June 23, 2025 • 48 mins
Thanks for finding our podcast! We are a family of 5 who does most of our travel using credit card points and miles and we share how we leverage credit card offers to earn a ton of points/miles so we can afford travel as a larger family.
Follow us on Instagram @TravelPartyof5
The towering sequoias of Mariposa Grove, the refreshing mist from Bridal Veil Falls, and the unexpected joy of watching our typically reserved 11-year-old exclaim "This is amazing!" – our family adventure to Yosemite National Park delivered all this and more.
Our road trip strategy began with renting a hybrid minivan for the 2,000-mile journey, earning American Airlines miles while saving our personal vehicle from mountain roads and inevitable snack debris. After an overnight at the Holiday Inn Express in Oakhurst (booked with an IHG free night certificate), we kicked off our Yosemite exploration with the Valley Floor Tour – a perfect introduction that provided fascinating insights into the park's history and ecology, including how indigenous fire management practices were disrupted by European settlers.
For families considering Yosemite with young children, we discovered some perfect trails: Lower Yosemite Falls offers an easy walk with spectacular views, while Bridal Veil Falls rewards visitors with cooling mist after a short hike. The more ambitious Mariposa Grove trail showcased magnificent giant sequoias but required multiple breaks to manage the heat and terrain with our little ones. One unexpected highlight? Encountering a rattlesnake – though we had hoped for bears and deer during our visit!
Accommodation was a crucial part of our experience. Rush Creek Lodge, located just minutes from the west entrance (though still a 45-minute drive to the valley floor), proved worth every penny of its $538 nightly rate. The resort offered heated pools, zip lines, game rooms, nightly s'mores, and endless activities that kept our kids entertained from sunrise to sunset. Even without televisions in the rooms, we connected as a family through board games and outdoor adventures.
Our biggest tips? Map your route carefully to minimize backtracking on winding mountain roads, prepare for motion sickness with Dramamine (administered a full hour before departure), and check multiple weather sources before packing – we brought cold-weather gear for forecasted 60-degree days but encountered 90-degree heat instead!
Looking to create your own Yosemite memories? Follow us on Instagram @TravelParty5 for photos, videos, and more insights from our adventure. And tune in next week when we continue our journey with our Lake Tahoe experiences!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In today's episode we're sharing all the details of
our recent road trip throughYosemite National Park, how we
used points for a portion ofthis trip and a full review of
the Rush Creek Lodge.
So listen in.
Hi, I'm Raya.
And I'm Dwayne, and we are yourhosts of the Travel Party of
(00:31):
Five podcast, where we share howwe travel as a family of five
around the world.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
We will also share how we use points and miles to
travel as affordably as possibleand sometimes even completely
free.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
So if you're wanting to travel more with your family
but you're not sure how, we'dlove for you to listen in.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
So welcome to our podcast, where we hope you learn
a thing or two to get youcloser to your next trip.
Welcome back, hello friends.
Thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Welcome back to Travel Party of Five podcast.
We are somewhat freshly backfrom our very long road trip up
through Yosemite National Parkand also Lake Tahoe.
It was a long drive.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Lots of driving.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Yeah, so today we're going to talk about Yosemite and
where we stayed and all that,and then next week we'll dive
into Lake Tahoe, because it'sjust way too much for one
podcast episode.
So if you're wanting to hearabout Lake Tahoe, I'm sorry,
next week we'll talk about itBefore we dive in.
(01:47):
We are recording this on Sunday, june 22.
And tomorrow, so Monday June 23, which is when this will start,
when this will air first.
So if you're listening to thison the day it comes out, today
is the day that there are somenew Chase Sapphire cards coming.
(02:09):
So it's a new Chase Sapphirebusiness card, chase Sapphire
Reserve business I think is whatit's called.
And then there's also kind ofan updated or refreshed Chase
Sapphire Reserve card that'salso launching tomorrow.
And there's a lot of rumorsabout what the bonuses are going
to be and what the credits willbe and the annual fees.
(02:32):
Well, the annual fees are notrumors.
They're quite high at like$7.95.
Yeah, but you know there's abunch of credits to offset those
fees and whatever.
But you know there's a bunch ofcredits to offset those fees
and whatever.
There's also rumors, again,rumors that you can potentially
get the Sapphire Reserve cardeven if you already have the
Chase Sapphire Preferred, whichis different from how it stands
(02:54):
now.
So once we have clarity tomorrow, when all the official like
signup bonuses and all that comeout, I may do like a quick
little bonus episode talkingabout that.
So keep an eye out for that.
I'll you know.
Once I have all the informationand it's it's fact and not
rumor I likely will record likea brief podcast episode talking
(03:19):
about it, because these cardsare definitely on our radar.
But, like the rumored signupbonus for the Chase Sapphire
Reserve business is 200,000points for 30k in spend over a
six month period.
Again, that's the rumor.
Maybe this will be confirmedtomorrow, I don't know, but that
(03:43):
is like a really high amount ofspend for only 200,000 ultimate
rewards, when you could get twoink cards and get very close to
that for, you know, 12 to 14Kin spend.
So I don't know.
Yeah, it's a lot, it's a lot.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Will I be applying for any of these cards?
I?
Speaker 1 (03:59):
am not sure yet.
So again, yeah, I need to readthrough all the new rules and
then kind of determine fromthere and, like I said I will, I
will record like a solo bonuspodcast episode about it once we
have all the factualinformation.
So anyways, okay, let's talkabout our trip to Yosemite.
This was like our first realnational park trip as a family,
(04:24):
and originally we were going togo to Yellowstone and we did a
whole episode on how we almostbooked a trip to Yellowstone,
but I waited too long andreservations were already full.
So then we pivot, pivoted toYosemite instead, because it was
drivable and I was able to findsome reservations at a really
(04:47):
nice place right outside thepark.
So, um, that's kind of how thistrip came to be, and we had a
great time.
It was really beautiful.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
So beautiful, really great time.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Um, but let's so.
Let's talk about the drive.
So, from Phoenix, we drove toOakhurst for the first night.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Which is right outside.
Oh, I mean An hour.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
It was an hour and a half from the valley floor of
Yosemite, yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
And you booked us because we got in late and you
didn't want to.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah, I knew that we were going to be arriving around
like 7 or 8 pm and the place wewere going to stay at, yosemite
, was expensive and we paid cash, and so I didn't want to like
waste one night there and spendso much money when we didn't
have to.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
So we booked one of the luxurious Holiday Inn
Express rooms.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yes, I mean it wasn't bad, it was fine, it was
completely fine.
There was plenty of space youcould tell it was a brand new
build.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Well, a recent build, yeah, because yeah it was fine,
it was new.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Yes, it was fine um, okay, first let's talk about the
drive.
So we do it well, okay, let meback up one more step.
We rented a van to do thisdrive.
We have a van, it's completelypaid off and it's in great shape
.
However, we knew it was goingto be a long trip with a lot of
miles and a lot of mountains andand a lot of crumbs and chips
(06:18):
and stuff that the kids wouldwouldn't care about.
Yes, yes, dwayne, and whatshould come as no surprise to
anyone, if you've been listeningfor a while, dwayne is the one
who maintains the vehicles andkeeps them clean and washes them
probably once every two weeks,I would say, at a minimum and
(06:38):
really stresses about the messesthat the kids make and that I
make probably too.
Yes, yes, okay.
So we rented a van.
We rented it from budget, um,part of the reason we did that
was I used my American Airlinesnumber to get like AA miles from
renting this budget car.
So you don't also earn budgetmiles, but I don't care about
(07:01):
that, I don't.
I've never earned or used abudget mile in my life.
So I credited this like rentalto my AA account Because, as
we've mentioned several times,I'm on a quest to earn at least
platinum status with AmericanAirlines and we're we're very
close.
We have, I have like 17,000miles to go and a few things
(07:23):
that need to like hit it.
I have like 17,000 miles to goand a few things that need to
like hit it, um, and anyways,that's why we did that.
So we rented from budget.
The quality of the rental waskind of low.
I would say it was a minivan.
It was the same kind of minivanwe have, except it was a hybrid
version, and it was a neweryear.
Yeah, but it already had like50,000 miles on it and when we
(07:43):
got in it it was like you needan oil change.
So yeah we didn't.
We weren't off to a great start, but anyways it worked out fine
.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I mean, yeah, that when we rented it, when we
picked it up, the guy didn'teven do like a walkthrough of it
, he was just like here's keysright up there, yeah go.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah, he was Okay, he did not care.
Um, so anyways, we did thedrive.
On paper, the drive was like 11hours, I think, or 10 hours.
It ended up taking us about 12because obviously we had to make
a few stops for bathrooms andgas and all that.
(08:23):
We also took a longer stopbreak.
For lunch.
We stopped in San Bernardino inwhat was not the best area for
like sandwiches, and the placewe got the sandwiches from was
actually quite good.
But then we were looking forlike a playground where we could
eat the sandwiches and the kidscould run around for a bit, and
we couldn't find anything thatwas open and or in a good area
(08:50):
yes, it was a little bit sketchybut shout out to the sandwich
place what was it good uh greensomething um, yeah
it was really good yes, what wasit called?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
but anyway, we got lunch.
We parked in a parking lot at apark and we ate it there, hung
out there.
Then we had an issue with we'reabout to leave.
Then we had an issue with thevan again, which was the car
play system wasn't hooking up toany of our phones yes, which we
(09:24):
needed?
The gps yes, because we didn'twant to look at our phone to
yeah, and we still had like sixor seven hours to go.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
It was called the green shack marketplace green
shack marketplace.
Yes, the sandwiches were verygood.
I would absolutely eat themagain, especially the one that
you got.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
That was my favorite, actually um anywho, we had to
do like a system reset on on theradio we probably spent 45
minutes messing with this thing,which also delayed us longer.
It was really frustrating andfinally, we did a system reset,
but we didn't do that reset likefor like.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
I drove for a good three to four hours with the GPS
just on my phone.
That was the only time I drove,to give you a break.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Well, I needed a break, because the night before
we left we were up until almost1 am.
Yeah, and I didn't even realizeit was that late, and then we
got up early to drive.
Normally I would have drove thewhole thing, but I mean mean,
there was a point where I waslike I need, I need you to drive
.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yeah, he was getting tired, yeah, and I mean I have
no problem driving, um, but yeah, so we spent a long time
messing with this thing andcouldn't get it to work, so then
I just had it on my phone forlike three or four hours and
then finally we ended up justfully resetting the whole thing
and then it worked fine for therest of the trip, but it was.
(10:46):
It was really frustrating for awhile, um, so that also delayed
us a little bit further.
I think by the time we got init was like 7 30 PM.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yes, and we had left at like 7 30 AM.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
So it was a really long day.
Um, the kids were really good,like.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I mean they had their iPads most of the time but they
, you know, I also got them someactivity books and whatever
else.
And yeah, we had a Nintendo.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Switch this time.
Yeah, they were, they weregreat, and so we got into
Oakhurst.
We stayed at the Holiday InnYosemite Oakhurst, I think, is
what it was called.
Oakhurst is like around an hourand a half from the valley
floor, which is like kind of thehappening spot in Yosemite
where most people want to be.
We used an IHG free nightcertificate to stay there, and
(11:40):
so those free night certificatesare good for up to 40,000
points per night, and you cantop them off if you need to.
This room was going for 52,000points a night, and so I had I
don't know I had like 20,000 IHGpoints, and so I used an
additional 12,000 points tocover the room, and it had
(12:02):
plenty of space for all of us.
I think there were two beds plusa pullout sofa, right, yeah yes
and plus free breakfast thenext morning, which was, I would
say, better than a high-upplace breakfast did you think so
I?
Mean they had like a pancakemachine.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I mean yeah, but don't get me wrong.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
It wasn't great, but I thought it was better than a
Hyatt place.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I mean, yeah, I would just categorize those two
places in the same.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
As like equal yeah.
Yeah, I wouldn't say it wasbetter, but I thought it had
more options, like literally,they made it in a pancake
machine and they weren't bad.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Yeah, the pancakes actually weren't bad.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
If you doused them with butter and syrup.
Well, anyway, so that's wherewe stayed and then, um so we
drove up on a saturday, got insaturday night, we did go to
this mexican restaurant that wasreally good, called plazuelas,
I think is what it was calledyes, really good yeah, plazuelas
, that's what it's calledmexican restaurant.
Yeah, that was delicious.
Actually, we had guacamoletacos pretty good.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Yeah, the guacamole was really good it was.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
It was nice, um, and then we just went to sleep and
and woke up the next day, didthe breakfast thing and packed
up to leave to drive again.
Yeah, so we I had made a umreservation for a tour, and it's
called the valley floor tourand basically you get in this
little trolley.
Well, let me, it's a trolleywhen the weather is nice and
(13:36):
it's like a closed bus when theweather is cold or raining.
Oh, I didn't know that.
Yeah, but we had nice weatherand so we were in a trolley, so
like open air kind of a thing,and they drive you.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
I mean, this thing probably sits at least 60 people
too.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Yeah, it was good sized and they drive you around
the park.
You get to see, I think, four ofthe main sites that people like
to see, like Tunnel View andBridal Veil Falls and a couple
of others.
And someone is talking to youthe whole time about like the
history of the park and it wasreally interesting to learn
about how both nature and likethe indigenous people used fire
(14:18):
to kind of maintain the forest.
And then the europeans arrivedand said all fire was bad and
like stopped using fire the waythat they had been and then
debris would build up on theforest floor and so when a fire
did come, it was burning, so bigand hot yeah, that it was, you
(14:41):
know it was burning everythingdown, versus previously it had
been like kind of a low, slowburn fire that was getting rid
of things and debris on theforest floor but not hot enough
to like burn it all down, ifthat makes sense, and so that
was super interesting to learnabout, especially with all the
fires and stuff that arehappening, you know, around the
(15:05):
country and in California.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
So anyways, I would highly recommend you do the
valley tour, the valley floortour, first.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Yes, as like a good intro to the park.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Yeah, if you haven't researched you know what I mean
thoroughly what you're going todo.
It definitely gives you a planof what you should do.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Yeah, so we really enjoyed that.
For all five of us it was $167.
I booked it like the weekbefore, so not too expensive and
it didn't seem to be booking up.
As for time frame, when we went, we were there the second week
of june, so it's definitely notin their busy busy season yet.
(15:50):
We're still like we were thereright at the beginning of their
summer season, and so it was notas packed as it, I think gets,
but I mean, it was still prettybusy so we were there for for
contacts.
we were were there on a Sunday,a Monday and a Tuesday.
Sunday was the first day we gotthere and we had a really hard
(16:10):
time finding parking that daybecause it was a weekend day.
The other two days were easier.
I mentioned earlier that thecar or the van that we rented
was a hybrid, so the place thatwe actually ended up finding
parking all of the days was theyhave electric vehicle chargers,
(16:30):
and so that's where we parkedand charged the van for free
yeah, for free.
Every time we were in the park,so, but like that was the only
place we could find a spot onSunday, on Monday and Tuesday
there was a lot more openings,but I mean, and we probably
drove around for a good 20minutes on Sunday on.
(16:53):
Sunday before we, before one ofthose spots opened up.
So something to keep in mind.
I do think it gets busier asthe summer goes on, but I also
think weekends are busier thanweekdays in general.
Okay, so I think let's talkabout all this stuff that we did
in Yosemite and then we cantalk about where we stayed.
I feel like that'll be a goodkind of way to segue or section
(17:15):
it out.
So we did the valley floor touron Sunday.
That was again our first kind ofintro to the park.
I do think that's a great thingto do when you first arrive,
because I don't know if thishappens to anyone else, but when
I am trying to familiarizemyself with a place that we're
going to take a trip to and I'mgoing to use Yosemite as an
example it's like people haveall these names, right, for all
(17:40):
these things and it's it's whatthey're called, but like I have
never heard of these namesbefore, I have no idea what any
of them mean, right?
So, like in Yosemite, it's likeoh, you want to visit Hetch
Hetchy and the Yosemite, lowerYosemite Falls and the Mist
Trail.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Mariposa.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Mariposa Grove and what was the other one that
starts like Tuolumne, meadows,right, there's all these things
and it's like it's overwhelmingbecause you've never heard of
any of these places, you don'tknow what they are, and so if
that happens to you, like ithappens to me, I generally one
(18:22):
by one Google what is HetchHetchy, and I look at pictures
on Google and I kind of look atit is where it is on the map.
And what is Mariposa Grove?
And like, what is there, right,as a side note, it's the
Sequoias.
And so I kind of do that to getan understanding of what each
thing is.
And then do I want to go here?
Can we go here, right?
(18:43):
Like that sort of thing.
So, anyways, the valley floortour was a really good
introduction to some of thosethings, and so I would highly
recommend it if you can findavailability.
So we did that on our first dayand then we just went to check
into our hotel.
We stayed at Rush Creek we'lltalk all about that once we get
(19:04):
through the Yosemite part but itwas really great for families.
As a spoiler alert.
So then our hiked the umyosemite like lower falls trail,
I think that's what it's called, right yeah I would not even
(19:28):
describe this as a hikedefinitely not.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
I was just gonna say we it was a walk yeah but a
couple things.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
one, we're not hikers .
And two again, our youngest isfive, so like we have to do
whatever the slowest and tiniestmember of our team can do, and
she's five.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
And it was hot.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
It was hot.
Let's talk about the weatherdiscrepancy before we go into it
.
So this is the first time thishas ever happened.
But I was checking the weatherapp for a solid two weeks on the
iPhone the iPhone weather appfor a solid two weeks leading up
to this trip for Yosemite forYosemite National Park and I had
it like saved as a destination,you know, so when you open up
(20:12):
the weather app you can you seeyour location and then any other
ones.
I had it saved in there and itwas telling me that the highs
were in the mid sixties, like 65, 66, maybe 68 was like the
warmest, and the lows were inthe forties, and so that's cold
for us who live in Phoenix.
(20:32):
So half of what we packed waspants and long sleeves and like
multiple hoodies for everyone.
Then we get there.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
And it's in the 90s and the lows are like 60s, it
was so warm.
So I mean half my carry-on, myluggage, they were yeah cold
weather clothes that I didn'teven touch once.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Yeah, they were.
Yeah, cold weather clothes thatI didn't didn't even touch once
.
Yeah, and on top of that, it'snot even that like the weather
was wrong, because I think somepeople will say, oh, that's like
the weather like up in themountains, right?
No, no, no, like duane pulledup on his phone yosemite
national park and had acompletely different forecast
than what was on my phone forYosemite National Park.
Like, side by side, we comparedthem completely different.
(21:23):
His was correct as to what theactual weather was and mine was
not, and so I like deleted itfrom my save things, I refreshed
the weather app and then pulledit up again and then it matched
what his said.
So I don't know if it was somekind of a glitch, but I mean
weeks I checked that thing andit was incorrect every time.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
So we had quite a few clothes that were unnecessary.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Yeah, dwayne did laundry.
That's a spoiler alert.
Dwayne's just doing laundryaround the world.
Okay, so that's the weather.
So it ended up being prettywarm the day that we hiked the
Yosemite Falls the lowerYosemite Falls again, because
there's also an upper that'smore strenuous.
(22:11):
We did not do that when we didthe lower hike or walk, and it
was like literally 91 degrees Ithink that day.
So it was warm.
Um, you definitely needsunscreen and you definitely
need bug spray.
I would say there was a goodamount of bugs.
What did you think of the hike?
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Super easy hike.
The views were beautiful.
We actually spoiler, spoileralert we didn't see any wildlife
bears or any deers even, but wesaw one rattlesnake, yes, and
we saw it on this trail.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
We saw it on this hike at the beginning.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Yeah, at the beginning.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
A guy was kind of walking past and our kids were
walking a little bit off thetrail and he told us, hey,
there's a rattlesnake up there alittle bit off the trail.
And he was.
He told us, hey, like there's arattlesnake up there.
He showed us photo or videosand he was, like you know,
basically telling the kids like,stay on the trail.
Um, and he's like we, we werekind of walking off the trail
too and then we saw this guy andwe were like, oh, and sure
enough, he, there was arattlesnake, like we fully saw
(23:14):
it, with its little rattle andeverything.
So that was cool yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
So again, this hike is easy for families, especially
with young ones.
We saw a few different views ofthe waterfall, which were nice.
We even got, we hiked to thislittle like creek.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Had lunch.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Yeah, there was like a bench just facing the
waterfall, and so we sat on thatbench and, you know, had our
packed lunch that we brought,and that was nice.
I told the kids this isprobably the nicest view you're
ever going to see eating lunch.
They had, like you know, theyfound their own walking sticks
that they were using and theywere having a great time.
And after that, we, we I meanso we didn't rush getting into
(24:01):
the park in the morning.
I think we were generally inthe park around 10, 10, 30 in
the morning for the most part,and then we would leave around
three ish.
I feel like to go back and we,we packed a lunch all the days
that we went in, and so then wekind of headed back to our hotel
and enjoyed the hotel for therest of the night and had dinner
(24:23):
there, and then on tuesday wewanted to see the sequoias, and
so we which is mariposa, that is, yeah, mariposa grove and so we
drove, instead of going into,like, the valley floor and
stopping there, we drove toMariposa Grove.
Next time, here's what I woulddo differently I would visit
(24:46):
Mariposa Grove on the drive fromOakhurst into Yosemite, so like
if you were going to do thistrip and you were going to stay
the first night in Oakhurst andthen you know kind of go on from
there Oakhurst, like we passedMariposa Grove when we drove
from our hotel, the Holiday Inn,to the park like the Valley
(25:08):
Fork.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
It just all depends on which direction you're coming
in from the park, you know,yeah, so.
Take that into consideration Ifyou're coming.
I don't even know where we camein from the north or the south,
I'm assuming the south.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
Yes, and.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Mariposa's south of the park.
You know what I mean.
Yes, that's correct.
Just keep that in mind.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
And then where we stayed was actually closer to
the west entrance of the park,like Rush Creek is close to the
west entrance, but originallyyes, I believe we came in from
the south, so I would have donethat the first day.
Uh, because it was quite adrive.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
uh, yes, from rush creek and the roads are windy
kids got sick if you didn't feelgood.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
If you have someone that has motion sickness, it's
going to be a problem.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Dramamine for sure.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
We, yeah, we gave Dramamine.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
I don't think we gave it early enough.
That's what I figured out.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Yeah, so the first day we gave it right, like kind
of right when we got in the carand it it wasn't it wasn't
enough time for it to kick in.
The days where I gave it a fullhour before we even got in the
car.
Those were the days whereeveryone was fine.
But I didn't figure that outuntil a couple of days in so
(26:22):
yeah, the roads are windy andyeah.
Yes, we had to we had to pullover several times because one
of the kids was getting sick.
I steal puke bags fromairplanes, so I always have one
or two in my purse, fortunately,and so I did have.
You can also buy them on Amazonif you're not cheap like me,
but we don't need them thatoften, so I feel like taking a
(26:44):
few from an airplane is fine.
Um, yeah, shout out toSouthwest.
Thank you, southwest, for that.
Um, we also saw other familiespulled over on the side of the
road for the same reason, so itwasn't just us, and I think if
you have motion sickness, youneed to know about this.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
And another thing to know I think it costs what?
35 bucks to get into the park?
Yes, and it's that your receipt.
Your ticket is good for threedays, Three days.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Yeah, if you have a fourth grader and you get a free
National Park Pass through theEvery Kid Outdoor thing.
But we don't currently have afourth grader, so we paid.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
It has to be fourth grade.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Yeah, it's fourth grade, you get a free one.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
That's weird.
Why is that?
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
It's a program.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
We have a fifth grader and a second.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Grader.
Yeah, no free parks for you.
Um, okay, so yeah, the motionsickness.
So I think super important forpeople to note.
Um, I was in the front seat andI was okay, but like I could
tell, like I could still feel it, if that makes sense, if I had
(27:58):
been in the back I would havealso needed Dramamine.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
We have ADHD and we just went off topic.
We were talking about thesequoias in Mariposa.
So yes, we went to Mariposawhere the sequoias are.
You drive there, you take ashuttle to where the sequoias
are.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Yeah, you park and then you have to get on a bus.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Yeah, and then the bus drives not far but if you
are handicapped or older, rightyou can drive if you have a
handicap permit.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Yes, yeah, you can drive all the way up to the
thing.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
They have a specific handicap parking lot now, this
was a hike this was a hike yesit was also hot for this and it
was hot and we did the easiesthike too which was grizzly giant
.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Is that what it's called?
Yes, yeah, grizzly giant, yeahso there's a few different, like
named trees, and we hiked tosee Grizzly Giant, the Three
Brothers or something.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Yes, and then the.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
California Tunnel tree.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Yes, this was definitely a hike.
The kids were complaininghalfway through.
Yes, we had to stop, take abreak.
They had some lunchables orcrustables.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Yeah.
Saw some squirrels, oh thesquirrels were aggressive, yeah,
they would come right up to you.
Yeah, yeah, and they don't likeoranges, so yeah, the kids
dropped a few orange slices andthey were like no, thank you.
Um, it was.
I mean, I thought that it wascool to see it was a drive to
(29:31):
get there.
Like I think it took us an hourand a half from rush creek to
get to mariposa grove and thenagain an hour and a half back.
Yeah, so if we had done it onthe way from oakers we would
have saved a good amount of time.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Yeah and I think the total hike was what a little
over hour I feel like we'rethere for two hours.
Maybe it was like yeah is thatjust the hike, or is that from
when?
Speaker 1 (29:55):
we parked?
No, I think a little longerthan if you include the parking
time.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Yeah, so be prepared for that.
If you have little ones, it's ahike.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
It was a hike.
The first part was the steepestand when we were going back
down we saw people like huffingand puffing going up and I
wanted to be like it does get alittle better.
It was just hot, it was hot, itwas hot.
Okay, so those are the thingsthat we did in Yosemite.
(30:27):
We hiked the lower YosemiteFalls Trail and we hiked at
Mariposa Grove.
Oh, we also hiked to BridalVeil Falls.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
That was like you park and walk to that it is
again, I would call it a walk, Iwould not really call it a hike
.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
It was a steeper walk than the first to Yosemite
Falls.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
But it was like I don't know like 0.4 miles.
It was not long this parkinglot is also packed.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
We didn't even find a spot in the parking lot, we had
to park on the side of the road, yeah, like right at the
entrance to the, to the parkinglot.
Again, beautiful views, thisone, you and the two older ones
yeah climbed up pretty close tothe falls because, I mean,
everyone else was doing it tooyeah like you had to hop the
wall, though, or the littlelittle bear.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
I don't know if that is like kosher or not, but there
was, everyone was doing it andI and the boys wanted to do it.
I think if it wasn't, therewould be some kind of ranger
there like telling them to getdown, yeah, so you can kind of
like climb over this wallbarrier area and you can hike up
on these boulders and you canfeel the mist from the waterfall
(31:38):
.
It's very refreshing.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
It's also very slippery, yeah, so me and the
little one stayed back yes,duane and our daughter stayed
down.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
The boys wanted to go up and so I went up with them.
Um, I I grew up in the country,so so I'm just pretty
comfortable walking on.
I don't know, cliffs and rocksand stuff Cliffs isn't the right
word.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Definitely not a cliff.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
But I mean, we had a creek in our backyard with rocks
very similar to this and I usedto climb it all the time as a
kid.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
I grew up in the city and I'm also comfortable
climbing on cliffs and rocks andstuff like that.
Okay, Buildings and cars.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Okay, we should have a race one time and see who's
better.
Oh yeah, but yes, it was really.
The boys wanted to go and I waslike I'll totally go.
And as we were climbing up, our11-year-old looked at me and I
hope I have this on the camera.
He looked at me and he said Ican't believe I'm doing this.
I hope I have this on thecamera.
He looked at me and he said Ican't believe I'm doing this.
(32:39):
This is so amazing.
Like he is our nature kid andhe loves animals and nature and
he really, really liked being inthis park.
I was disappointed that wedidn't see more wildlife for him
, because he would have loved it.
But he literally looked at meand this is our kid, who is like
pretty negative about a lot ofthings, and he was like I cannot
(33:00):
believe I'm doing this.
This is so amazing.
And I almost cried because likewe don't ever get that from him
.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
You know?
Yeah, he mentioned that he'shaving a great time A couple of
times, yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
So I thought that was really a fun moment and like a
reminder of kind of why wetravel is to have these
experiences and, you know, kindof broaden their horizons as
kids.
So but yes, it was veryrefreshing, felt good on a hot
day and didn't take a lot oftime.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Yeah, it's not a vacation or a trip.
If the kids can't be ungratefulin another place, you know.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
So yes, oh yeah, all right so let's talk about the
Rush Creek Lodge.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
It's where we stayed.
So sorry, that was the recap ofour Yosemite, yes.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Well, sorry, I want to talk.
I want to say really quicklywow, we've been talking a long
time.
Um, there were a few thingsthat I also really wanted to do
that we couldn't fit in for,mainly because of how much more
driving it would have been andthe kids were car sick and it
just it felt selfish to makethem, like suffer through
another two hours to go see this.
(34:13):
And you know, um, um, one ofthem was glacier point, so you
can drive all the way up toglacier point and kind of look
out at the views and it looksbeautiful.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
I'm sure it's very, very nice like if we were going
to go back.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
We would definitely do that next time.
Um, another one was hetchhetchy.
That is like a reservoir thatholds all the water for the city
of San Francisco actually, andit's also supposed to be really
beautiful.
But again, another long drive,a hike that we were going to do
but ended up not because of howhot it was was Mirror Lake.
(34:48):
So that's another thing that Iwould want to do next time.
And then there's also somethingcalled the Lower Mist Trail, I
think, and it's my understandingis you get to hike like behind
a waterfall.
We did not do that because Iread some conflicting views
about people saying there's apart that's kind of dangerous
(35:09):
for kids and it's reallyslippery, and I was just nervous
about our, our younger two, andI didn't want to be super
anxious on my vacation, so wedidn't do that this time.
I think if they were a littleolder I would give it a try.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
You mean more anxious on your vacation.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
Yes, correct, more anxious than my baseline of
anxiety.
So, yes, correct, that's lameGod.
Okay, so those are the thingsthat we didn't do but I wish we
had.
If I think of anything elseabout the park, I'll be sure to
interject at an inappropriatetime during the rest of this
(35:47):
episode.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Yes, we know.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Okay, let's talk about Rush Creek.
What did you think of it?
Speaker 2 (35:54):
Hotel was great.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
Do you remember what I said when, when you were like,
we were saying outside the park, yeah, oh yeah, I said it's
supposed to be really nice andduane was like it's not gonna be
it's not gonna be nice but wehad just come from the valley
floor and like we had beeninside the yosemite Valley Lodge
(36:15):
, which is one of the lodgingoptions inside the park and I
think Dwayne was using- that ashis kind of like yes, ok, this
is not going to be great.
Speaker 2 (36:24):
What's not very nice.
It was yeah, but we get thereand it's quite nice.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
Yes, and you know what I knew it was going to be
nice based on the amount that wepaid for it.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Like if I didn't know how much we were paying for it.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Yes.
So at the time of booking wepaid $538 a night for for this
hotel and we stayed for threenights.
That included breakfast for twoadults and two kids, according
to the receipt, and we booked ina lodge king room.
(36:59):
So I booked again for twoadults and two kids, not two
adults and three kids.
They do have rooms that sleepup to six, but the price jump
from rooms that sleep four torooms that sleep six were
significant, like hundreds ofdollars per night more, and so I
took a risk, booked us for fourpeople in a Lodge King room.
(37:24):
It was a tight squeeze, I'm notgonna lie.
It was.
There was it.
We had a king bed and thenthere was a sofa pullout bed.
The sofa bed, I would say,comfortably slept two kids and
three was a stretch, and one ofours is pretty small.
We had brought an air mattressthat finally, on our last night
there, I made Dwayne bring itinto the room because I was
(37:45):
tired of not getting a goodnight's sleep with one of the
kids sleeping in the bed with usand kicking me all night, and
so we did have an additionaltwin air mattress in the room
and again, it was a tightsqueeze.
It definitely was, but it wasworth it to sleep better than I
had been sleeping.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
And I'd like to know this is probably the most we've
ever paid for a hotel roombesides, like Disney World when
we went, probably Maybe eventhen, yes, disney World when we
went, probably Maybe even then.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
Yes, the reason that I felt comfortable spending this
is because I knew that we hadused points for the first night
and we were using points for ourentire time in Lake Tahoe.
So I was kind of justifying itlike, okay, it's like I don't
know.
I think with taxes it was like$1,800.
So, $1,800 for a week yes,that's how I was thinking of it,
and plus, it looked so fun forkids and families that I was
(38:40):
like I think this is, this isthe place, because there are
people and families that couldstay like in a very minimal,
like hotel and be thrilled aboutit.
We're really not those people.
Like I, I want to stay at aplace that feels nice, and this
place was very nice it was yeah,um, they had a pool heated.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
They had a playground for the kids, uh, I mean a
little playground.
They had a swing slide, theyhad a bigger slide they had zip
lines, zip lines which were abig hit.
They had cornhole, they hadping pong, they had this big
chess board.
They had a bigger slide.
They had zip lines, zip lineswhich were a big hit.
They had cornhole, they hadping pong, they had this big
chess board.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
They had a whole game room yeah, they had a whole
game room.
Indoor game room, yeah, indoor,which also had a little
playground in it, like inside.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
Yes, like a little McDonald's playhouse type thing.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
Shuffle board, bumper pool, pool, pool table like
video games.
Video games.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
They weren't the best , but still there was like fun
for kids, yeah or not.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
Ping pong um pinball that's what I was gonna say yeah
, um, oh, they also had a roomfor, you know, guests to just go
in there and like play boardgames.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
They had a bunch of like comfortable seating and
tables and, yeah, it was verycozy, very cozy, very nice touch
, I thought what was the firstthing when you, when you walked
into the, into the room, whatwas the first thing that you and
the kids noticed?
There was no tv, yeah, I waslike I wonder how long it's
gonna take them to notice this.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
Oh, within seconds oh yeah, I mean, we walked in and
was like what, where the F isthe TV?
Speaker 1 (40:17):
Yeah, there was no TV .
They do provide games in theroom, though, for you to play,
which I thought was a nice touch.
You know connect as a family,and we had also brought a couple
of games, so we played ClueJunior and that was pretty fun
actually.
The kids had a good time and sodid we.
So, going back really quick tothe cost.
(40:40):
So I mentioned that includedbreakfast for two adults and two
kids.
So I want to talk about howthat worked, because obviously
we had three kids.
Essentially they just didn'tcharge us for the little one.
I'm not sure if it's under fouror under.
I'm sorry, I'm not sure if it'sfour and under or five and
under.
Even one of our servers was alittle bit unsure.
We just told everyone she wasfour and so we didn't pay for
(41:02):
her food, basically because shewas.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
We didn't pay for her cereal every day.
Speaker 1 (41:07):
Yeah, yes, that's pretty much all she wanted to
eat from the buffet.
They did have either a buffetor menu options.
I thought the menu options weremuch better than the buffet,
taste-wise, so that's the routethat I went most days, but you
know the kids love a good buffet.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
I think it's always that way, except for, like, if
you're in Kauai, which is by farthe best buffet we've had.
Maui I would actually say oh,and Maui too.
Yes, hawaii in general.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
Yeah, so that's kind of how that worked.
So I think you could easily dothat if you have younger kids.
If you have older kids, thenunfortunately I don't think that
, you know, booking for four andbringing five is going to work.
It was a tight squeeze and so Iwould recommend booking.
They have villas, they like itlooked like.
(42:02):
They looked wonderful.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
And yeah, they did.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
So I would.
I would look into that Ifyou're a bigger family.
Just know that it is expensive,pricey, yeah.
As a side note, if you want tosee like any of the stuff that
we're talking about today, Ihave a whole Instagram highlight
all about it with you know, thelike views from the hikes that
we did a video of the room,videos of the hotel, all that
(42:28):
sort of fun stuff.
The kids were.
The kids loved this hotel,though they were.
I think they were outsideliterally morning until night
every day, and that neverhappens here.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
You know it was a great hotel.
Would definitely recommend it,for sure.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
The pool was super heated, they had a couple of hot
tubs, and for dinner thedinners were fine too, like I
would rank it like maybe 7 outof 10, like the food that we had
there.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
Yeah, it was pretty good.
I can't remember what I got fordinner.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
You got like fish and chips, I think one night
remember yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
And then one night they had a buffet at the pool,
which is really good actually itwas.
Speaker 1 (43:08):
I mean, they cooked on a grill right there at the
pool taco, it was so they dothis like they call it a pool
barbecue and they they havedifferent menus.
When we were there, it was likea taco bar.
So grilled steak, grilledchicken, tortillas, guacamoleole
, all the toppings, corn, youknow, salsas, chips.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
Rice beans.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Yep, and it was all you can eat, and so our kids,
some of our kids, actually gottwo meals out of it.
Basically, they ate at thebeginning and they ate before
they closed it up Right when itopened it up.
Speaker 2 (43:39):
they swam a little bit after.
Then they got hungry again andate right before it closed.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
Yep, and so that was.
We did pay for that.
You pay for the buffet.
It's not included.
Speaker 2 (43:53):
And they give you like a wristband is how it works
.
And what I thought was nice isthe pool bar stayed open till
like 9 pm, which a lot of placesclose by like five or seven at
the latest, you know.
Speaker 1 (44:02):
Yeah, this hotel also has free nightly s'mores, so
you go pick up your littles'mores kits and you roast them
by the fire and you can do thatevery night and they just had a
lot of really nice touches forfamilies.
They also had kids activitiesthat you could do during the day
if you are maybe going to takea break and not go into the park
one day.
We didn't do any of thosebecause we did go into the park.
Speaker 2 (44:23):
Yeah, you can rent bikes there, paddle boards, all
types of stuff.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
Where do you paddle?
Speaker 2 (44:28):
I don't know.
There's somewhere close.
Speaker 1 (44:31):
I would think.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
I didn't see that part, they did have hiking
trails.
Hiking trails, yeah, we didn'tdo any of those, though.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
Yeah, we went in the park every day that we stayed
there.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
And this hotel had signs that there were wildlife
have been present.
The bartender told you that itwas at the trash can.
A black bear was at the trashcan one night.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
We didn't see any.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
Sadly, we saw none, which was disappointing.
I think that's.
The only thing that could havemade this trip better was seeing
some wildlife, I mean I don'tknow.
We stayed three nights and thenwe checked out, we drove to
lake tahoe.
That'll be next week's episode.
So, um, if you had to give,like someone one piece of advice
if they were going to yosemite,what would it be?
Speaker 2 (45:18):
um, I mean I would try and stay in the park.
Yeah, just because I mean three.
I mean we stayed right outsidethe park, but I mean it was an
hour some change to get there.
Speaker 1 (45:30):
Uh, well, so yeah, rush creek is literally like two
minutes from the west entranceof the park but it took about 45
minutes to get to the valleyfloor from rush creek.
So even that it's still a 45minute drive, which is a lot.
That's an hour and a half a dayjust back and forth.
Speaker 2 (45:47):
And I mean we did more driving in between hikes
and all that.
So I mean that would be myrecommendation.
I mean I don't know theaccommodations in the lodges
there.
I'm sure they're not, you know,five-star, four-star.
Speaker 1 (46:03):
We saw the Curry Village tents.
Oh, we'll never do that, yeah,so these are like okay, so curry
village just think it's like Idon't know, like canvas tents
that are already all set up butthey have no plumbing, so like
there's no private bathroom andI don't think there's
(46:23):
electricity either.
Or if there is, it's like not alot, um, and they're $200 a
night.
Speaker 2 (46:32):
$200, and there's a lot of them there's a lot of
them.
The parking lot was superpacked when we went in there, so
I like if, if you're a couplewith no kids are, and you know
hiking is your, camping is yourthing, then you know that's
probably fine.
Yeah, you're probably good, butI mean still, it's $200 a night
.
Speaker 1 (46:50):
Yeah, I would try to look at, like maybe the Yosemite
Valley Lodge.
That's probably where we wouldtry to stay for a night or two.
I do think it would be reallycool to be in the park when all
the day tourists are gone.
You know, like I'm sure, thatyou have a much greater chance
of seeing wildlife and that sortof thing if you're there.
So, yes, I do think that wouldbe cool for maybe one or two
(47:15):
nights to do that.
Speaker 2 (47:17):
What would your recommendation be?
Speaker 1 (47:20):
I think mine would be to just put all the spots you
want to go on a Google map andmap the driving distance between
each of them, so that you canmake sure that you're maximizing
your time each day.
Right?
Because, again, if I had donethat, we would have done
Mariposa Grove the day we droveup from Oakhurst, and maybe even
Glacier Point, because you passthe road to Glacier Point when
(47:43):
you do that as well yeah, I meanon this trip alone between
yosemite and tahoe, I mean wewere probably in the car for
probably 30 plus hours, you knowoh yeah, we drove 2 000 miles
in a week yeah, so yeah, um, butyeah, I think that's what I
would do just put it on a map soyou can kind of visually see
(48:05):
and have a rough idea of likehow to group it.
And I mean I should have donethat beforehand but I didn't.
So learn from my mistakes.
Speaker 2 (48:15):
All righty Well, we appreciate you listening.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
Hope this was helpful .
If you're planning a trip Again, find us on Instagram at
TravelParty5.
We have a whole highlight allabout Yosemite and you can go
and see all the things we justtalked about.
If you haven't already, makesure to give us a follow over
there and DM if you have anyquestions.
Speaker 2 (48:32):
Yes, we appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
Thank you, talk to you later.
Bye.
In today's episode we're sharing all the details of
our recent road trip throughYosemite National Park, how we
used points for a portion ofthis trip and a full review of
the Rush Creek Lodge.
So listen in.
Hi, I'm Raya.
And I'm Dwayne, and we are yourhosts of the Travel Party of
(00:31):
Five podcast, where we share howwe travel as a family of five
around the world.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
We will also share how we use points and miles to
travel as affordably as possibleand sometimes even completely
free.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
So if you're wanting to travel more with your family
but you're not sure how, we'dlove for you to listen in.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
So welcome to our podcast, where we hope you learn
a thing or two to get youcloser to your next trip.
Welcome back, hello friends.
Thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Welcome back to Travel Party of Five podcast.
We are somewhat freshly backfrom our very long road trip up
through Yosemite National Parkand also Lake Tahoe.
It was a long drive.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Lots of driving.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Yeah, so today we're going to talk about Yosemite and
where we stayed and all that,and then next week we'll dive
into Lake Tahoe, because it'sjust way too much for one
podcast episode.
So if you're wanting to hearabout Lake Tahoe, I'm sorry,
next week we'll talk about itBefore we dive in.
(01:47):
We are recording this on Sunday, june 22.
And tomorrow, so Monday June 23, which is when this will start,
when this will air first.
So if you're listening to thison the day it comes out, today
is the day that there are somenew Chase Sapphire cards coming.
(02:09):
So it's a new Chase Sapphirebusiness card, chase Sapphire
Reserve business I think is whatit's called.
And then there's also kind ofan updated or refreshed Chase
Sapphire Reserve card that'salso launching tomorrow.
And there's a lot of rumorsabout what the bonuses are going
to be and what the credits willbe and the annual fees.
(02:32):
Well, the annual fees are notrumors.
They're quite high at like$7.95.
Yeah, but you know there's abunch of credits to offset those
fees and whatever.
But you know there's a bunch ofcredits to offset those fees
and whatever.
There's also rumors, again,rumors that you can potentially
get the Sapphire Reserve cardeven if you already have the
Chase Sapphire Preferred, whichis different from how it stands
(02:54):
now.
So once we have clarity tomorrow, when all the official like
signup bonuses and all that comeout, I may do like a quick
little bonus episode talkingabout that.
So keep an eye out for that.
I'll you know.
Once I have all the informationand it's it's fact and not
rumor I likely will record likea brief podcast episode talking
(03:19):
about it, because these cardsare definitely on our radar.
But, like the rumored signupbonus for the Chase Sapphire
Reserve business is 200,000points for 30k in spend over a
six month period.
Again, that's the rumor.
Maybe this will be confirmedtomorrow, I don't know, but that
(03:43):
is like a really high amount ofspend for only 200,000 ultimate
rewards, when you could get twoink cards and get very close to
that for, you know, 12 to 14Kin spend.
So I don't know.
Yeah, it's a lot, it's a lot.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Will I be applying for any of these cards?
I?
Speaker 1 (03:59):
am not sure yet.
So again, yeah, I need to readthrough all the new rules and
then kind of determine fromthere and, like I said I will, I
will record like a solo bonuspodcast episode about it once we
have all the factualinformation.
So anyways, okay, let's talkabout our trip to Yosemite.
This was like our first realnational park trip as a family,
(04:24):
and originally we were going togo to Yellowstone and we did a
whole episode on how we almostbooked a trip to Yellowstone,
but I waited too long andreservations were already full.
So then we pivot, pivoted toYosemite instead, because it was
drivable and I was able to findsome reservations at a really
(04:47):
nice place right outside thepark.
So, um, that's kind of how thistrip came to be, and we had a
great time.
It was really beautiful.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
So beautiful, really great time.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Um, but let's so.
Let's talk about the drive.
So, from Phoenix, we drove toOakhurst for the first night.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Which is right outside.
Oh, I mean An hour.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
It was an hour and a half from the valley floor of
Yosemite, yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
And you booked us because we got in late and you
didn't want to.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah, I knew that we were going to be arriving around
like 7 or 8 pm and the place wewere going to stay at, yosemite
, was expensive and we paid cash, and so I didn't want to like
waste one night there and spendso much money when we didn't
have to.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
So we booked one of the luxurious Holiday Inn
Express rooms.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yes, I mean it wasn't bad, it was fine, it was
completely fine.
There was plenty of space youcould tell it was a brand new
build.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Well, a recent build, yeah, because yeah it was fine,
it was new.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Yes, it was fine um, okay, first let's talk about the
drive.
So we do it well, okay, let meback up one more step.
We rented a van to do thisdrive.
We have a van, it's completelypaid off and it's in great shape
.
However, we knew it was goingto be a long trip with a lot of
miles and a lot of mountains andand a lot of crumbs and chips
(06:18):
and stuff that the kids wouldwouldn't care about.
Yes, yes, dwayne, and whatshould come as no surprise to
anyone, if you've been listeningfor a while, dwayne is the one
who maintains the vehicles andkeeps them clean and washes them
probably once every two weeks,I would say, at a minimum and
(06:38):
really stresses about the messesthat the kids make and that I
make probably too.
Yes, yes, okay.
So we rented a van.
We rented it from budget, um,part of the reason we did that
was I used my American Airlinesnumber to get like AA miles from
renting this budget car.
So you don't also earn budgetmiles, but I don't care about
(07:01):
that, I don't.
I've never earned or used abudget mile in my life.
So I credited this like rentalto my AA account Because, as
we've mentioned several times,I'm on a quest to earn at least
platinum status with AmericanAirlines and we're we're very
close.
We have, I have like 17,000miles to go and a few things
(07:23):
that need to like hit it.
I have like 17,000 miles to goand a few things that need to
like hit it, um, and anyways,that's why we did that.
So we rented from budget.
The quality of the rental waskind of low.
I would say it was a minivan.
It was the same kind of minivanwe have, except it was a hybrid
version, and it was a neweryear.
Yeah, but it already had like50,000 miles on it and when we
(07:43):
got in it it was like you needan oil change.
So yeah we didn't.
We weren't off to a great start, but anyways it worked out fine
.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I mean, yeah, that when we rented it, when we
picked it up, the guy didn'teven do like a walkthrough of it
, he was just like here's keysright up there, yeah go.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah, he was Okay, he did not care.
Um, so anyways, we did thedrive.
On paper, the drive was like 11hours, I think, or 10 hours.
It ended up taking us about 12because obviously we had to make
a few stops for bathrooms andgas and all that.
(08:23):
We also took a longer stopbreak.
For lunch.
We stopped in San Bernardino inwhat was not the best area for
like sandwiches, and the placewe got the sandwiches from was
actually quite good.
But then we were looking forlike a playground where we could
eat the sandwiches and the kidscould run around for a bit, and
we couldn't find anything thatwas open and or in a good area
(08:50):
yes, it was a little bit sketchybut shout out to the sandwich
place what was it good uh greensomething um, yeah
it was really good yes, what wasit called?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
but anyway, we got lunch.
We parked in a parking lot at apark and we ate it there, hung
out there.
Then we had an issue with we'reabout to leave.
Then we had an issue with thevan again, which was the car
play system wasn't hooking up toany of our phones yes, which we
(09:24):
needed?
The gps yes, because we didn'twant to look at our phone to
yeah, and we still had like sixor seven hours to go.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
It was called the green shack marketplace green
shack marketplace.
Yes, the sandwiches were verygood.
I would absolutely eat themagain, especially the one that
you got.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
That was my favorite, actually um anywho, we had to
do like a system reset on on theradio we probably spent 45
minutes messing with this thing,which also delayed us longer.
It was really frustrating andfinally, we did a system reset,
but we didn't do that reset likefor like.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
I drove for a good three to four hours with the GPS
just on my phone.
That was the only time I drove,to give you a break.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Well, I needed a break, because the night before
we left we were up until almost1 am.
Yeah, and I didn't even realizeit was that late, and then we
got up early to drive.
Normally I would have drove thewhole thing, but I mean mean,
there was a point where I waslike I need, I need you to drive
.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yeah, he was getting tired, yeah, and I mean I have
no problem driving, um, but yeah, so we spent a long time
messing with this thing andcouldn't get it to work, so then
I just had it on my phone forlike three or four hours and
then finally we ended up justfully resetting the whole thing
and then it worked fine for therest of the trip, but it was.
(10:46):
It was really frustrating for awhile, um, so that also delayed
us a little bit further.
I think by the time we got init was like 7 30 PM.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yes, and we had left at like 7 30 AM.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
So it was a really long day.
Um, the kids were really good,like.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I mean they had their iPads most of the time but they
, you know, I also got them someactivity books and whatever
else.
And yeah, we had a Nintendo.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Switch this time.
Yeah, they were, they weregreat, and so we got into
Oakhurst.
We stayed at the Holiday InnYosemite Oakhurst, I think, is
what it was called.
Oakhurst is like around an hourand a half from the valley
floor, which is like kind of thehappening spot in Yosemite
where most people want to be.
We used an IHG free nightcertificate to stay there, and
(11:40):
so those free night certificatesare good for up to 40,000
points per night, and you cantop them off if you need to.
This room was going for 52,000points a night, and so I had I
don't know I had like 20,000 IHGpoints, and so I used an
additional 12,000 points tocover the room, and it had
(12:02):
plenty of space for all of us.
I think there were two beds plusa pullout sofa, right, yeah yes
and plus free breakfast thenext morning, which was, I would
say, better than a high-upplace breakfast did you think so
I?
Mean they had like a pancakemachine.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I mean yeah, but don't get me wrong.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
It wasn't great, but I thought it was better than a
Hyatt place.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I mean, yeah, I would just categorize those two
places in the same.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
As like equal yeah.
Yeah, I wouldn't say it wasbetter, but I thought it had
more options, like literally,they made it in a pancake
machine and they weren't bad.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Yeah, the pancakes actually weren't bad.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
If you doused them with butter and syrup.
Well, anyway, so that's wherewe stayed and then, um so we
drove up on a saturday, got insaturday night, we did go to
this mexican restaurant that wasreally good, called plazuelas,
I think is what it was calledyes, really good yeah, plazuelas
, that's what it's calledmexican restaurant.
Yeah, that was delicious.
Actually, we had guacamoletacos pretty good.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Yeah, the guacamole was really good it was.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
It was nice, um, and then we just went to sleep and
and woke up the next day, didthe breakfast thing and packed
up to leave to drive again.
Yeah, so we I had made a umreservation for a tour, and it's
called the valley floor tourand basically you get in this
little trolley.
Well, let me, it's a trolleywhen the weather is nice and
(13:36):
it's like a closed bus when theweather is cold or raining.
Oh, I didn't know that.
Yeah, but we had nice weatherand so we were in a trolley, so
like open air kind of a thing,and they drive you.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
I mean, this thing probably sits at least 60 people
too.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Yeah, it was good sized and they drive you around
the park.
You get to see, I think, four ofthe main sites that people like
to see, like Tunnel View andBridal Veil Falls and a couple
of others.
And someone is talking to youthe whole time about like the
history of the park and it wasreally interesting to learn
about how both nature and likethe indigenous people used fire
(14:18):
to kind of maintain the forest.
And then the europeans arrivedand said all fire was bad and
like stopped using fire the waythat they had been and then
debris would build up on theforest floor and so when a fire
did come, it was burning, so bigand hot yeah, that it was, you
(14:41):
know it was burning everythingdown, versus previously it had
been like kind of a low, slowburn fire that was getting rid
of things and debris on theforest floor but not hot enough
to like burn it all down, ifthat makes sense, and so that
was super interesting to learnabout, especially with all the
fires and stuff that arehappening, you know, around the
(15:05):
country and in California.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
So anyways, I would highly recommend you do the
valley tour, the valley floortour, first.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Yes, as like a good intro to the park.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Yeah, if you haven't researched you know what I mean
thoroughly what you're going todo.
It definitely gives you a planof what you should do.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Yeah, so we really enjoyed that.
For all five of us it was $167.
I booked it like the weekbefore, so not too expensive and
it didn't seem to be booking up.
As for time frame, when we went, we were there the second week
of june, so it's definitely notin their busy busy season yet.
(15:50):
We're still like we were thereright at the beginning of their
summer season, and so it was notas packed as it, I think gets,
but I mean, it was still prettybusy so we were there for for
contacts.
we were were there on a Sunday,a Monday and a Tuesday.
Sunday was the first day we gotthere and we had a really hard
(16:10):
time finding parking that daybecause it was a weekend day.
The other two days were easier.
I mentioned earlier that thecar or the van that we rented
was a hybrid, so the place thatwe actually ended up finding
parking all of the days was theyhave electric vehicle chargers,
(16:30):
and so that's where we parkedand charged the van for free
yeah, for free.
Every time we were in the park,so, but like that was the only
place we could find a spot onSunday, on Monday and Tuesday
there was a lot more openings,but I mean, and we probably
drove around for a good 20minutes on Sunday on.
(16:53):
Sunday before we, before one ofthose spots opened up.
So something to keep in mind.
I do think it gets busier asthe summer goes on, but I also
think weekends are busier thanweekdays in general.
Okay, so I think let's talkabout all this stuff that we did
in Yosemite and then we cantalk about where we stayed.
I feel like that'll be a goodkind of way to segue or section
(17:15):
it out.
So we did the valley floor touron Sunday.
That was again our first kind ofintro to the park.
I do think that's a great thingto do when you first arrive,
because I don't know if thishappens to anyone else, but when
I am trying to familiarizemyself with a place that we're
going to take a trip to and I'mgoing to use Yosemite as an
example it's like people haveall these names, right, for all
(17:40):
these things and it's it's whatthey're called, but like I have
never heard of these namesbefore, I have no idea what any
of them mean, right?
So, like in Yosemite, it's likeoh, you want to visit Hetch
Hetchy and the Yosemite, lowerYosemite Falls and the Mist
Trail.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Mariposa.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Mariposa Grove and what was the other one that
starts like Tuolumne, meadows,right, there's all these things
and it's like it's overwhelmingbecause you've never heard of
any of these places, you don'tknow what they are, and so if
that happens to you, like ithappens to me, I generally one
(18:22):
by one Google what is HetchHetchy, and I look at pictures
on Google and I kind of look atit is where it is on the map.
And what is Mariposa Grove?
And like, what is there, right,as a side note, it's the
Sequoias.
And so I kind of do that to getan understanding of what each
thing is.
And then do I want to go here?
Can we go here, right?
(18:43):
Like that sort of thing.
So, anyways, the valley floortour was a really good
introduction to some of thosethings, and so I would highly
recommend it if you can findavailability.
So we did that on our first dayand then we just went to check
into our hotel.
We stayed at Rush Creek we'lltalk all about that once we get
(19:04):
through the Yosemite part but itwas really great for families.
As a spoiler alert.
So then our hiked the umyosemite like lower falls trail,
I think that's what it's called, right yeah I would not even
(19:28):
describe this as a hikedefinitely not.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
I was just gonna say we it was a walk yeah but a
couple things.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
one, we're not hikers .
And two again, our youngest isfive, so like we have to do
whatever the slowest and tiniestmember of our team can do, and
she's five.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
And it was hot.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
It was hot.
Let's talk about the weatherdiscrepancy before we go into it
.
So this is the first time thishas ever happened.
But I was checking the weatherapp for a solid two weeks on the
iPhone the iPhone weather appfor a solid two weeks leading up
to this trip for Yosemite forYosemite National Park and I had
it like saved as a destination,you know, so when you open up
(20:12):
the weather app you can you seeyour location and then any other
ones.
I had it saved in there and itwas telling me that the highs
were in the mid sixties, like 65, 66, maybe 68 was like the
warmest, and the lows were inthe forties, and so that's cold
for us who live in Phoenix.
(20:32):
So half of what we packed waspants and long sleeves and like
multiple hoodies for everyone.
Then we get there.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
And it's in the 90s and the lows are like 60s, it
was so warm.
So I mean half my carry-on, myluggage, they were yeah cold
weather clothes that I didn'teven touch once.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Yeah, they were.
Yeah, cold weather clothes thatI didn't didn't even touch once
.
Yeah, and on top of that, it'snot even that like the weather
was wrong, because I think somepeople will say, oh, that's like
the weather like up in themountains, right?
No, no, no, like duane pulledup on his phone yosemite
national park and had acompletely different forecast
than what was on my phone forYosemite National Park.
Like, side by side, we comparedthem completely different.
(21:23):
His was correct as to what theactual weather was and mine was
not, and so I like deleted itfrom my save things, I refreshed
the weather app and then pulledit up again and then it matched
what his said.
So I don't know if it was somekind of a glitch, but I mean
weeks I checked that thing andit was incorrect every time.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
So we had quite a few clothes that were unnecessary.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Yeah, dwayne did laundry.
That's a spoiler alert.
Dwayne's just doing laundryaround the world.
Okay, so that's the weather.
So it ended up being prettywarm the day that we hiked the
Yosemite Falls the lowerYosemite Falls again, because
there's also an upper that'smore strenuous.
(22:11):
We did not do that when we didthe lower hike or walk, and it
was like literally 91 degrees Ithink that day.
So it was warm.
Um, you definitely needsunscreen and you definitely
need bug spray.
I would say there was a goodamount of bugs.
What did you think of the hike?
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Super easy hike.
The views were beautiful.
We actually spoiler, spoileralert we didn't see any wildlife
bears or any deers even, but wesaw one rattlesnake, yes, and
we saw it on this trail.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
We saw it on this hike at the beginning.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Yeah, at the beginning.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
A guy was kind of walking past and our kids were
walking a little bit off thetrail and he told us, hey,
there's a rattlesnake up there alittle bit off the trail.
And he was.
He told us, hey, like there's arattlesnake up there.
He showed us photo or videosand he was, like you know,
basically telling the kids like,stay on the trail.
Um, and he's like we, we werekind of walking off the trail
too and then we saw this guy andwe were like, oh, and sure
enough, he, there was arattlesnake, like we fully saw
(23:14):
it, with its little rattle andeverything.
So that was cool yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
So again, this hike is easy for families, especially
with young ones.
We saw a few different views ofthe waterfall, which were nice.
We even got, we hiked to thislittle like creek.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Had lunch.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Yeah, there was like a bench just facing the
waterfall, and so we sat on thatbench and, you know, had our
packed lunch that we brought,and that was nice.
I told the kids this isprobably the nicest view you're
ever going to see eating lunch.
They had, like you know, theyfound their own walking sticks
that they were using and theywere having a great time.
And after that, we, we I meanso we didn't rush getting into
(24:01):
the park in the morning.
I think we were generally inthe park around 10, 10, 30 in
the morning for the most part,and then we would leave around
three ish.
I feel like to go back and we,we packed a lunch all the days
that we went in, and so then wekind of headed back to our hotel
and enjoyed the hotel for therest of the night and had dinner
(24:23):
there, and then on tuesday wewanted to see the sequoias, and
so we which is mariposa, that is, yeah, mariposa grove and so we
drove, instead of going into,like, the valley floor and
stopping there, we drove toMariposa Grove.
Next time, here's what I woulddo differently I would visit
(24:46):
Mariposa Grove on the drive fromOakhurst into Yosemite, so like
if you were going to do thistrip and you were going to stay
the first night in Oakhurst andthen you know kind of go on from
there Oakhurst, like we passedMariposa Grove when we drove
from our hotel, the Holiday Inn,to the park like the Valley
(25:08):
Fork.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
It just all depends on which direction you're coming
in from the park, you know,yeah, so.
Take that into consideration Ifyou're coming.
I don't even know where we camein from the north or the south,
I'm assuming the south.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
Yes, and.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Mariposa's south of the park.
You know what I mean.
Yes, that's correct.
Just keep that in mind.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
And then where we stayed was actually closer to
the west entrance of the park,like Rush Creek is close to the
west entrance, but originallyyes, I believe we came in from
the south, so I would have donethat the first day.
Uh, because it was quite adrive.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
uh, yes, from rush creek and the roads are windy
kids got sick if you didn't feelgood.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
If you have someone that has motion sickness, it's
going to be a problem.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Dramamine for sure.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
We, yeah, we gave Dramamine.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
I don't think we gave it early enough.
That's what I figured out.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Yeah, so the first day we gave it right, like kind
of right when we got in the carand it it wasn't it wasn't
enough time for it to kick in.
The days where I gave it a fullhour before we even got in the
car.
Those were the days whereeveryone was fine.
But I didn't figure that outuntil a couple of days in so
(26:22):
yeah, the roads are windy andyeah.
Yes, we had to we had to pullover several times because one
of the kids was getting sick.
I steal puke bags fromairplanes, so I always have one
or two in my purse, fortunately,and so I did have.
You can also buy them on Amazonif you're not cheap like me,
but we don't need them thatoften, so I feel like taking a
(26:44):
few from an airplane is fine.
Um, yeah, shout out toSouthwest.
Thank you, southwest, for that.
Um, we also saw other familiespulled over on the side of the
road for the same reason, so itwasn't just us, and I think if
you have motion sickness, youneed to know about this.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
And another thing to know I think it costs what?
35 bucks to get into the park?
Yes, and it's that your receipt.
Your ticket is good for threedays, Three days.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Yeah, if you have a fourth grader and you get a free
National Park Pass through theEvery Kid Outdoor thing.
But we don't currently have afourth grader, so we paid.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
It has to be fourth grade.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Yeah, it's fourth grade, you get a free one.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
That's weird.
Why is that?
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
It's a program.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
We have a fifth grader and a second.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Grader.
Yeah, no free parks for you.
Um, okay, so yeah, the motionsickness.
So I think super important forpeople to note.
Um, I was in the front seat andI was okay, but like I could
tell, like I could still feel it, if that makes sense, if I had
(27:58):
been in the back I would havealso needed Dramamine.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
We have ADHD and we just went off topic.
We were talking about thesequoias in Mariposa.
So yes, we went to Mariposawhere the sequoias are.
You drive there, you take ashuttle to where the sequoias
are.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Yeah, you park and then you have to get on a bus.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Yeah, and then the bus drives not far but if you
are handicapped or older, rightyou can drive if you have a
handicap permit.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Yes, yeah, you can drive all the way up to the
thing.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
They have a specific handicap parking lot now, this
was a hike this was a hike yesit was also hot for this and it
was hot and we did the easiesthike too which was grizzly giant
.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Is that what it's called?
Yes, yeah, grizzly giant, yeahso there's a few different, like
named trees, and we hiked tosee Grizzly Giant, the Three
Brothers or something.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Yes, and then the.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
California Tunnel tree.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Yes, this was definitely a hike.
The kids were complaininghalfway through.
Yes, we had to stop, take abreak.
They had some lunchables orcrustables.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Yeah.
Saw some squirrels, oh thesquirrels were aggressive, yeah,
they would come right up to you.
Yeah, yeah, and they don't likeoranges, so yeah, the kids
dropped a few orange slices andthey were like no, thank you.
Um, it was.
I mean, I thought that it wascool to see it was a drive to
(29:31):
get there.
Like I think it took us an hourand a half from rush creek to
get to mariposa grove and thenagain an hour and a half back.
Yeah, so if we had done it onthe way from oakers we would
have saved a good amount of time.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Yeah and I think the total hike was what a little
over hour I feel like we'rethere for two hours.
Maybe it was like yeah is thatjust the hike, or is that from
when?
Speaker 1 (29:55):
we parked?
No, I think a little longerthan if you include the parking
time.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Yeah, so be prepared for that.
If you have little ones, it's ahike.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
It was a hike.
The first part was the steepestand when we were going back
down we saw people like huffingand puffing going up and I
wanted to be like it does get alittle better.
It was just hot, it was hot, itwas hot.
Okay, so those are the thingsthat we did in Yosemite.
(30:27):
We hiked the lower YosemiteFalls Trail and we hiked at
Mariposa Grove.
Oh, we also hiked to BridalVeil Falls.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
That was like you park and walk to that it is
again, I would call it a walk, Iwould not really call it a hike
.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
It was a steeper walk than the first to Yosemite
Falls.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
But it was like I don't know like 0.4 miles.
It was not long this parkinglot is also packed.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
We didn't even find a spot in the parking lot, we had
to park on the side of the road, yeah, like right at the
entrance to the, to the parkinglot.
Again, beautiful views, thisone, you and the two older ones
yeah climbed up pretty close tothe falls because, I mean,
everyone else was doing it tooyeah like you had to hop the
wall, though, or the littlelittle bear.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
I don't know if that is like kosher or not, but there
was, everyone was doing it andI and the boys wanted to do it.
I think if it wasn't, therewould be some kind of ranger
there like telling them to getdown, yeah, so you can kind of
like climb over this wallbarrier area and you can hike up
on these boulders and you canfeel the mist from the waterfall
(31:38):
.
It's very refreshing.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
It's also very slippery, yeah, so me and the
little one stayed back yes,duane and our daughter stayed
down.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
The boys wanted to go up and so I went up with them.
Um, I I grew up in the country,so so I'm just pretty
comfortable walking on.
I don't know, cliffs and rocksand stuff Cliffs isn't the right
word.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Definitely not a cliff.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
But I mean, we had a creek in our backyard with rocks
very similar to this and I usedto climb it all the time as a
kid.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
I grew up in the city and I'm also comfortable
climbing on cliffs and rocks andstuff like that.
Okay, Buildings and cars.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Okay, we should have a race one time and see who's
better.
Oh yeah, but yes, it was really.
The boys wanted to go and I waslike I'll totally go.
And as we were climbing up, our11-year-old looked at me and I
hope I have this on the camera.
He looked at me and he said Ican't believe I'm doing this.
I hope I have this on thecamera.
He looked at me and he said Ican't believe I'm doing this.
(32:39):
This is so amazing.
Like he is our nature kid andhe loves animals and nature and
he really, really liked being inthis park.
I was disappointed that wedidn't see more wildlife for him
, because he would have loved it.
But he literally looked at meand this is our kid, who is like
pretty negative about a lot ofthings, and he was like I cannot
(33:00):
believe I'm doing this.
This is so amazing.
And I almost cried because likewe don't ever get that from him
.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
You know?
Yeah, he mentioned that he'shaving a great time A couple of
times, yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
So I thought that was really a fun moment and like a
reminder of kind of why wetravel is to have these
experiences and, you know, kindof broaden their horizons as
kids.
So but yes, it was veryrefreshing, felt good on a hot
day and didn't take a lot oftime.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Yeah, it's not a vacation or a trip.
If the kids can't be ungratefulin another place, you know.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
So yes, oh yeah, all right so let's talk about the
Rush Creek Lodge.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
It's where we stayed.
So sorry, that was the recap ofour Yosemite, yes.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Well, sorry, I want to talk.
I want to say really quicklywow, we've been talking a long
time.
Um, there were a few thingsthat I also really wanted to do
that we couldn't fit in for,mainly because of how much more
driving it would have been andthe kids were car sick and it
just it felt selfish to makethem, like suffer through
another two hours to go see this.
(34:13):
And you know, um, um, one ofthem was glacier point, so you
can drive all the way up toglacier point and kind of look
out at the views and it looksbeautiful.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
I'm sure it's very, very nice like if we were going
to go back.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
We would definitely do that next time.
Um, another one was hetchhetchy.
That is like a reservoir thatholds all the water for the city
of San Francisco actually, andit's also supposed to be really
beautiful.
But again, another long drive,a hike that we were going to do
but ended up not because of howhot it was was Mirror Lake.
(34:48):
So that's another thing that Iwould want to do next time.
And then there's also somethingcalled the Lower Mist Trail, I
think, and it's my understandingis you get to hike like behind
a waterfall.
We did not do that because Iread some conflicting views
about people saying there's apart that's kind of dangerous
(35:09):
for kids and it's reallyslippery, and I was just nervous
about our, our younger two, andI didn't want to be super
anxious on my vacation, so wedidn't do that this time.
I think if they were a littleolder I would give it a try.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
You mean more anxious on your vacation.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
Yes, correct, more anxious than my baseline of
anxiety.
So, yes, correct, that's lameGod.
Okay, so those are the thingsthat we didn't do but I wish we
had.
If I think of anything elseabout the park, I'll be sure to
interject at an inappropriatetime during the rest of this
(35:47):
episode.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Yes, we know.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Okay, let's talk about Rush Creek.
What did you think of it?
Speaker 2 (35:54):
Hotel was great.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
Do you remember what I said when, when you were like,
we were saying outside the park, yeah, oh yeah, I said it's
supposed to be really nice andduane was like it's not gonna be
it's not gonna be nice but wehad just come from the valley
floor and like we had beeninside the yosemite Valley Lodge
(36:15):
, which is one of the lodgingoptions inside the park and I
think Dwayne was using- that ashis kind of like yes, ok, this
is not going to be great.
Speaker 2 (36:24):
What's not very nice.
It was yeah, but we get thereand it's quite nice.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
Yes, and you know what I knew it was going to be
nice based on the amount that wepaid for it.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Like if I didn't know how much we were paying for it.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Yes.
So at the time of booking wepaid $538 a night for for this
hotel and we stayed for threenights.
That included breakfast for twoadults and two kids, according
to the receipt, and we booked ina lodge king room.
(36:59):
So I booked again for twoadults and two kids, not two
adults and three kids.
They do have rooms that sleepup to six, but the price jump
from rooms that sleep four torooms that sleep six were
significant, like hundreds ofdollars per night more, and so I
took a risk, booked us for fourpeople in a Lodge King room.
(37:24):
It was a tight squeeze, I'm notgonna lie.
It was.
There was it.
We had a king bed and thenthere was a sofa pullout bed.
The sofa bed, I would say,comfortably slept two kids and
three was a stretch, and one ofours is pretty small.
We had brought an air mattressthat finally, on our last night
there, I made Dwayne bring itinto the room because I was
(37:45):
tired of not getting a goodnight's sleep with one of the
kids sleeping in the bed with usand kicking me all night, and
so we did have an additionaltwin air mattress in the room
and again, it was a tightsqueeze.
It definitely was, but it wasworth it to sleep better than I
had been sleeping.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
And I'd like to know this is probably the most we've
ever paid for a hotel roombesides, like Disney World when
we went, probably Maybe eventhen, yes, disney World when we
went, probably Maybe even then.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
Yes, the reason that I felt comfortable spending this
is because I knew that we hadused points for the first night
and we were using points for ourentire time in Lake Tahoe.
So I was kind of justifying itlike, okay, it's like I don't
know.
I think with taxes it was like$1,800.
So, $1,800 for a week yes,that's how I was thinking of it,
and plus, it looked so fun forkids and families that I was
(38:40):
like I think this is, this isthe place, because there are
people and families that couldstay like in a very minimal,
like hotel and be thrilled aboutit.
We're really not those people.
Like I, I want to stay at aplace that feels nice, and this
place was very nice it was yeah,um, they had a pool heated.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
They had a playground for the kids, uh, I mean a
little playground.
They had a swing slide, theyhad a bigger slide they had zip
lines, zip lines which were abig hit.
They had cornhole, they hadping pong, they had this big
chess board.
They had a bigger slide.
They had zip lines, zip lineswhich were a big hit.
They had cornhole, they hadping pong, they had this big
chess board.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
They had a whole game room yeah, they had a whole
game room.
Indoor game room, yeah, indoor,which also had a little
playground in it, like inside.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
Yes, like a little McDonald's playhouse type thing.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
Shuffle board, bumper pool, pool, pool table like
video games.
Video games.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
They weren't the best , but still there was like fun
for kids, yeah or not.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
Ping pong um pinball that's what I was gonna say yeah
, um, oh, they also had a roomfor, you know, guests to just go
in there and like play boardgames.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
They had a bunch of like comfortable seating and
tables and, yeah, it was verycozy, very cozy, very nice touch
, I thought what was the firstthing when you, when you walked
into the, into the room, whatwas the first thing that you and
the kids noticed?
There was no tv, yeah, I waslike I wonder how long it's
gonna take them to notice this.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
Oh, within seconds oh yeah, I mean, we walked in and
was like what, where the F isthe TV?
Speaker 1 (40:17):
Yeah, there was no TV .
They do provide games in theroom, though, for you to play,
which I thought was a nice touch.
You know connect as a family,and we had also brought a couple
of games, so we played ClueJunior and that was pretty fun
actually.
The kids had a good time and sodid we.
So, going back really quick tothe cost.
(40:40):
So I mentioned that includedbreakfast for two adults and two
kids.
So I want to talk about howthat worked, because obviously
we had three kids.
Essentially they just didn'tcharge us for the little one.
I'm not sure if it's under fouror under.
I'm sorry, I'm not sure if it'sfour and under or five and
under.
Even one of our servers was alittle bit unsure.
We just told everyone she wasfour and so we didn't pay for
(41:02):
her food, basically because shewas.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
We didn't pay for her cereal every day.
Speaker 1 (41:07):
Yeah, yes, that's pretty much all she wanted to
eat from the buffet.
They did have either a buffetor menu options.
I thought the menu options weremuch better than the buffet,
taste-wise, so that's the routethat I went most days, but you
know the kids love a good buffet.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
I think it's always that way, except for, like, if
you're in Kauai, which is by farthe best buffet we've had.
Maui I would actually say oh,and Maui too.
Yes, hawaii in general.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
Yeah, so that's kind of how that worked.
So I think you could easily dothat if you have younger kids.
If you have older kids, thenunfortunately I don't think that
, you know, booking for four andbringing five is going to work.
It was a tight squeeze and so Iwould recommend booking.
They have villas, they like itlooked like.
(42:02):
They looked wonderful.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
And yeah, they did.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
So I would.
I would look into that Ifyou're a bigger family.
Just know that it is expensive,pricey, yeah.
As a side note, if you want tosee like any of the stuff that
we're talking about today, Ihave a whole Instagram highlight
all about it with you know, thelike views from the hikes that
we did a video of the room,videos of the hotel, all that
(42:28):
sort of fun stuff.
The kids were.
The kids loved this hotel,though they were.
I think they were outsideliterally morning until night
every day, and that neverhappens here.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
You know it was a great hotel.
Would definitely recommend it,for sure.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
The pool was super heated, they had a couple of hot
tubs, and for dinner thedinners were fine too, like I
would rank it like maybe 7 outof 10, like the food that we had
there.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
Yeah, it was pretty good.
I can't remember what I got fordinner.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
You got like fish and chips, I think one night
remember yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
And then one night they had a buffet at the pool,
which is really good actually itwas.
Speaker 1 (43:08):
I mean, they cooked on a grill right there at the
pool taco, it was so they dothis like they call it a pool
barbecue and they they havedifferent menus.
When we were there, it was likea taco bar.
So grilled steak, grilledchicken, tortillas, guacamoleole
, all the toppings, corn, youknow, salsas, chips.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
Rice beans.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Yep, and it was all you can eat, and so our kids,
some of our kids, actually gottwo meals out of it.
Basically, they ate at thebeginning and they ate before
they closed it up Right when itopened it up.
Speaker 2 (43:39):
they swam a little bit after.
Then they got hungry again andate right before it closed.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
Yep, and so that was.
We did pay for that.
You pay for the buffet.
It's not included.
Speaker 2 (43:53):
And they give you like a wristband is how it works
.
And what I thought was nice isthe pool bar stayed open till
like 9 pm, which a lot of placesclose by like five or seven at
the latest, you know.
Speaker 1 (44:02):
Yeah, this hotel also has free nightly s'mores, so
you go pick up your littles'mores kits and you roast them
by the fire and you can do thatevery night and they just had a
lot of really nice touches forfamilies.
They also had kids activitiesthat you could do during the day
if you are maybe going to takea break and not go into the park
one day.
We didn't do any of thosebecause we did go into the park.
Speaker 2 (44:23):
Yeah, you can rent bikes there, paddle boards, all
types of stuff.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
Where do you paddle?
Speaker 2 (44:28):
I don't know.
There's somewhere close.
Speaker 1 (44:31):
I would think.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
I didn't see that part, they did have hiking
trails.
Hiking trails, yeah, we didn'tdo any of those, though.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
Yeah, we went in the park every day that we stayed
there.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
And this hotel had signs that there were wildlife
have been present.
The bartender told you that itwas at the trash can.
A black bear was at the trashcan one night.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
We didn't see any.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
Sadly, we saw none, which was disappointing.
I think that's.
The only thing that could havemade this trip better was seeing
some wildlife, I mean I don'tknow.
We stayed three nights and thenwe checked out, we drove to
lake tahoe.
That'll be next week's episode.
So, um, if you had to give,like someone one piece of advice
if they were going to yosemite,what would it be?
Speaker 2 (45:18):
um, I mean I would try and stay in the park.
Yeah, just because I mean three.
I mean we stayed right outsidethe park, but I mean it was an
hour some change to get there.
Speaker 1 (45:30):
Uh, well, so yeah, rush creek is literally like two
minutes from the west entranceof the park but it took about 45
minutes to get to the valleyfloor from rush creek.
So even that it's still a 45minute drive, which is a lot.
That's an hour and a half a dayjust back and forth.
Speaker 2 (45:47):
And I mean we did more driving in between hikes
and all that.
So I mean that would be myrecommendation.
I mean I don't know theaccommodations in the lodges
there.
I'm sure they're not, you know,five-star, four-star.
Speaker 1 (46:03):
We saw the Curry Village tents.
Oh, we'll never do that, yeah,so these are like okay, so curry
village just think it's like Idon't know, like canvas tents
that are already all set up butthey have no plumbing, so like
there's no private bathroom andI don't think there's
(46:23):
electricity either.
Or if there is, it's like not alot, um, and they're $200 a
night.
Speaker 2 (46:32):
$200, and there's a lot of them there's a lot of
them.
The parking lot was superpacked when we went in there, so
I like if, if you're a couplewith no kids are, and you know
hiking is your, camping is yourthing, then you know that's
probably fine.
Yeah, you're probably good, butI mean still, it's $200 a night
.
Speaker 1 (46:50):
Yeah, I would try to look at, like maybe the Yosemite
Valley Lodge.
That's probably where we wouldtry to stay for a night or two.
I do think it would be reallycool to be in the park when all
the day tourists are gone.
You know, like I'm sure, thatyou have a much greater chance
of seeing wildlife and that sortof thing if you're there.
So, yes, I do think that wouldbe cool for maybe one or two
(47:15):
nights to do that.
Speaker 2 (47:17):
What would your recommendation be?
Speaker 1 (47:20):
I think mine would be to just put all the spots you
want to go on a Google map andmap the driving distance between
each of them, so that you canmake sure that you're maximizing
your time each day.
Right?
Because, again, if I had donethat, we would have done
Mariposa Grove the day we droveup from Oakhurst, and maybe even
Glacier Point, because you passthe road to Glacier Point when
(47:43):
you do that as well yeah, I meanon this trip alone between
yosemite and tahoe, I mean wewere probably in the car for
probably 30 plus hours, you knowoh yeah, we drove 2 000 miles
in a week yeah, so yeah, um, butyeah, I think that's what I
would do just put it on a map soyou can kind of visually see
(48:05):
and have a rough idea of likehow to group it.
And I mean I should have donethat beforehand but I didn't.
So learn from my mistakes.
Speaker 2 (48:15):
All righty Well, we appreciate you listening.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
Hope this was helpful .
If you're planning a trip Again, find us on Instagram at
TravelParty5.
We have a whole highlight allabout Yosemite and you can go
and see all the things we justtalked about.
If you haven't already, makesure to give us a follow over
there and DM if you have anyquestions.
Speaker 2 (48:32):
Yes, we appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
Thank you, talk to you later.
Bye.
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