Our short vacation: 2 nights at Yosemite View Lodge. William got so excited the he did not sleep the night before! He was running around trying to help me pack (of course it took longer to pack with him helping :)).
We picked up the rental car at John Wayne airport on Saturday night; the airport was so empty during this Covid-19 shut down. We came to the Arrival level but the Alamo rental agency is down at lower level. William was so excited to get in the rental car: touched this and touched that with wide open eyes! The car rental price was so cheap: $164.00 total for 3 days for a van of 8 seats! Our family of 8 fit nicely in the car; there’s no place for the luggage so we put most of our luggage on the roof.
6 hrs drive with a few stops along the way for food and rest room breaks was not bad. William looked so happy all the time. This was our first trip out of town since the lock down. We stopped by Vons supermarket in Oakhurst town, which is about 1 hr from Yosemite park. They had fresh cherries so good that my brother in law Than bought 2 bags. We loved it so much that on the way home we bought some more. This town is big compared to Mariposa which is nearer to the park (about 30 min). It was a good choice to stop here at Oakhurst town; it’s a great place to stock up food & goodies before entering the park.
Checking in with Yosemite View Lodge was easy, of course everyone was wearing mask. I overheard that they had 50% vacancy due to the shutdown. The hotel has some outdoor pools and 1 indoor pool which was closed. It has a pizza store on site if you need some food. The hotel is in a very good location: the Merced river is right behind the hotel , and it’s only 15 minutes to the Yosemite entrance. That’s why it’s not cheap: $550 for 2 nites in a mountain view with a small kitchenette ( small sink, 4 burners stove, microwave, mini fridge, toaster, coffee maker, some dishes, pots and utensils, no oven). The bathroom is very roomy, looks like they just remodeled it. The balcony has 2 plastic chair and a little table. It was so hot so we rather stayed inside than sitting outside.
We made reservation with the park on 7/19 so we had to activate the pass on this day. So after checking in, taking a little break, we headed to the Yosemite park entrance. They asked for the reservation print out and my ID because my name was on the pass; they took the car license plate and gave us a a pink pass which we should always display on the dashboard. The reason they took the license plate is that, they check the license plate to see if it matches with our pass every time we re-enter the park. I guess it’s their way to prevent cheating because it’s so hard to get a reservation to the park due to the Covid-19 restrictions. William felt asleep while we were driving to the Tunnel View; after a long drive and no sleep he must be very tired!
Tonight’s dinner was Canh Bún and Bún Mắm I bought from Mama Oanh’s Kitchen before we left for the trip (freeze the soup the night before). Nothing tastes better than a bowl of Vietnamese soup after a long day!
Our plan for the next day is Tunnel View, Valley View, hiking to Lower Fall and Swinging Bridge. It was an easy hike with lots of big trees on the way so we did not feel hot at all. But the Lower Fall is a little bit disappointment because there’s so little water. After the hike we drove to the Swinging Bridge where we had lunch and had fun playing with the clear water. It’s so beautiful here. On the way back to the hotel we stopped by Valley View for some more family pictures.
It was around 4 PM; we took William down to the pool; there was only 2 families there so William had his own corner: he refused to leave the steps. Uncle Than tried to get him out to teach him to swim but he kept saying no. It was too sunny and too hot, he got off the pool after only 30 minutes. Tim & Than & Huong found the way the Merced river thru the pool gate so they went there to check it out; I took William back to the hotel room. William did not like the river; we took him there but after 1 minute, not sure what he saw but he insisted to go back to the room.
Tonight’s dinner was Phở, aunt Huong brought from home. Yes it tastes so good in the jungle! It’s our last night here at Yosemite park.
Tuesday morning, time to go home. We checked out early; we had some time to check out the Merced river behind the hotel again for some last minutes pictures. We stopped by Vons in Oakhust town again for some more fresh cherries; and then headed home.
The drive home was so smooth without any traffic; and of course, much thanks to our driver Tim Bui. We got home around 6:00 PM.
About the Yosemite View Lodge: overall we love this hotel, its location is perfect, kitchenette and roomy bathroom is a plus. Hotel pool need some cleaning. Wifi is available to purchase for $10.00/day thru a 3rd party (not provided by the hotel).
Yosemite Entrance Pass: due to Covid-19 restrictions, the park limits the number of people entering the site. We must make a reservation thru their web site; and it’s not easy. They release 80% tickets 1 month before; and 20% tickets 2 days in advance at 7:00 AM. You have to be fast in booking, by 7:03 AM all tickets are sold out! The trick is to log in before 7:00 AM and get your credit card ready. When it’s exact 7:00 AM, refresh the page continuously until it shows the available slots. Make your selection right away and add to cart. So you have to pay the entrance fee plus $2 for reservation free, which total around $32.00. Print your reservation, and make sure bring your ID with you; they will check to see if it’s really you (your name must match with your ID). Also, you must arrive on the day you reserved. So make sure to plan carefully. They open from 8:00 AM – 11 PM, but we didn’t see anyone at the booth when we left the park around 7 PM.
Here’s the link to the reservation site: https://www.recreation.gov/ticket/facility/300015