Yosemite National Park - Day 3 - 2022/06/30

It's been a fun couple days in Yosemite! Today is our last day exploring the beautiful valley of Yosemite!

The kids made a very good impression on our neighbor. So much that she told them she had something special for them. 

During the evenings we would sometimes hear "ELMER!" yelled out over and over. We had no clue what that was about, but we hoped those people found Elmer. 

Mrs. Claudette said that was actually a kids book and it was a fun tradition to do it at night. She found the book at the camp market and bought it for them. 

And wrote inside it for them. Thank you Claudette! It was very nice to meet you!

Since it's our last day here, I wanted to know how the kids wanted to spend their day. Ian wanted to go swimming in the Merced River again. Alli didn't like the cold so much last time so she skipped it. 

That just leaves me to go with Ian into the freezing cold river! Brr! 

Specifically he wanted to jump off the log and into the water again. 

Ian and I jumped off a few times, with my last time being a backflip! 

Theresa and Alli enjoyed watching the little ducklings that were swimming in the river. But they were saddened when they saw one of those ducklings find a piece of plastic trash and eat it. It was a realization for Alli that picking up trash is really important. Any time she sees trash now, she wants to pick it up to keep a baby animal from eating it. 

Those warm campground showers felt so good after being in the cold water. With everyone warmed up, it was time to finish up the last of the food we brought. The campground store had lunchmeat and we've got enough bread to make sandwiches. 

I opted for a double-decker PB&J. 

All the while getting looks from the local wildlife. Sorry, we don't share. 

At 11am we had to check out of our accommodations. We packed everything in the truck, but left it parked at the campground. 

When I asked Alli what she wanted to do, she asked to go on another bike ride. There's a new place I wanted to visit that will be perfect! 

It was a bit crowded with cars on the way in, but after a little while, the road was blocked for cars entirely and only hikers and bikers could continue. These bikes really have come in handy for this trip. We've been carrying them in the RV basement since we left Colorado and this is the only time we've got them out. But it's been totally worth it! 

And here we are! Mirror Lake! On past visits, I've only seen this as a dry sandy beach. This time there's actually water!

And from here we get a good view of Half Dome. 

Getting our feet wet in the Mirror Lake. It's fed from Tenaya Creek, which is probably cold, but it's shallow here, so the sun is able to warm it up. 

Time to get a few family photos. 

Thanks Alli. 

Biking back to the truck, crossing the Tenaya Creek, and other people who are wading and enjoying the water. 

It really is beautiful here. 

Alli telling us her favorite parts about camping here.

After the warm bike ride I think we could all use a cool treat! 

Sodas and ice cream sandwiches for everybody!

Getting more chocolate on them than in them. 

It's a 2.5 hour drive back to the RV, so we got everything packed up into the truck and headed out. 

I recall stopping by this log at the base of El Capitan in El Capitan Meadow when I was younger. 

So of course I had the kids out here to climb on it. 

What an impressive rock formation! 

No visit to Yosemite would be complete without a trip to the Tunnel View overlook. 

From here you can get a great view of so many of the impressive things we saw during our visit. 

And we loved the 3D model of the valley. 

Tracing out some of the places we saw. 

Like Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. 

Yosemite was awesome!