Just got back from our second trip to California in three months! Our friends Nate and Amanda invited us to their wedding at Yosemite National Park, which gave Dan and me the perfect excuse to explore Northern California for the first time. The Friday before the wedding, we flew into San Francisco, which is about a 4 hour drive from Yosemite. We spent the day doing touristy things: lunch in the Mission District, driving down the wiggly part of Lombard Street, and taking lots of photos of the sea lions at Pier 39.
As we were walking to the Pier, I said, "I really hope there's a sea lion to look at!" I wasn't aware that it's pretty much constantly covered in them. The ones that had just popped out of the water to rest on the docks were slick and shiny, but the ones who had been resting in the sun for a while looked so soft and fluffy. I wished I could be both close enough to pet one and far away enough to avoid the smell.
On Saturday, we drove from San Francisco to Yosemite. We passed miles and miles of orchards that we later discovered were almond trees and saw evidence of the devastation caused by a huge wildfire. Some of the road was pretty treacherous with hairpin turns, a steep drop over the edge, and no guard rails!
We arrived in Yosemite mid-afternoon and got ready for the wedding rehearsal at Sentinel Beach. That's when the trip started to get a little crazy. On Friday, a disgruntled employee at an air traffic control facility in Chicago had started a fire, causing a lot of damage to the radar facility. O'Hare airport was shut down all day and not expected to be fully operational for over 2 weeks. (Side note: I can't type the phrase "fully operational" and not think of the Death Star.) Unfortunately, Amanda's parents and grandparents were supposed to fly from Chicago that day and were having issues getting re-booked. Saturday evening, Nate and Amanda decided to delay the wedding from Sunday to Monday to give her parents more time to get there.
I know this whole ordeal was super stressful for Nate and Amanda, but there were a couple upsides to a delayed wedding. Firstly, it POURED rain on Sunday. The wedding was scheduled to be outside at Glacier Point, and we heard it was actually sleeting there! Monday, on the other hand, was absolutely gorgeous. Secondly, having a free day on Sunday gave Dan and me some time to explore Yosemite! Our original itinerary didn't include any hiking, because we had planned on staying two nights in Sonoma after leaving Yosemite. Fortunately, we were able to shorten our stay in Sonoma to accommodate the extra day at the park. We used our free time Sunday to hike through Mariposa Grove and see the Giant Sequoias!
We walked through the California tunnel tree, which is still alive and producing pine cones despite having a car-sized hole cut through the base. I did stray from the trail occasionally to take photos of the wildlife including these little squirrels called "chickarees." I also spotted a bright blue Steller's Jay.
Everything went smoothly for the wedding on Monday; I only saw one cloud the whole day, and it was the white, fluffy type. The view from Glacier Point was breathtaking. After a short ceremony attended by a small group of friends and family (and a much larger group of nature enthusiasts), we snapped some photos of Half Dome and then took the bus back to the Ahwahnee hotel for the reception. We had a tasty dinner and then played card games including Uno and Go Fish until the party ended.
We hopped in the car Tuesday morning for another four hour drive back to Sonoma. I'm lucky Dan is a good conversationalist! He quipped that it's a sure sign you get along well with your spouse when you put over 600 miles on your rental car in less than a week and never turn on the radio. We arrived in Sonoma just in time to catch the last tour at Benzinger Family Winery where we took a tour of the vineyards and cellars, ending with a wine tasting. Afterwards, we checked in at our fancy hotel on Sonoma Plaza and enjoyed an early dinner across the street at The Girl and The Fig.
On Wednesday morning we drove back to San Francisco to visit Alcatraz. We had discovered on our first day that the tours sell out days (sometimes weeks!) in advance, so we had purchased tickets for Wednesday afternoon. The audio tour of the cellhouse was very well done, with lots of first-person narrative from former inmates and guards.
After the tour, we drove to the Mission District to meet up with Dan's friend Kevin for an authentic Mexican dinner. Kevin saved us lots of money letting us stay on his futon for the night. We had to get up around 3 a.m. to catch our flight, so it would have killed me to pay for a hotel for only a few hours of sleep!
Congratulations, Nate and Amanda! We're so honored you invited us to the wedding. Thanks for giving us the opportunity for this amazing vacation!
