Yosemite

When we got to our campsite in Oakhurst near Yosemite, we went down to a stream with some waterfalls. I found a rope with a bar that swings over a little waterfall into a deep spot. We have one like that at our camp, but it has a platform built below it. To get to this one you have to climb up a series of rocks, then across a tiny waterfall (while avoiding a pricker-bush), and then you get on a larger rock and jump off. Amelia convinced me to go first and I ended up getting an audience from the other kids swimming there. Once I jumped everyone was lining up to take their turn jumping. Later on we went to the new Harry Potter movie while my grandpa was doing something for work. The movie was good in my opinion, but the ending was disappointing.

The next day we had a late start to Yosemite. I never thought a national park would have traffic jams. The roads are no where’s near as bad as they were in the Sequoias. We saw the Half Dome and various waterfalls. There are a lot of spots you can climb on rocks and soak your feet in the water. Bridalveil was my favorite waterfall because it looked like it was in slow motion. It looks like it doesn't turn to water until it hits the rocks. The next morning we went back to Yosemite, but we left much earlier than the day before. This time we looked at a set up of an old town that was there a long time ago and a hotel that looks like a miniature version of the one from the movie "Somewhere in Time". Later on we went to see the Upper and Lower Falls. You can't see the Upper Falls when you get to the viewing spot because it's so tall. Pictures can't give you the same experience because you don't feel the mist, hear the thundering water, or smell the forest.

Our air-conditioner is broken which is death in the Dakota Bad Lands. So we went to a little town to get it fixed, but the parts weren't going to come in for another five days. We did finally find a car wash though. That car was covered in dirt from towing it all this way. Unfortunately my grandpa drove over the bump and it started spraying the car, but we were trying to get out of it because we didn't have five dollars in quarters. So he went into the store very upset and gave the man a five-dollar bill. The man looked at him and said, "I cannot teach you, maybe some other time." That was not very smart because my grandpa was already in a bad mood from all the problems with the camper. The man ended up directing us through the car wash.

We found a campsite near by that was only an hour away from San Francisco. We mainly went to Chinatown. If I ever go back there I will know three things: (1) Don't go to Chinatown with a full wallet- it's too addicting (2) never buy something at the first shop because chances are the shop down the street has the same item for half the price (3) dress warmly. We thought oh everyone is so high class there, let's wear our sun dresses. Bad move. It was a whopping 58 degrees and only warmed up to 62 by the end of the day. Mark Twain once said, "The coldest winter of my life was the summer I spent in San Francisco." The fog covers it so much that it blocks the sun. We went on the cable car despite the cold (it's all open and receives lots of wind going down those hilly streets). It was worth just saying you road on one though. We also went to a pretty fancy Chinese restaurant. We order the Sizzling Soup because it's so rare. If you ever see it get it because you'll probably not find it again.

Right now we're making our way through the normal California traffic on six-lane road. We're headed for Salt Lake City for a day. It's just a side stop on the way to the Montana entrance to Yellow Stone. This is my part of the trip because I've wanted to see Montana for a few years now just because of how open it is.