Yosemite National Park

After a gorgeous evening cruising through the Giant Forest and Sequoia National Park, we were excited to venture toward Yosemite National Park the next morning.

Well, mostly excited. The dry climate had taken its toll on my contacts, and being so awesome at packing, I failed to stow both my glasses and a new set of lenses for the trip. In the madness of eye rubbing, I managed to scratch my cornea. Then, thinking I could at least minimize the itching, I loaded up on antihistamines. But, not before realizing I’d already taken plenty of motion sickness meds to survive the day’s curves and cliffs.

The result: forcing my eyes open while drooling on myself in the back seat.

What I remember of Yosemite is mostly captured in the photos. Those are the moments I was awake. Gorgeous forest and rivers breezed by my window as I drifted in and out of sleep. Look out points offered gorgeous views of waterfalls and the mountains we’d driven into.

Hopping out of the truck, the crisp air was clean and cool in my lungs. We found an open gap in a sea of tourists and took our time to capture some stunning shots with Yosemite’s iconic waterfall in the landscape. One eye with a contact and one without made for some really interesting sightseeing and even more interesting unfocused photos.

Grandpa pointed out the occasional collections of small Redwoods and Sequoias. We paused for gorgeous views, cruised around curves and, again, noted that we were basically done seeing trees. After another hour winding through the park toward our escape, we finally reached the Interstate that would launch us toward the historic Highway 101.

And we were still only half way.

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