8. First full day in Yosemite

Amazing how well one can sleep in Yosemite…and it was great to jump up in the morning, turn the thermostat up to 60 (42 outside), and climb back into the warm bed waiting for the 5er to warm up. Now THIS is camping ;-)

I got up, made coffee and woke up while playing some Sudoku before (of course) going out and taking pics. Well, before doing that we did wait for the sun to come up completely over Half Dome and start warming up the Valley.

I walked across the campground and up the river just marveling at the colors and beautiful moring light.  It was really amazing.

When I got back from my long photographic/theraputic walk we had lunch and then went for a drive around the valley and out through the Wawona tunnel to collect firewood. The autumn colors were spectacular and it was very difficult to know when to stop taking pictures (and I got plenty of firewood…most people don’t know where to look.)

Back in camp I spent some time chopping firewood (thank goodness the shoulder didn’t hurt doing that!) and by then it was time to start a fire…and YIPPEE…Happy Hour!

As the sky turned dark and the coals became perfect, we started dinner…baked potatoes (a camping staple), broccoli (because its easy), and lamb chops (because we LOVE them!).

All of a sudden from around the corner of our trailer we were approached by two young people in Ranger uniforms carrying flashlights and wearing paraphernalia that made them look like were straight out of the movie “Ghost Busters”. They were very polite, and got right to the point that they were in pursuit of a bear…a bear with a collar that allowed them to track her. They said she was close…very close…and aggressive. Not ‘hurtful’ aggressive, but aggressive to the extent that unless your food is within arm’s distance she will dash in and grab it right off the grill or table. So we should be alert.

They left and I excused myself and said I was going into the trailer for a minute…aha, just kidding. LOL, I’ll watch the food YOU go into trailer and fix me another drink…please? So I sat there for the next 45 minutes cooking and simultaneously scanning the bushes with our ‘high beam’ flashlight. But all I saw was those two ‘kids’ out there searching back and forth for that allusive bear…TOO FUNNY!

Oh, we never did see a sign of that bear…but we did have a very nice dinner…and then hot cocoa (with Peppermint Schnapps) and Nutter Butters. THAT is why I love camping!