Honeymoon in Yosemite National Valley

Our wedding ceremony took place on May 19th, 2012. After spending an amazing day with family and friends, Tom and I flew out the next day to San Francisco where we got a car and drove to Yosemite National Park for our honeymoon...

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and it smelled like pine trees. The air was fresh and Tom and I were excited to see the extraordinary sites that awaited us.

Yosemite was full of incrediblly beautiful views and a sense of splendor that is hard to describe. When we got down in to the Yosemite Valley the sheer rock faces that surrounded us made my jaw drop. It was simply awe-inspiring. We drove by El Capitan, parked to take pictures of the waterfalls at Yosemite Falls, and were thrilled to find out that our canvas tent was pitched close to Half-Dome.

Even with people everywhere you looked, it was easy to find a quiet spot or simply look up and see the grandeur of the what surrounded us.

The canvas tents we stayed in were part of an actual camp called Camp Curry. In this camp nearly 600 canvas tents were build on top of wood frames under the canopy of the tall pine trees. No vehicles were allowed in where the tents were, so we had to park and move all of our luggage in to the camp area, dragging them over beds of pine needles. It was the recommendation that nothing be left in the cars because the bears could smell lotions and other items that would tempt them to break in to a vehicle, leaving behind a great deal of damage.

After checking in to Camp Curry, settling in to our tent, and getting changed in to hiking gear, we had to go exploring.

We first begin our exploration by hiking Yosemite Falls. Even though there were people everywhere it was breathtaking to see the double-falls and to hear the roar of the water as it crashed down on to the well-worn rocks.

The first day we only explored the valley, ending with dinner at the camp store. Southwestern style chicken salad (pre-packaged, ofcourse) for me and a roast beef sandwich for Tom. We were exhausted after this and went to bed quickly.

The next day we ended up hiking to Vernal Falls. This had over 800 rock steps that had been created by the Rangers in the park to help the hikers get up to the top of the trail. It is also called Misty Falls because as the waterfall comes down, it covers the valley we hiked with mist. This caused a beautiful series of rainbows to appear.

The beauty of the falls was exceptional.

That night we had dinner in the camps cafeteria, where they had an amazing buffet of such selections as cooked trout, lasagna, a not-so-bad salad bar, plenty of deserts, coffee and other assorted drinks. Tom and I were full when we left that night.

Everywhere we went there were views that put a smile on my face.

We would ride a bus from place to place, going from camp to hike, from hiking to bike riding...

There were several stores to go inside to check out the fun options, from food to clothing and suveniers. We even decided to have some fun and try on a few hats...one of our favorite things to do.



Tom looked like a regular park ranger in his hat. I...well, I looked cute...

The native people of Yosemite had made huge baskets that were on display in the museum.

The native people had also worn decorative wear that was used in their ceremonies. An example was shown in the museum.

Tom stood infront of the cut of a tree that was over 800 years old. It had been there loooooong before Columbus had ever even begun to think about traveling the world.

All-in-all, I couldn't have asked for a better honeymoon. I enjoyed myself thoroughly!