Rainy Day at Yosemite

We took this picture at the "Tunnel View" overlook just before the rain picked up.

Today we went into Yosemite and spent the day exploring the park by car. It's an amazing place. We went to Yosemite Village, Bridalveil Falls, and Glacier Point. There is an entire small town here, it's different than I expected. There's a grocery store, auto mechanic, even a hair salon. It's very differnt than in that respect than all the other National Parks I've been to. None have been this developed inside the park boundaries.

We drove through the campgrounds in the valley and picked spots that we would like to stay at next time. I am frustrated because when I was planning this trip, I tried to get us a site within Yosemite Valley. The NPS website said that all the campgrounds were completely sold out for our dates. So we booked the campground we are at, which is well outisde the park and an hours drive from Yosemite Villiage. When we were there today we learned that they are booked at less than 50% of capacity. It's too late now because we are already paid in full at the campgound we are at. So we are driving back and forth everyday when we don't need to. That's a lot of gas, time, and hassle that could have been avoided. The rangers at the park seemed like they had heard this routine before and told me thay are working on changing the reservation system in the near future. I hope they do because the one they have now sucks!!

It was gray and overcast this morning and as the day went by it started to sprinkle and then rain. We drove back to the trailer in heavy rain. We are exhausted. I think we will sleep in tomorrow (if the kids let us).