Yosemite Westlake RV Park (by Caleb)

After a long drive through the Central Valley, we arrived at Yosemite Westlake RV park. On the way, we had gone down and up the Central Valley. At the bottom, dad stopped to let the engine cool down. During that time, we walked down to the river that was flowing below. When we got back up, dad continued to drive, and the road got very twisty and steep.

When we arrived, mom and I checked in with a very talkative guy. Then we picked our own site. We started having a lot of trouble setting up, like, dad hit a log driving into the site, mom found a black widow in the electric box, and the site we were in was extremely unlevel and we had about a foot of space under a tire after leveling. Eventually, we drove the RV to a site we had overlooked and got set up. We also met a couple who had three dogs named Lilu, Pikachu, and Monkey and talked to us while we set up.

Later that week, I was really excited because we were going to a friend's RV in another campground. We had met them at the last campground (Sequoia RV Park) and had made friends with them. We went there in the afternoon to play and have dinner. Dad wouldn't be coming until later, since he was hiking a fifteen mile trail up the famous Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. That afternoon mom, Jordan, Asher, and I drove to their campground which was on the way to Yosemite NP.

When we got there, all of us went to the river to play. I got myself wet pretty quickly and continued to do so by jumping off a rock into the deep part of the river. After that, some other kids and I walked down a trail to get some firewood. I brought my hatchet to help. Later, we had a dinner of sausage, cookies, salad, green beans and some other foods. After dinner, the kids went to the playground. We played tag and another game called groundies. Afterwards, we had a campfire and smores. The kids stayed inside and watched a movie most of the time. That night, we drove home late.

The next day we went to Yosemite National Park. Even on a Friday, it was still crowded and there was a decent line to get in. After we entered, we stopped at an overlook that viewed the valley. A few waterfalls coming out of the sides of the valley were visible. It truly was a beautiful valley.

This is a zoomed in picture of the one above.

After the overlook, we drove down to a pullout and walked to the start of the trail dad did to Half Dome. We started off to one of the waterfalls dad saw on his hike, Vernal Falls. The trail started going up alongside the river and got very tiring. After a while we got to a bridge where we could view Vernal Falls from a distance. We continued on the trail up some steps. I started getting very wet from the spray of the falls. After step, after step, after step, after step, after step, after step, after step, after step, after step, we finally reached the top of Vernal Falls. It was a powerful rapid waterfall that descended 317 feet. We took our pictures then headed back to the car.

After that hike, we walked to Yosemite falls, aka Fire Falls, which dropped three thousand feet! Yosemite falls was a truly impressive waterfall that reached down from the cliffs above. It was two waterfalls, the upper and lower falls. We hiked to the lower one which was a short walk. We didn't hike to the upper one because the trail composed of, like, a million switchbacks. After Yosemite falls, we drove back to our RV.

The next day, we went to Yosemite NP again. After the long drive there, we first stopped at tunnel view, which overlooks the valley in front of a tunnel. After the view, we drove down and back through the tunnel because we wanted to.

After that we drove to a pull out that viewed El Capitan. El Capitan was more impressive than Half Dome. It reached a height of six thousand feet and was really wide. Asher and dad wandered off somewhere while Jordan, mom and I waited in the Jeep. Eventually, I went to find dad and Asher on the trail we thought they were on. The trail was through a meadow and was a pleasant one. After awhile of walking, I turned around. I didn't know this trail and for all I knew it made its way up El Capitan. Finally, they came back to the car and we finally continued our drive through Yosemite National Park.

El Capitan

Ducks close to El Capitan

Next, dad dropped us off at a parking lot that had a trail to the visitor center. At the visitor center, Asher, Jordan and I got our Junior Ranger badges and looked at the exhibits inside. When dad came, we watched the park film then walked back to the Jeep and had lunch. When we left, the parking lot was so full that two cars and an RV were waiting to take our spot (the RV got it).

After that, we drove up, up, up above the valley to the towering hills above. We drove the scenic drive up there through the mountains. We finally got to snow! First, in little patches, than they got bigger and bigger as we drove on. At the end of the road, dad stopped and we all rushed out and ran to the snow like any normal children would. Jordan and Asher made a snow fort while I made my own. Once our forts were complete, we waged war. In the end, no one won, but I did take out a few chunks of Asher and Jordan's fort. 

Next, we drove back down the road and out of Yosemite. We tried to go to Hetch Hetchy (another part of Yosemite), but it closed at five o'clock. After Yosemite, we drove over to our friend's RV again. We had dinner there then I went off to the playground. I enjoyed hanging out with them and was disappointed when we had to go.

The next day, we packed up and left for River Reflections RV Park.