Yosemite National Park

Henry’s boys attend camp for a week each summer so we spent hours trying to decide what to do with a full week together. The planning to travel frugally can be exhausting and traveling in the summer is not cheap. So we landed on a staycation. I am so glad we did because afterwards Anna decided to stay with me for the summer and she could join us! We kicked off the week with a long weekend in Yosemite. 

We stayed at an awesome Airbnb in Oakhurst. The place was perfect and the host, Mary, was wonderful! I could see us being friends. One of the best parts of travel is meeting people. Anna did a ton of planning for the weekend by watching TikTok videos. Some people bash that platform but I think it is amazing what people are doing with it. This year is the busiest year ever for Yosemite. Ever. So we opted for an early departure to avoid the crowds. That meant a 3am wake up call but it was perfect! 

We landed at Tunnel View just at sunrise (planned) and it was beautiful. Not only was the sunrise spectacular but there were no crowds. We then parked and checked out FREE bikes through Yosemite Conservatory’s Bike Share program. Public transportation, baby! It was awesome! Yosemite is huge and parking your car and biking your way around is the way to go. 

We biked to Mirror Lake, the tallest waterfall in America, and had a picnic at the Swinging Bridge. 

We made our way out of the park with no traffic and saw El Capitan on the way. I could not resist stopping for a photo by the Sierra sign since I was wearing my Sierra Wool& dress, which I estimate I have worn 400+ days! I love the benefits of what wool brings to my nomadic life. 

We ended the evening going out to a country bar (after napping for a couple hours). It was a really fun weekend.