Things are Heating Up

After spending some time in the city, we headed off to Yosemite National Park.  As we approached our campsite, we noticed a significant amount smoke in the air which definitely wasn't a good sign.  We had planned on doing a quick hike right as we arrived, but the lady who checked us in informed us that a thunderstorm last weekend started two forest fires on the other side of the valley which blocked the main road leading into the entrance of the park.  This made our 45 minute drive into a 3 hour drive into the park. 

Also, with the temperature being 100 degrees in the evening, we quickly found out that camping in this kind of heat was too toasty for our taste.  With all of this in mind, we decided to plan on doing just one full day in the park and head to a beach town where it was cooler.  Luckily, there was a pool at this campsite which probably saved us melting that day.

When we got the Yosemite, we decided to do the Panorama Trail starting at Glacier Point which usually gives a really great view of all the major peaks, but the smoke from the fires made even half dome barely visible.

What should have been a nice view of half dome

On the bright side, the smoke covered the sun making the hike a bit more comfortable temperature wise.  Some of the smoke lifted by the end of the day where we could get some better views.

Verdana Falls

Nevada Falls

We could tell that on a good day, this probably would have been breathtaking so we promised each other to revisit in the future.  Simon also saw "the most beautiful sunset he had ever seen" while driving out of the park most likely due to the smoke from the fires.

Being the adventurous people that we are, we failed to reserve a campsite to stay that night after the hike and soon found out that places get booked a week in advanced around the Yosemite.  This resulted in us staying Merced an hour and a half away.

Yosemite was followed by some wine tasting in Paso Robles to up our classy streak.

To cleanse our palate, we continued going south and stopped by San Luis Obispo to get these amazing Acai Bowls at Sally Loo's Cafe that we had on our last road trip 2 years ago.

Sooo delicious

At last we made it to Avila Beach where it was a cool 75 degrees.  It was a cute little beach town that was low key and perfect for our taste.  The water was so warm, so we knew we had made it to the coast of Southern California.  It was time to beach bum it for a couple days.

sunset at the beach

All in all, it was a nice few days!