Yosemite - a room fit for a Queen

Afternoon Thursday 4th April
Leaving Monterey behind, we set Yosemite National Park into Mrs TomTom and sat back to enjoy the scenery. Well sort of! I sat on the edge of my right hand seat with feet on the break leaning over to the left as I watched the curb raise up to miss me. Ian, on the other hand, seemed quite at ease. Mrs TomTom told us that the 220m drive would take us 4 3/4 hours. We didn't quite realise that it would take us that long; we had not taken into consideration the steep gradients and sharp bends in the winding road.

Finally we arrived in the park and after paying the modest entrance fee we set off to find our accommodation. Only about a mile into the park we met a coyote on the side of the road. The animal was obviously used to being fed but all he got from us was a photo opportunity.

We had been told not to check into the lodge before 5:00pm but as it was nearly 7:00 before we arrived, we didn't expect to have to wait in a queue for nearly half an hour before being given our room key - and that was the best of our experience. We were given a room that was hidden behind a wooden fence that screened rubbish bins. I thought Ian was going to the loo on the way to our room but no, this was it! The window (which looked out onto the brown stained wooded fence, 2 feet away) wouldn't open, the fly screen was hanging off its hinges and the room was dimly lit. We discovered later that the staff accommodation was a lot better. There was really no excuse for this when you realise how beautiful the valley is. Needless to say, Ian went to ask for a new room. The desk clerk was most defensive, telling us that 'Your British Queen Elizabeth and even the President of the United States' had stayed at Yosemite. "But not in that room!" was my reply.  There was nothing else available in the lodge but there was a cottage available at the Ahwahnee hotel and as a special favour we could have it at $300 per night! Ian took it, and we were certainly very happy not to have to pay the $700 per night that they usually charged. The cottage had a lovely outlook and was nestled in the forest on the valley floor and just outside the front door we had a view of a waterfall.

But the fiasco didn't end there. We found a rucksack full of someone's dirty laundry lying in a corner of the room and later when we went to bed we discovered that the bed linen had not been ironed (to begin with, I wasn't even sure that the bed linen had been changed) Our Dear Queen would certainly not have liked that!

The dining room at the Ahwahnee hotel has a strict dress code and seating is by reservation only, well by the time we had finally arrived, there was no available tables so we had our dinner in the bar.

Friday 5th April
Perhaps today would be better.  We had booked a place on the coach for the valley tour which left at 10:00. That gave us enough time to have a leisurely  breakfast before setting off; or so we thought! Breakfast was served in the magnificent dining room - that we had not managed to get into the night before. There was a lady on the door to take our name. She handed us over to a lady who took us to our table who in turn handed us to a waitress who told us that the waiter would be along shortly. Phew, four people just to get us seated, and to our dismay we were seated at a huge window that overlooked... you guessed it, a wall! The waiter arrived some 10 mins later to take our order and a further 20 mins passed before we saw our breakfast. But we had plenty of time. We finished breakfast and while I headed to the 'restroom' for a comfort break before our coach tour, Ian went to pay the bill. Another fiasco. We were not supposed to leave the table till we had our 'ticket' so the lady on the door had to ask the lady who showed people to their seat who in turn had to find our waiter who had to tell the lady on the door what we had eaten - so that it could be added to the room account!!! We nearly missed our coach tour.

But the day did get better. The tour guide never stopped talking all through the two hour drive (at a walking pace) and he did have some useful information to impart as well as the jokes along the way. The scenery was magnificent. The shear size of the valley sides is mind boggling. We stopped to take photos of one of the significant peaks, El Capitan which raises 3000 feet from the valley floor.

As we stood in awe of the peak, the tour guide pointed out two climbers on the rock face. He told us that it takes approximately 3 days to climb the peak and the climbers would have to sleep in nets attached to the rock face! Well we decided that we probably didn't have enough time to attempt it



After the tour, we decided to take the hop-on hop-off shuttle bus that followed a similar route to the coach tour. In this way, we were able to re-visit the beauty spots and linger longer.
Spring is probably the best time to visit Yosemite because the snow in the mountains is melting and giving rise to spectacular waterfalls that dry up in the summer.

Although we didn't see the black bear that live in these woods, we did see deer.








We were able to visit the museum which gave graphic explanations of the Yosemite valley and how it was formed by volcanic action and glaciation. In the entrance to the museum there is a bronze raised-relief map which gave an idea as to the sheer size of the valley and the park. It makes one feel quite venerable by comparison. After immersing ourselves in the geology of the area, we went on explore a reconstructed Indian village and learn of some of its history.