed to do the trick and we were accommodated in a room very close to the main area..

Room was actually better than I had imagined. 2 beds, plenty of storage and good size bathroom with shower. Were on ground floor with great views out the patio doors.

When we had these rooms I was sharing with my son and wife and daughter in the other bed. Tip – not recommended if you are particularly keen on getting a good nights sleep!

The fires outside the park has subsided but had caused electricity issues inside. A number of the accom blocks were without any power as was a lot of Curry Village.

At 8.15pm you have very limited food options in the park so we caught the shuttle to Curry Village to what was described as a pizza restaurant.

This was actually a hole in the wall where you ordered a pizza and they brought it out to you. Problem was that queue was enormous, a table or chair was like the Holy Grail – impossible to find. As options were nil we got the pizza at 9.15pm and then found out that the last shuttle back was at 9.45. All in all not a very relaxing day.

Day 11 – Sat 2 - Yosemite

Scenery and surroundings soon lightened the mood from the previous day. I had really looked forward to coming here and will not even try to describe the sheer beauty of the place. Tip – you must visit and not just for a day.

We booked a 2 hour valley floor tram tour $75. This was excellent. Had a ranger at the front facing you explaining everything and pointed out all the sights. Went where cars not allowed. Highly recommended.

Had the great fortune whilst on this to see a bear and her cub only a few hundred yards away – the only real way to see animals.

Bit like cycling in SF you feel that in Yosemite you really should go for a hike. Now I am quite happy to walk to the pub and my daughter is still having flashbacks to an all day jungle hike in Northern Thailand. I looked in the book and went for the Easy option which was the Vernal Falls hike.

Off we set along with numerous other people up this path which seemed to go up and up with no end in sight. All around us very few people seemed to be enjoying themselves but all felt the need to keep going.

At the top you have the choice to turn around or do a second leg. We didn’t even bother discussing it.

At the bottom kids played in the water for a while then got shuttle back to Curry Village for some Nachos (50 min wait).

Bizarrely after SF wife said lets hire some bikes and ride to the falls and Ahwahnee for a look. So went back to lodge and hire bikes from grumpiest bloke I had met. ‘If you can find a bike to fit then you can hire it’ was his sole communication.

It was then we had the problem that the bikes did not have brakes and to stop you pedalled backwards. Why anyone would invent a bike like this is beyond me. After 15 minutes wife had not managed to get out the car park so we took them back and abandoned that idea and walked to the falls.

My wife’s brothers family (only live 10 mins away at home) were also touring at the time and were actually in Wawona that day. We had arranged to meet them and I had booked the Mountain Room (good restaurant at the Lodge).

We went out of our room at 7pm to go and meet them and were greeted with the sight of fire engines, smoke and all the staff and many guests standing in the car park. As it turned out the generator had overheated and the shed it was in had caught fire and the net result was no elec for rest of the evening. Couldn’t call brother as no phone signal so waited for him to arrive after his 1 hour journey to break the news. Now had 8 people and no meal plans.

I feel Yosemite left themselves down a bit here. The lodge holds a lot of people who would either eat in the restaurant or the buffet who were now a bit stranded. The staff seemed to be more delighted that they had the evening off rather than helping. The Ahwahnee still said needed a jacket and tie and Curry Village buffet would not extend their opening hours to help accommodate. Even rang Wawona hotel who said if we could get there in 45 mins they would serve us but after that they wouldn’t.

Went down to Curry Village which was as you can imagine absolutely mobbed. Somehow got a table for 8 and had a burger each. Not a culinary delight but good to catch up with each others holiday stories.

Day 12 – Sun 3 - Yosemite

Woke with promise to myself that must get some decent food today. Went to breakfast where power still an issue so no cooking was been done. For some reason the pool which had not been open since we arrived due to power issues was now open.

Went to see the Sequoia Trees at Mariposa. Drove to Wawona and parked there and waited for the free shuttle (7 mile journey) as was told that normally difficult to park there. As it turned out there was loads of space so I guess you decide whether to take a chance.

You have choice of walking round the trees or going on a tram tour. Not surprisingly we took the tram. Whereas the valley floor tour was excellent this was very average and quite expensive $25 each. It was an audio tour which consisted of a lot of elevator music interspersed with a rather boring dialogue. Lasted an hour.

Well worth visiting to see these mighty trees.

I had read somewhere about an attractive swimming area on the river near the car park at Wawona so we decided to try and find it. We bought some lunch stuff at the store in the car park and then drove down Forest Drive (road where car park is) until you come to a 7 day Adventist church (about mile). Park there and follow a path for about half mile until you come to a swinging bridge and the pool area. There were quite a number of local people there (large number of private holiday cabins in the woods) and at first it felt like going into the pub in Werewolf In London where everyone goes quiet and looks at you. One man actually came over and said ‘ welcome to our pool’. Bit too much emphasis on the word ‘our’ but everything was fine and we had a really good time. I think they call the water temperature ‘refreshing’

Then drove up to Glacier Point. Throughout our journey I had found much merriment in the numerous radio stations. The majority seemed to either be playing the top 30 country songs of the day or were so localised that you felt like you were intruding by just listening. For some reason the radio then found Cool Fm which played hard core R+B or absolute rubbish as I like to call it (definitely turning into my dad). Anyway kids were in their element and singing along to what were apparently lyrics. We were in turn pointing out how many of the songs were sampling tunes from the 80s (obviously the greatest era for music). No matter where we went this station refused to die in reception.

Drive up Glacier Point takes a while but is worth it and has to be done for the panoramic views. You can take a shuttle up and a 4 mile path down back to the village.

We went to the Mountain Room in the evening. Sells itself a bit on its views which to be honest unless you are right at one end under the atrium are impossible to see.

What you do get is really good food. We had pizza. No only joking.

We had 3 steaks and a pasta plus desserts and drinks for $190. They have a captive market as only real restaurant so can really charge what they want but think price was good for what we got.

Day 13 – Mon 4 - Yosemite / Lone Pine

Leaving today for Lone Pine. What a surprise – elec was out so no breakfast. Check out was a farce as computers were down and they said I owed them for one nights stay (one with hotels.com). I said I had paid (showed receipt) and they needed to contact hotels.com. They said they couldn’t as phones and computers down which not really my problem. Left in their hands to sort and also asked for a refund for the breakfasts which had not been available that I had prepaid for.

To their credit when we arrived home they was a letter from them saying they had made error etc and gave us refund for breakfasts.

Had booked horse riding at Tolumne Stables for 12pm to break up the journey. When we got there they said we had booked for previous day and now no room. Should of left it there but then they changed their mind and said they could fit us in.

Myself and my son hated every minute of it. It was a 2 hour trek through not very attractive wooded areas along a very dusty path. The worse thing was the length they put the stirrups. This bent your knees at a really bad angle and the pain was ridiculous. They gave up shouting at me to stop taking my feet out. When we got back I am not joking when I say that all 10 people nearly fell over when getting off due to the pain in their knees. I would recommend the horse riding at Wawona if you want to do this.

At $55 each it was hell on 4 legs.

I found driving the Tioga Pass ok with the 120 in from SF a lot worse. We stopped at Lee Vining for lunch at

Afterwards went to see the Tufa Towers on Mono Lake as son had studied them in science this year. Was 120 miles to Lone Pine which took 2 hours.

We had originally booked in previous night at Death Valley but had then got another night in Yosemite so had had to cancel. Lone Pine was the nearest we could get. It wasn’t until the next day that we realised what an escape that had been.

As drove down saw what we thought was fog swirling around the trees near Mammoth. Only later found out that it was yet another fire,

Really liked Lone Pine. We stayed at Dow Villa. Bargain at $110 for 2 adjoining rooms with bathroom in the middle. They slightly overplay the western movie theme with John Wayne looking at you wherever you turn but it is a good clean honest place to stay with a pool.

Plenty of places to eat in the town. We ate opposite in the Totem Café and at 10.30 they were still serving and letting in customers which seemed unusual in the US. Came to about $100 for ½ chicken each with chips etc. Excellent value and good food.

Thank you for the trip report! Your description of eating at Curry Village is right on ;) Ahhhh the pizza deck...

I'm sorry you were visiting during the aftermath vague chaos following the fire...it did make things a bit...interesting...for visitors...particularly your experience at the mountain room.

However, I'm very pleased you enjoyed the Valley Floor Tour, and that you had the opportunity to see a bear.

Thanks again for reporting back.

Excellent report. I love the factual parts with your opinion added in. Honest! I think folks need to hear/read exactly what something is, and then to read about a traveler's experience.

Bicycles: FYI ~ in the US, you "hire" a person and "rent" a thing. I never thought about the traditional pedal brakes being an issue for anyone, but this is good information for anyone who is used to hand brakes.

Swinging Bridge: glad that you found it. There is a better swimming hole on the other side of the river near the Community Center, but Swinging Bridge is a favorite for many Wawona visitors.

Good luck with the credit card bills!

I have downloaded your report to read to my husband.

Please hurry with the Las Vegas section.

Best ever trip reports I have read.

hazzaj - brilliant yet again. Oh my word the bikes lol no way would we manage with them.

Shame about the food offerings in the park - guess I should warn my lot about that.

We're planning to our trip for next July....plenty of time to hit the gym and go for bike rides....sounds like hard work.

The backward pedaling brakes are pretty standard for kids bikes, and low end adult bikes. In the US any kid who grew up riding bikes is used to them, or can at least remember what they were like. As long as you don't pedal backwards unintentionally, you are OK.