To Yosemite and back, all in 3 days
So we finally did our Yosemite trip at the end of last week. We flew to Reno on wednesday, and drove to Yosemite. Spent the day in the park on thursday then drove back on friday and flew back to SLC from Reno. 600 miles of driving for one day in the park. It's a complicated story.
We stayed at the Yosemite Lodge. Let me tell you that is not a $130-a-night hotel. It's a $45-a-night motel at best. No air conditioning, rooms full of mosquitos, peeling paint and wallpaper and rotting wood in the doors and window frames.
The food was incredibly over-priced. If we'd eaten in the main restaurant, it would have been $50 a head for dinner, at least.
Instead we ate in the cafeteria, which was still $20 for breakfast! The staff in there were unusually rude and stand-offish for America.
It seems that most of the lodging in the Yosemite valley (with one exception) is in dire need of renovation and modernisation. Curry Village especially, looked like a Crimean War era camp. It was unbelievably primitive.
The exception is the Ahwahnee hotel, with its ultra-exclusive dining, valet parking, hot and cold running whores and magnificent views. Lets just say that their dinner menu didn't have prices on it, and they demanded dinner wear - full suits.
We had a $15 pizza from Degnan's Cafe in the Yosemite Village instead, which was awesome and didn't need any dress code :-)
Still, it didn't really ruin the break. The park made up for it with the views and activities. We rented bikes and rode around on the thursday, then drove up to Glacier Point for a view of the whole park and its associated mountains and valleys. Been there, done that. Next time we might do it without so much driving to- and from.
And to top it off, I pulled $55 out of a 5¢ "Alien" slot machine at Reno whilst waiting for the flight back. Sweet.
We stayed at the Yosemite Lodge. Let me tell you that is not a $130-a-night hotel. It's a $45-a-night motel at best. No air conditioning, rooms full of mosquitos, peeling paint and wallpaper and rotting wood in the doors and window frames.
The food was incredibly over-priced. If we'd eaten in the main restaurant, it would have been $50 a head for dinner, at least.
Instead we ate in the cafeteria, which was still $20 for breakfast! The staff in there were unusually rude and stand-offish for America.
It seems that most of the lodging in the Yosemite valley (with one exception) is in dire need of renovation and modernisation. Curry Village especially, looked like a Crimean War era camp. It was unbelievably primitive.
The exception is the Ahwahnee hotel, with its ultra-exclusive dining, valet parking, hot and cold running whores and magnificent views. Lets just say that their dinner menu didn't have prices on it, and they demanded dinner wear - full suits.
We had a $15 pizza from Degnan's Cafe in the Yosemite Village instead, which was awesome and didn't need any dress code :-)
Still, it didn't really ruin the break. The park made up for it with the views and activities. We rented bikes and rode around on the thursday, then drove up to Glacier Point for a view of the whole park and its associated mountains and valleys. Been there, done that. Next time we might do it without so much driving to- and from.
And to top it off, I pulled $55 out of a 5¢ "Alien" slot machine at Reno whilst waiting for the flight back. Sweet.
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