Saturday-Monday May 26-28, 2012 - Yosemite, California

Day 1: Drove from Los Angeles to Fresno and stayed the night. Made a pit stop at Bravo Farms.

Day 2: Drove from Fresno to Yosemite. Spent the day in Yosemite from about 7 a.m. till 9 p.m. Drove back to Fresno to stay the night.

Day 3: Drove from Fresno to return to Los Angeles.

Mileage: 700 miles

Memorial Day Weekend. The park ranger said the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend is the busiest day out of the year at Yosemite. No joke. I will never go back to Yosemite that weekend.




Bravo Farms: Made a pit stop here on our way to Fresno. Exit Traver off the 99 fwy. One of the most random places ever.


 Bravo farms: Specialize in their cheese. Cheese tasting available here.

 Bravo farms: Donkey. They also have a petting zoo and with 25 cents you can feed them. There were donkeys, goats, turkeys.

 Bravo Farms: Lot of old signs everywhere, inside and outside their buildings.

 Bravo Farms: Outside in the back, right along the freeway. Goats eating.

 Bravo Farms: Old piano. Lots of antiques here.

 Bravo Farms: Upstairs to one of the buildings is a small miniature golf course. They also had old arcades, a pool table, and one of those old style shooting games.

Bravo Farms: Cash register.

Bravo Farms: Tree house. You can go in. Not sure how many stories there are, maybe 5? The staircase is pretty narrow but it lets you go all the way up.


Yosemite National Park: 

 Good morning, Yosemite. View from Glacier Point.

 View of Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls.

 Morning haze and Half Dome.

 Another view of Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls and the valley floor.

 Still fresh powdery snow on the trees.

 Morning view from Tunnel View.

 Bridalveil Fall.

 Half Dome and Bridalveil Fall.

 Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls.


 Upper Yosemite Fall.


 The crowds...

 On the Mist Trail. View of the huge granite walls.


 Vernal Fall.

 Tenaya Creek.

 Mirror Lake.

 A fallen tree.

 Shuttle stop #17. There are a total of 21 shuttle stops. We made a huge mistake of ending our day at shuttle stop 17. Everyone is trying to leave the park around the same time (approximately 6 p.m.) By the time the shuttles reach stop 17, they're packed with people from the previous stops. In addition, the shuttles arrive late because they're stuck in gridlock traffic trying to loop back around. Next time, start the day at the further stops and end at the closer stops to avoid an hour wait for the shuttle and being too tired to walk a few miles back.

 Sun setting in the valley.

 View from Tunnel View at 8 p.m. No more crowds.

 Hasta luego, Yosemite. I miss this place already.

Saturday-Monday May 19-21, 2012 - Antelope Canyon, Arizona

Day 1: Saturday, May 19, 2012 - Drove 6 hours from Los Angeles to St. George, Utah, and stayed the night.

Day 2: Sunday, May 20, 2012 - Drove 3 hours from St. George, Utah, to Page, Arizona. Stopped by Lone Rock, Glen Canyon Dam/Bridge, Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon, and watched the annular eclipse at Horseshoe Bend. Drove 5 hours from Page, Arizona, to Las Vegas, Nevada, and stayed the night.

Day 3: Monday, May 21, 2012 - Spent the day in Vegas and drove 4 hours to arrive back in Los Angeles.

Mileage: 1,100 miles

 Lone Rock, Lake Powell

 Lone Rock, Lake Powell

 Glen Canyon Bridge

 Glen Canyon Dam

 Glen Canyon Dam and Bridge

Upper Antelope Canyon: Took the 11:00am - 1:00pm photo tour with Antelope Canyon Navajo Tours. This is prime time for the light beams. This company is located directly on the Indian Reservation. There was a $6 fee to enter the reservation and the photo tour was $40/person. On the day we went, they did not limit the number of visitors inside the canyon. However, beginning Friday, May 25, 2012, they will begin to limit the number of visitors inside the canyon and the photo tour price jumps up to $80/person. We had an awesome tour guide, Dale. He knew exactly where the light beams were at what particular time and blocked traffic for us like a boss in that crazy jammed packed place. I think he pissed the other tour guides off so that we'd be able to get good pictures but he was pro at his job. He definitely made it a better experience.

 On the Reservation. The building on the right is the Antelope Canyon Navajo Tours office. Waiting to get on the trucks that take you to the entrance of Antelope Canyon.













Entrance to Upper Antelope Canyon.

Lower Antelope Canyon: Cost is $20/person. This tour is not as popular because it doesn't have the light beams. Parts of this canyon is more narrow and may require descending and ascending ladders. You don't need to make reservations for this tour.



  


  The view right after you exit Lower Antelope Canyon.

Horseshoe Bend: Went to Horseshoe Bend to watch the Annular Eclipse. Amazing experience. Clear skies, no cloud in sight, almost directly in the central line of the eclipse track.

 Horseshoe Bend.

 People were all along the rim waiting for the eclipse.

 Adios, Arizona.