Favourite shot of the day...Check out the artists attempt at bottom left... pretty good, but nothing beats the real thing...
Today we had hired the services of a private tour director to drive us to Yosemite National Park for the day. This meant a 15 hour round trip, but from all that I had researched it sounded like it was well worth the effort and I was not wrong.
We were picked up at 7am by our tour guide Jeff Morgan in his GMC Yukon Denalli which was luxury comfort plus. Jeff turned out to be one of the nicest of blokes and was willing to basically accommodate us in any way he could to make the most of our day. Having missed breakfast, we pulled over once clearing the city limits so we could all have a bite to eat and then we continued on for the next two and half hours until we reached Yosemite National Park. Our first stop was at the Mariposa grove where the giant sequoia trees dot the landscape. These massive pine trees are the largest in the world and can span up to 25 feet across.
We were picked up at 7am by our tour guide Jeff Morgan in his GMC Yukon Denalli which was luxury comfort plus. Jeff turned out to be one of the nicest of blokes and was willing to basically accommodate us in any way he could to make the most of our day. Having missed breakfast, we pulled over once clearing the city limits so we could all have a bite to eat and then we continued on for the next two and half hours until we reached Yosemite National Park. Our first stop was at the Mariposa grove where the giant sequoia trees dot the landscape. These massive pine trees are the largest in the world and can span up to 25 feet across.
We boarded a “Tram” that took us into the grove on a 1 and a half hour tour complete with informative commentary via personal headsets. The sheer size of these trees leaves you gobsmacked. From the Mariposa grove we moved on to the Wawona village where many of the buildings originated back around the 1850’s. 
It was then a 35 minute drive to Glacier point, the highest viewing point in the park that can be reached by car. This left us breathless... the view was absolutely amazing. Yosemite is truly one out of the box in terms of its unique qualities. The sheer size of the park is awesome in itself, let alone the views. 
From Glacier point we made our way down into the valley stopping at a couple of other vista points along the way. I thought the view from the top was amazing until we reached the valley and looked up. 
The view of El Capitan and Half Dome is magnificent and very special. I also loved the many meadows, so beautiful it was just as if the finger of God had been dragged right across them.
After a lovely dinner at the Awhanee Hotel, we then began our journey out of the valley, once again stopping at many vista points along the way. Arriving back at our hotel in San Francisco at 10:15pm, it was a long day but well worth the effort, a definite highlight amongst our journeys throughout North America.
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