Day 6-- Yosemite, in all it's glory, Saturday, October 29, 2011

Our campground for last night was right south of Yosemite National Park, so we woke up expecting to begin visiting Yosemite that morning. Kathy was out-of-sorts since last night because the nearest restroom to our campsite (up a hill!)closed at 9 PM ahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifnd we walked up AFTER that!!She was still grumbling this morning...

However, we were easily distracted when driving through the first town after our
campground, Coarsegold, California. It was the day of the Coarsegold Tarantula Festival. We saw the sign as we went by and proceeded to turn around to check it out. The Festival seems to be a kind of craft show, flea market, Renaissance Festival, and cook-off combination with activities for all ages during the day.



We were just there for a while, but did find some interesting buys at the booths. The booths of the Festival are set up around the Coarsegold Historic Village; there are permanent businesses there also. The thrift shop had a great sale with almost everything 1/2 price off. We picked up some things for the camper, such as measuring cups (we think we left our nice Pampered Chef one at Needles, CA!) and another blanket. The nights have been pretty cool and our feet have been cold; but the new blanket will sure help!)

So, on to Yosemite! The scenery is majestic. Lots of mountain roads that keep Kathy gripping the armrests (but not as bad as all the switch-backs in Sequoia Natl. Park). The valley, where the Visitor's Center is found, has a whole community built up around the tourism business, with resort-type lodgings, in addition to campgrounds, etc. The view from the valley was also great; check out some of the classic Ansel Adams photographs that he did of Yosemite...

One of the stops we made along the way was to walk up near the Bridal Veil Falls that are often seen in photographs. This time of year finds the water flow much lower than in the spring, when the snowmelt begins. But it was still impressive.

After leaving the valley we drove across the entire northern part of the park on Highway 120. Many of the vistas were awe-inspiring. It was getting late in the day (because we had spent the extra time in Coarsegold), so we stopped for the night outside the eastern side of the park at Mammoth Lakes, CA.

Our campsite at Mammoth Mountain RV Park was completely on asphalt, but was fine for a quick overnight stop. They also had good showers.