Dirty 30 in Yosemite :) - (Day 2)

Most of the days leading up to our trip to Yosemite had pretty much already been spent celebrating this particular day. My 30th birthday… my 30th year of life. A pretty momentous day…and on this day, amongst the trees, waking up in our little tent cabin where the “real world” seemed so pleasantly far away, my birthday felt more special than I could’ve ever imagined. Just me and Chad. In our little world…far from real life. Far from reality. Far from the stresses of our jobs and far from any financial concerns that waited for our return. This was my day. And I was spending it in the best way possible. On VACATION.

Our plans for the day included a trip down to the southern part of Yosemite…to the Mariposa Grove of Wawona.  Our nearly one hour drive there seemed to fly as we were graced with spectacular views and rounding corners that always made my heart stop beating..if only for a second as Chad channeled his inner Dale Earnhardt. 

Taking those turns like a CHAMP... while nearly giving his wife a heart attack!!

The longest tunnel I've ever driven through.. 

Areas where fires had taken the lives of these trees..

So sad, yet so beautiful all at the same time.  They stood there so sculptural and so proud. 

Once we arrive at the Mariposa Grove we were greeted by nearly 500 GIANT Sequoia trees. Our pictures don’t quite grasp the massive stature of these trees. Tree trunks, some spanning 40’ in diameter, were here, there and everywhere you looked.  It was a truly amazing sight.   

Named the Fallen Monarch, this massive tree fell more than 300 hundred years ago

The Fallen Monarch's root system

Look how tiny I look next to this MONSTER! 

As the sign states.. these three are called The Bachelor and his Three Graces

(insert silly infantile remark about even trees getting the ladies.. ;)

Can you spot me in this picture?  ;)  it's kinda like "Where's Waldo"?!

Walking path right smack in the middle of a tree trunk..  Kinda nuts.

 The Faithful Couple.  Two trees starting as one at the base...and splitting into two above

Awww.. aren't they a lovely pair?

 Looking through the Faithful Couple 

Taking a gander from the other side.. 

Crazy looking tree lovin' fungus.   

Hiking up the grove to find more sequoias. 

  Biggest ravens we'd ever seen! 

 Crazy blast from the past on our way back to Yosemite Valley

 Once again, amazing views all around

 Next up:  Lower Yosemite Falls

 Looks like someone is excited to get there!  :)

Apparently the falls rush harder and faster during the spring time when the winter snow has melted.  

 Bound and determined to find higher ground, Chad set out on a mission, while I took a moment to enjoy the view after making our way to the middle of the rock pile.  

If you look real closely, you might be able to spot a tiny speck of blue... CHAD!

 There he is!  Reappearing amongst the boulders.  Now which way do I go?
These boulders certainly do dwarf him don't they?

 My view out to our starting point.  I still can't believe how many rocks we had to climb and hurdle to get here!

But nothing can beat being this close to a waterfall!

 Finally finding the base of the falls.
Thankfully, the non-existent melting snow kept the water from being too high or the falls too strong.  

View of our trek back to the bridge.  :)  Happy Rock Hopping!!

Don't mind my fat, swollen, red, unmade up face...

but don't I have the MOST HANDSOME husband?!
Sorry ladies, he's all mine!  ;) 

We ended the night on a mission to test out our somewhat new camera's awesome capabilities.  Seizing the perfect opportunity to try to capture the night sky... (being as desolate as one can be in this place with no street lights and limited vehicle traffic) we took to the meadow across from Curry Village to see what our camera could do.  (Keep in mind that these next pictures are unedited in any way...so we think they came out pretty cool...we tried it again a few days later with better results as you'll see in our next few posts)

My super cool FLUKE. 

This picture was captured totally by accident cause it was so dark I couldn't see a darn thing

Isn't it awesome?!

Those streaks in the sky were planes flying by :)

Yosemite or BUST - (Day 1)

I have to admit that I have a love/hate relationship with vacations. The love part is obvious. Time away from the mundane, day-in and day-out routines we’ve all grown accustomed to…a chance to refresh and recharge.. and for us, actually getting a chance to spend some good quality “husband and wife” time TOGETHER. All in all, the LOVE of vacations certainly out-weighs the “hate”…And by hate I mean, “dislike” and by “dislike” I only mean that I don’t usually want to come back to reality after our said vacation is over. (wah, wah, waaaaaaaahhhh…) That, plus, having to unpack (ugh!) and do laundry (double yack!), then being met at the office once again with a pile of papers on your chair of things that need to be done ASAP (just in case you forgot you were on vacation)…while the task of sorting through the bazillion and one pictures we took for our blog looms in the back of our minds… (well that’s not really a thing to dislike…but you get the point. ) See what I mean? Love/Hate.

As most of you already know, our vacation slash Yvette’s 30th birthday get-a-way was a 5 and ½ day trip to Yosemite. I have to be honest here and say that when Chad first mentioned camping as opposed to a trip out to Boston (which was my first choice), I didn’t really see myself as a “camping” type of girl.. I definitely HAVE and have always HAD a DEEP love and appreciation for nature and all things green and wild, but vacations to me had always included exploring big cities I had never been to before….so this option was certainly out on left field for me. At least it was at the beginning. Seeing the excitement in Chad’s face as he talked about all the wonderful things there…and the feeling surrounding the valley and forest around it… I soon found myself just as taken as he was to be amongst nature’s beauty. With no real expectations, we quickly solidified our plans and looked forward to the day when we’d be one with the outdoors and all of God’s little critters. (No worries, we packed the bug spray ;)

Here’s a quick (and somewhat concise) rundown of our trip out to Yosemite.. as it happened. :)

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010 –
some GOD FORSAKEN hour of the morning.. (5:15am to be precise) woken up after a few hours of tossing and turning and hoping we don’t sleep past our alarms.

5:45am – picked up by our lovely Dallas mom Lisa and taken to DFW to catch our 7am flight to San Francisco (thank goodness we didn’t have any more packing to do, cause we were USELESS at that hour!)

9:05am – San Francisco time, arrive without much trouble except for the CONSTANT singing of a little 5 or 6yr old whose mother was too busy sleeping to get her to SHUT UP! (I promise I love kids.. I really do.. but GEEZ Louise.. it’s the BUTT CRACK Of dawn.. go back to sleep already!)

9:30am - BART ride to Powell St. to pick up our rental car for the next few days.

10:30am – On the road to our first stop… DYNAMO DONUTS!!! Mmmmmmm…. If you’re ever in San Francisco with an inkling for something delectably sweet and delicious, go here. Better yet, take a trip to San Francisco JUST for that. You can check out their website here. http://www.dynamodonut.com/our_donuts.html
So here were the flavor choices in our sweet box of donut-y delights. Maple Glazed Bacon Apple (the BEST!), Ginger Orange, Caramel de Sel, Lemon Sichuan, Saffron Chocolate and a Sticky Bun to round out the bunch…Oh and yeah.. this was just for Chad and I.. lol. What? Don’t judge us. ;)

A few hours later – during our 3 hour drive to Yosemite, we make the requisite stop to end all stops.  IN-N-OUT!  Needless to say, Chad was in burger heaven…well I should say Chad and I were BOTH in burger heaven.  (despite my continued love for Whataburger, IN-N-OUT has become a close 2^nd…and being a devoted and supportive wife, I share my heart with both of them.  Lol…  Plus it was time to get rid of the sugary coat of donuts in our mouths from breakfast that morning.  :)

Along our route we passed what Chad called "Propeller Test Factories" lol..

Sometime between 2-3:00ish - we finally drive up to the entry gate at Yosemite.  Right away the smell of pine trees engulfs you and you can't help but take the biggest, deepest, longest breath you've ever taken in your life....All to absorb as much of that cool, crisp Autumn forest air as humanly possible.  We had arrived.  Finally our Yosemite Adventure had officially begun.  :)

Our drive from the entry gate to Yosemite Valley provided some of the most awe inspiring views I could've ever hoped for.  What a way to get introduced to Yosemite!

After a few snaps we headed to Curry Village to check in to our accommodations for our time here.

On our way to Curry Village we ran into El Capitan!  What a sight!

And Bridalveil Falls

Camp Curry Welcome Sign

Tent Cabin #550

 Honey, we're home!!  For the next few days at least..  :)

Having very limited information about what our tent cabin would be like, I was pleasantly surprised to find a very suitable room with a queen AND twin sized bed!  Off the ground, with sheets, towels and blankets..OH MY!!

Soon after settling in some and dropping off all our luggage, we headed out to explore the valley for the remainder of the evening.

Having the luxury of free shuttle bus rides around the valley, we took that first afternoon to stop at nearly all of them.  One of the stops we made on our "shuttle bus tour":  The Ahwahnee Hotel.  Stealing this straight from the Official Ahwahnee Hotel website:  "Known for its magnificent façade, and architecture, The Ahwahnee was specifically designed to highlight its natural surroundings, featuring Yosemite Falls, Half Dome and Glacier Point.  The destination of queens and presidents alike, The Ahwahnee offers a perfect balance of history, hospitality and elegance."

Part of my "Sun Series" of pictures..

We found a crazy looking pig face on one of the tree trunks.  Can you see it too??

  

Getting familiar with the shuttle routes. 

This night began my facination with capturing the sun. 

  Half Dome from a lake behind the Ahwahnee

 Tree Rings

 Details

 Gorgeous colors all around...

 Crazy water level sign from a major flood back in 1997

 We didn't even have to TRY to take amazing pictures.. this place was amazing all on it's own.  

As the sun set, we headed back to Curry Village for the last and final MUST of the evening.  The Pizza Deck for dinner.  :)  Donuts, burgers and pizza... mmmmm..it's what vacations are all about!  ;)

Sweet Birthday Surprise :)

I’m not sure what I did… or which wish was granted to bring him to me..but I’m lucky. The luckiest in fact. Since the first day we met, my life has been ABUNDANTLY blessed with so much love. It’s almost internally explosive. I know that sounds morbid and kinda disgusting really..but I feel like my heart, at any given moment, could just POP with so much goodness! I have, without a doubt in my mind, the most AMAZING husband anyone could ever wish for. I know I’ve said it before, but I can’t seem to say it enough. I love him more and more every single day and I’m blessed and shocked at my good fortune in finding him, and humbled for being loved by him. I can’t gush about this man enough.

This week I turn 30. Thirty years of life...sounds long, and short all at the same time. :) For whatever reason, I anticipated NOT looking forward to this day. I thought I would have a hard time NOT being in my twenties anymore. I actually still remember posting my 29th birthday blog this time last year as Chad and I were making our final preparations for our wedding day. It felt like just yesterday. With all the hub-bub going on last year, both our birthdays (mine Oct. 14th, Chad’s Dec. 10th) took a side seat to the wedding, knowing full well that we’d be sure to make up for it in the coming years as husband and wife. Chad, being the sweetheart that he is, DID NOT let me down. :)

It’s funny how the things he does for me doesn’t ever surprise me, yet he still manages to get me every single time. He never ceases to amaze me with his attention to detail, the HUGE effort taken to make everything just “right” in order to make things as special as possible, and his cunning surprise abilities! A month of planning and little birthday gifts scattered here and there, given like they were the last, definitely had me blind to what was the “end all, be all” gift.

A brand spankin’ new 27” iMac computer!!

After what seemed like a long day flying, I arrived home to a darkened office where supposedly the light bulbs had gone out.  Reaching for the light over the desk top, my mouth DROPPED when I found THIS waiting for me!! 

HOLY CRAP CHAD!!  :) :) 

I definitely think Chad gets as much happiness out of giving me gifts as he does in receiving them.  Almost immediately, I turned around to spot Chad's eyes welling up with tears just seeing how happy he had just made me.  What a MAN!  Knowing full well that I wouldn't have considered such a large purchase for myself, he planned this unbelievable surprise.  I'm still in shock!  I can't wait to use it... too bad I have to wait til AFTER we come back from our Yosemite trip (which I thought was my ORIGINAL and ONLY birthday present!!). 

To Nana's House We Go! :)

To cap off the weekend in the valley, Addie, Christi and I took a little detour to the tiniest town of Elsa, Texas.  If you've never heard of it, no worries, there's not a whole lot to see there... well except our Nana of course!  :)  Because my parents were already there spending the day with my grandmother as she got her roof repaired, we had a bit of time to catch up before we headed to Harlingen to catch my flight back to Dallas.  :)

 Addie and I with our Nana, my grammies :)...

 Showing us her pretty band-aids

CHEEEEEESSSEEEE