Stephanie and I had a great mini-vacation.  We drove to Yosemite Tuesday evening and stayed in the Majestic/Ahwanee/Historic Hotel.  It is a gorgeous place.  As we arrived at the valley, the moon was out and full.  The valley shone with a gorgeous light, and I really wish we weren’t so tired, or we could have pulled off to the side and taken it in more.  I may have to go back on another full moon.  We met up with my uncle Fred and aunt Karin.  They were great fun to talk with in the morning.  We then went to the Vernal falls hike together.  Stephanie and I continued on past to the top of Nevada Falls, then back down the John Muir trail.

There was an amazing amount of water flowing, and the hike up to Vernal falls was soaked with the spray coming off the falls.  All that spray, mixed with a nice sunny day, made for some spectacular rainbows.

Close to Nevada falls was a small waterfall coming down directly on the path.  We walked along the railing for a few hundred feet, right next to a drop of a few hundred feet.  It was exciting, but not something that was terribly safe.

We met up with Fred and Karin to go to the lower Yosemite falls, then hiked back to the Majestic Hotel for drinks and dinner.  It was a delicious dinner and the conversation was excellent.  Stephanie and I wanted to stay until the moon came out, but that would have meant getting home around 4am.  Instead we started the drive back and got home at around 11:30.

It was a good trip and I’ll post pictures when I get them.