SENTINEL DOME TREE PATCH

Naturally, I had to stop and admire it, and take more. It was fairly early in the morning, and the wildfire haze was still settled in The Valley, making it appear like a mythical setting from an epic motion picture. I just had to ask hubby to stop here once again, even though we had already been here twice. As we drove on, we went through the long tunnel on Wawona Road, followed by the beloved Tunnel View. I admit, I can never get enough when it comes to Mother Nature’s monolithic artwork, and Yosemite Valley is one of her finest masterpieces. While looking at the map, I realized with joy that we would have to drive part of the way onto the Yosemite Valley loop in order to get to Tioga Road. The day was off to a good start! We went back to the car, and headed towards our destination for the day, Tioga Road on the North side of the park. They were of course very proud, and happy to grow their badge collection even further. When they were finished, the Park Ranger handed them their new badges, as well as Yosemite patches, and congratulated them.

SENTINEL DOME TREE PATCH

The kids’ new Yosemite Junior Ranger patch and badge They raised their right hands, and repeated it after the nice lady. Even though their presentation was by no means flawless, the kids did well, and were ready to take the Junior Ranger pledge. She checked their booklets, and asked them about the different things they had learned while in the park. She was a very nice young lady who seemed genuinely excited to see our aspiring future Yosemite Junior Rangers. When we felt quite confident that the kids would not mess this up, we approached one of the rangers. We also gave them the usual lecture on how they had to look people in the eyes when they talked to them. We have filtered out the lower-rated ones for you! is our favorite website for finding great places to stay all over the world!Īll of us went into the visitor center, and hubby and I quickly tested the kids just to make sure they still remembered some of the things Ranger Dave taught them the day before.

HOTELS: Click HERE to see the highest-rated accommodations near Yosemite National Park on. This was the kids’ last chance to get their Junior Ranger badges and patches, since the next day was already allocated for hiking up to Half Dome. As soon as we passed through the gate, we stopped at the Wawona Visitor Center. We started the morning with our usual breakfast at Julie’s house, and headed towards the already familiar South Entrance of Yosemite National Park. We had to save our muscles and joints for the following day, reserved for the insane all day hike up to Half Dome and back. Our plan for today was to take it easy, which meant drive more, and hike less.

Sentinel dome tree