25th October we start our journey to Yosemite, checking out of our hotel at midday, sitting in their lounge area for an hour to conserve our energy, before walking four blocks to a road that meant we only needed to catch one bus to the Greyhound bus station, saving ourselves a whole $4!!!

Once at the Greyhound station we then just had a three hour wait til our first bus to LA, leaving at 5pm! So far we have found that these Greyhound bus stations always seem to be in the worst part of town, full of the worst kind of people!!

Our bus arrives and everyone politely queues in line to board, with a bloke behind us being asked to get rid of his beer can before he boards. Unfortunately slightly tipsy man finds a like minded individual on the bus and they talk utter crap for the first hour of the journey, very loudly!

Two hours in and we have a rest stop. Pulling in, the driver explains that everyone should stay seated until he has parked, at which point slightly tipsy man pelts it to the front of the bus stepping on Sasha's foot in the process!

A quick grab of McDonalds wares and everyone made it back on the bus! The threat of being left behind by the driver made sure everyone arrived back early!! "Let me tell you now y'all, I love you! And just remember I said I loved you if you don't make it back in time!" he then explained to those that would be left behind that they would get to experience his magic trick of changing a greyhound into a chihuahua!! i.e. Getting to see the bus shrinking in size as it moves off into the distance!

Arriving around 10:45pm in downtown LA we then had a 2 1/2 hour wait for our bus to Merced!

Pulling out of the station it soon became apparent that a woman had gotten on the wrong bus! But quickly decided that she could change at Fresno to make her way to San Jose!

The journey went without a hitch (unless you count the trying to sleep in really uncomfortable seats) until we hit Bakersfield at 4am for a 15min stop! A few people get off to use the facilities and increase their nicotine levels, and slowly make their way back into their seats. The crazy-wrong-bus-lady then starts to cause all sorts of commotion! Firstly trying to open the baggage hold to get her luggage out, being told off by the driver and then begrudgingly getting back on the bus, but then declaring that she wants to get off! With the bus driver trying to reason with her as he starts to pull away, she says something that we couldn't hear, at this point the bus driver slams on his breaks and gets off the bus! Within no time at all Security board the bus and politely explain to the woman that she needs to get off!! Now she seems to want to stay and resists getting off until Security whips out the cuffs!! Off she departs with her bags unloaded and we are on our way again!

We arrive in a freezing cold Merced at 7:30am, again at a bus station that appeared to be in the middle of nowhere! With the the bus station not opening until 8am!! So huddling together we waited to be let in and managed to find that we would only need to wait a further 50 mins for our bus to the hostel!

Arriving at the hostel, being dropped off at the bottom of a hill that you have to walk 1/4 a mile up (they don't tell you about that on the website), we were extremely relieved to find that our tent was available straight away!

Unloading our backpacks off of our backs we headed to the lodge for a sandwich and then decided to follow the trail around the resort!

An hour of scrambling, climbing, oooing and ahhing at the beautiful surroundings, as well as Sasha desperately trying to breathe we made it back to our tent and collapsed for three hours! Before heading back to the lodge for the most delicious meal and a few glasses of wine and Buds!

Despite having an insulated tent, and having five layers of sheets and blankets, we both awoke in the wee hours (also known as stupid-o'clock to tones) of the morning absolutely FREEZING!!

Managing to get back to sleep we arose to a beautifully sunny morning and made our way into Yosemite Valley!

Words cannot even come close to describe just how beautiful this place is! And we're sure our photos won't do it justice either! Especially with Ollie getting click happy with a squirrel! "But it's my muse" he protests!

Unfortunately, because of the time of year no tours are running down to Mariposa Grove where you can see all the Giant Sequoia, but we hope we can see these on the outskirts of San Fran instead.

Four and a half hours of walking around the most amazing terrain, with mountains and waterfalls so high it's hard to comprehend, and picking up supplies for the next couple of days we wearily make our way back to the hostel to cook up some pasta and head to bed for wine (as on a previous occasion, lack of cups leaves us to drink from the bottle in true wino fashion) and card games!

Learning from our previous night and realising that the cold icy breeze was making it's way through the gap in the door, we stuff it with all our dirty washing!! And OMG what a result! We were warm all night!!

Today we made the decision to chill out in the lodge, take in the peace and greenery around us, and catch up on the washing! But as we write this we now start to question what we'll wedge in the gaps tonight now all our clothes are clean!! Hmmm, slight flaw in our plan!

If we make it through the night, we head on back to Merced to catch the Greyhound to San Francisco tomorrow!