Hello,

We arrived in San Jose on the express bus and then headed to the airport to pick up the car, all the cars in America are huge and this rental car did not disappoint, it was Louise’s task to drive us to Yosemite since I wasn’t insured because I was under 25, however Lou had become accustomed to driving on the right hand side of the road and she became quite good.

Before we left for Merced we spent the morning checking out San Jose. It was a two and half hour drive to Merced, we would spend the night here before we left in the morning for Yosemite. We had a nice room and that night we went to Safeway to stock up on healthy foods such as, microwavable Mac and cheese and microwavable burritos. Yum yum!!

We got up at 7.30 the next morning had our free breakfast and headed out to Yosemite for the day which was another 2 hour drive into the national park. We knew we were getting close due to the increase in Limestone Mountains and the drive through the national park was amazing, you didn’t know where to look. This national park was huge and we didn’t really know where to go so we came up with a rough plan on the day which wasn’t ideal but it worked for the time frame we had. It was our first time in bear country so we were a bit scared on what to eat and when to eat it. The only way I can describe Yosemite is perfection...........it was perfect blue skies, massive limestone cliffs that dwarfed you and a huge waterfall cascading down as we walked through green meadows with a flowing stream.............oh yeah and don’t forget the dear. This is what it was actually like.....incredible!!

Just having the suspense of a bear being in close vicinity was exciting enough we were constantly looking over our shoulders as we munched on our ham sandwiches. However it did worry us when we read the sign that told you what NOT to do in a face to face bear situation, do NOT run, do NOT make eye contact, do NOT feed............. blah blah blah but at the bottom of the sign it said if all else fails FIGHT BACK!! Haha................I say just run, i’ve got more chance out running a bear than fighting it........plus............I only have to out run Lou haha just kidding ........but not really.

We spent maybe 7 hours in the park just walking some of the many trails. Some of the trails were closed off to the public since there was still snow at higher altitude. As the day drew to a close we jumped into our car and started to drive out of the park but not before stopping at ‘tunnel view’ this was the infamous view point where you would normally see all the Yosemite pictures in the magazines and it didn’t disappoint. The view point was high up looking out over the valley and we could see everything and everywhere we had been that day. We were shattered good job I could have a sleep in the car while Lou had a 2 hour drive back to Merced. Haha

I don’t really have a lot to say about Yosemite, it was just awe inspiring, your better off looking at the pictures they give a better experience of the place.
One night at Merced before heading back to Monterey.

Love Adam and Louise xxx