Come See Yosemite, May 14-21, 2017

Today was the most spectacular day.  It was the type of day I envisioned in bringing the "Framily" here.  A group of us headed out to the infamous "tunnel view" vista point.  We got some fantastic photos.  We then headed up to Glacier Point.  It's a vantage point 4000 feet above the Yosemite Valley floor.  We captured some more incredible pictures.  We headed down into the valley for a stop at the Majestic Hotel (formerly known as the Awahnee Hotel).  Traffic was very reasonable today.  We strolled the hotel and the surrounding grounds for a few more photos.  Then back to camp for late arrival at happy hour, but we made it.  Don got awarded the Yosemite Sam for patiently sitting in the back seat of my car, by himself, waiting for our group to get going this morning. 

I can't compete with Pam and Steve's reports of the day as I did  laundry!  We did enjoy Happy Hour and  meeting some new friends from Australia who now  live in Sunset City AZ. Well they have been in Us for 25 years!  They are looking at becoming RVForum members. George and his wife are pictured here.
I also got a shot of Don the new  recipient of Yosemite Sam.

A bunch of us  wandered off to  Groveland to  have  pizza.  Yum  plus a beer!

The Pizza evening was fun.

Looks like a great time everyone is having. 

The pictures are breathtaking.

Thanks for posting them.

Mike.

Some more pics...

Steve promised  me a lesson in resizing photos after our group dinner tonight. After a few tries of email photos sent and received we  both laughed as he was using  Windows program and I use a Mac. So much for shared technology.

Eleven of our group departed at  10:30 toward  Hetch Hetchy .  This is a  very northern part of Yosemite and not  in the crowed  section. We had toured a Thousand Trails RV park close by (concluding Steve picked the very best park for all of us)  had lunch at Evergreen Lodge  and  then  visited the Hetch Hetchy area including the dam and Reservoir.

The day was capped off with a Happy hour at  our  campground  I missed ( sadly missed Pam's brownies too)  then off to Buck Meadows for a  final group dinner.  I  took photos but I'm having trouble with my old Picassa program and the slow internet here so stay tuned ( it  may take a while till I get photos to you , but I will.)

We met Kim, daughter of Bill and Corrine.  Bill brought his favorite wines to share at dinner tonight.  Don Nesbitt and Mary Ann Celebrated their last night with the group and he presented Yosemite Sam to ... wait for it.... He has a few nominations...Jan for waiting till end of  lunch meal to  express his displeasure with  VERY salty elk chili and Terry who is allowed to buy ice cream in any hour of the day  even after a big lunch.  But Don in his  extreme gentleman way offered up Yosemite Sam  back to STEVE  for hosting this  rally.  Drumroll, applause!!!!  There is no question but that this group is having a wonderful time!

Obviously, those over 50 should not attempt to teach anything about technology.  I'm sure there are a few exceptions, but Betty and I had a good laugh about this one.  I have just a few pictures to share from today.  We actually went to a section of the park I had never been to, so when you're taking it all in, you sometimes forget to snap more pictures.  We had a great time exploring this remote section of the park, had a great lunch, and marveled at the enormity of the O'Shaughnessy Dam.  I wish I could share the video of the water being released from the dam.  The roar of the rush was incredible.  This reservoir provides almost all of the drinking water to the city of San Francisco, who paid to construct this dam.  Tonight we shared a good meal and great company as we bid farewell to Don & Mary Ann who are leaving for Yellowstone in the morning.  Thanks for coming all the way to California to share some time with us!

Thanks for sharing all the great pictures!  I especially liked seeing the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir upon whose water we depended for so many years - and which we miss greatly.  I always said we had the best water in the country because it came down from the Sierra Range in huge pipes, then it's stored in the Crystal Spring Reservoir which is equally pristine, before being piped out to residents from San Francisco to Mountain View, in other words the upper half of the San Francisco Peninsula.  Our water was good tasting as well as being naturally soft.

It's also great to see so many of you having fun!

ArdraF

Something new and different again today.  Several of us went to Columbia State Historic Park.  They put on an authentic reenactment of an 1852 gold rush town.  They had saloons, blacksmiths, gold panning operations, etc.  For me it was like seeing my CA history class in live action.  After, we visited the town of Sonora.  We wandered in and out of antique shops and an old fire fighting museum.  It was a fun day.

Looks like all you all have had a great time. Laurie and I wish we could have been there. We sure are looking forward to the August rally in Ouray, CO.

Just a note to let you know the "early leavers" had a pretty much uneventful journey to Winnemucca, NV, 400+ miles,yesterday. A chart of our elevations through the day would resemble a big yo-yo but the lumbering beast handled it well.

When we made the decision to stay on Interstates and go through Salt Lake City, MA called Mike and Chrystal and we'll be able to get together with them this afternoon.  Another lucky break for the Nesbitts!

Most of all, this is to thank all of the Framily for making our Yosemite Rally so enjoyable.  A big Thank You goes to Steve for all the work he put into making sure we all stayed busy and had a great time -- even getting the early rainy weather changed to sunshine for the rest of the week --  and to Dee for supporting him and putting up with him!  Best wishes for a successful knee repair and quick recovery.

Enjoy the remainder of the rally and Safe Travels to your next destination!

Don and Mary Ann

Yosemite Sam has a final home.  Last night Steve presented him to Bill R for keeps.  When  Steve learned that the friend of Bill's who passed away this week had red  hair and a mustache he presented him to Bill  as a memento.

Bill's family happily accepted the award!

Most folks took a down day today preparing for tomorrow's departure  :'(  Jan, Olga and I had to run a reconnassence mission of sorts.  Jan lost his debit card at the 1852 festival yesterday, but a good person had turned it in to lost and found.  After, we went to a chocolate festival in Oakdale, CA.  We had high hopes, but were fairly disappointed.  It was more just like street fair, with a couple of booths that had pre-made chocolates.  Not at all what we were expecting.  But all ended well when Suzanne suggested we all go for pizza to celebrate our final night, even though we had already done our official farewell.  We all got to sit together and enjoy each others company as well as some really good pizza.

I would personally like to that all who came and made this rally a big success.  Special thanks to Betty Brewer for assisting with the picture posting and encouraging me to do a rally.  I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

Steve

Beautiful pictures!!  Really jealous Charles and I missed this rally.  Hope a wonderful time was had by all!

Charles & Robin

This rally just seemed to fly by!  I can't believe it's over.  Thanks for sharing all the great photos and safe travels to you all!

ArdraF

Terry and  I  pulled out of  Yosemite Pines RV Park at  7:30 this morning.  We almost beat Ken and Sheila but he took the  short cut out of the park and  beat us  on that  lovely sharp curved road  8 miles of downhill.  The good part of traveling  on A Sunday morning is the light traffic.  We  made it  402 miles to Yreka.  Will overnight and get  new tires for  MH  in morning in Eugene, Or.

Such a fine group and such a beautiful place.

We left just after Betty and Terry at 8:00. We wanted to get a NFS campground somewhere near Lake Tahoe, but it was just too crowded for my taste. We made it Winnemucca, farther than planned, so we will make it home to SLC tomorrow. I was so deprived of internet (have I mentioned before how much I dislike Tengonet internet? It was awful.) and television (our site had no cable and no sight line for the satellite) that we are in the KOA. Very nice place actually. We are headed out to dinner.

Thanks to Steve for setting up a nice rally. Yosemite was great, and the surrounding area quite interesting. Of course the people make the sightseeing more fun.

Steve,

Thanks for organizing the rally! We had a great time.
We may have gotten ahead of Terry for a while, but he beat us here to Yreka. Tomorrow we head to Coburg, OR for our first service appointment at Cummins.

ken

A big thanks to Steve for organising the rally and to all the participants who contributed to making it so successful. :-*
We enjoyed ourselves immensely.
We left around 9.45 and arrived in Reno mid afternoon, now we are parked alongside the Truckee River and will sleep tonight to the sounds of water rushing over a small rapid. ;D


Allen and Suzanne

To all the attendees, you are most welcome.  I enjoyed the opportunity to share this little slice of California with all of you.  It did seem to fly by.  Other than being without Dee, I had a great time.  Especially catching up with framily I hadn't seen for a while, as well as meeting new folks.  To those who enjoyed online with us, I am glad you enjoyed our posts. I am grateful to Betty Brewer for assisting me with the rally postings and photos.  I had a thankfully uneventful drive home although it was hot.  99 degrees pulling the Grapevine hill on I-5 was not fun, but she ran like a champ.  Glad to be home.  Can't wait for the next rally. 

Steve