The kids had last Friday off for a staff development day. Back in June I fortuitously checked the camping reservation site on the very day that reservations opened up for October and was able to snag a site in the Upper Pines campground. Checking the weather leading up to our trip I was nervous that there would be snow and that the roads would be closed. Luckily, the weather cooperated and it was a beautiful weekend!
As I mentioned before, D is into taking pictures with his iPhone now, so our blog has a second shooter! He wanted to take a picture of the freeway signs to tell the whole story.
We passed by the city of McFarland, which was made famous in that movie, McFarland, USA.
Our ride for the weekend was a CX-9 that D was able to borrow from work. With the amount of stuff needed to camp in cold weather, I would say this was a necessity.
It was so nice to open the moon roof and let some fresh mountain air in.
There was a backup of cars once we hit the entrance gate. It took us about five hours from our house to the entrance, and then another hour from the entrance to our campsite near Yosemite Village.
Since k is in fourth grade, we were able to obtain a year pass through the Every Kid In A Park program, saving us the $30 entrance fee–score!
We made a quick stop for the bathroom at the Pioneer Yosemite History Center and stretched our legs a bit.
We followed this bus into the Wawona Tunnel.
n was sleeping by this point, so I tried to wake him up so he could experience it. However, we also went through it the next day and on our way out of the park so he did not miss out.
As soon as we went through the tunnel, there is a parking lot, so we pulled over for the photo opp.
We also broke out the selfie stick for a family shot.