Lake Tahoe & Yosemite

8/21- 8/22

We arrived in California Saturday afternoon in Sacramento.  We drove to my aunt and uncles house in El Dorado Hills where we enjoyed a delicious dinner with Al, Josh, Aunt Jackie, and Uncle Rick. We were planning on relaxing and visiting on Sunday, but my Aunt Jackie convinced us to go check out Lake Tahoe as none of us had ever been.  The view coming into Lake Tahoe was breath taking.  We stopped along the switchbacks for a few pictures.  (My mom and Uncle Rick have those)  We then drove into the town and did some gambling at Hard Rock Cafe.  We enjoyed a delicious lunch on an outside patio that was on the Nevada/California state line.  We drove down to the lake.  It was a bit overcast and a storm was rolling in, but we managed to get a nice group photo.  The sand was an interesting color and felt very course compared to other beaches I've visited.  We made it back to the vehicle when the rain started.  On our drive home we were in a hail storm that lasted longer than any I've ever seen.  We drove out of it and had a nice drive back to my Aunt and Uncles.

We woke up bright and early to head to Yosemite National Park.  It was a 3 hour drive from my Aunt and Uncles and much of it was on switchbacks.  It was a beautiful, yet nauseating drive. Once in the park we completed a two mile hike in the Tuolumne Grove to see the giant sequoias. We then drove down to the valley.  We were disappointed to see all the waterfalls were dry, but the valley floor was still amazing.  My favorite stop was in a meadow along the valley floor.  The yellow flowers were beautiful and the view up at the mountains was incredible. We saw Half Dome, El Capitan, drove through Tunnel View and made the complete circle of the valley floor. The pictures do zero justice for what it looks like in real life, and how incredibly small you feel when standing on the valley floor.