Sunny (and smoky) and breathtaking California!

The drive into California was kind of depressing because of the drought. Everything looked so dry dead, and a lot was burned. On the way to Fresno, we could see a terrible wildfire that ended up killing lots of people who were trapped in Paradise, CA. On a happier note, we then met up with Jamison's friend Bob, from his men's group, in Roseville. Bob said he grew up in Roseville when it was 10,000 people and it has grown to over 150,000.
We visited Jamison's uncle Jason and his lovely wife Danielle, and their daughter Taylor. Such gracious hosts and their home is like pottery barn with an Italian flair, so beautiful and comfortable! Jason made us a hearty vegetable soup with garlic bread and olive oil, mmmmmmm!!!

 Last Monday, we arrived in Yosemite National Park. I have wanted to visit for years, and we finally got to spend an entire day in the park. Jossy's school was reading John Muir before she left, AND she just finished a book that was a mystery called "The Wolf Keeper," set in Yosemite, so she was excited to hike, yay!! Yosemite is a hiker's dream. Just spectacular!! The enormously huge granite cliffs go straight up from the valley floor and are so white next to the blue sky, it is simply breathtaking. I want to come back someday and spend at least a week.

We hiked to the top of Vernal Falls, a lot of steps but Jossy was a trooper, and we actually ran into a really nice family of whom the Dad started the Powerbar company!...and he had a nine-year-old daughter! Woot! All made it easier to get Jossy up the trail! 

We found just a couple of vegan options to eat in the park. The first was at Degnan's where the cook told us he was vegan, and he made us delicious avacado toast with gomashio for breakfast! If you don't know what gomashio is, it is a seaweed and sesame seed salt seasoning that is yummy and very nutritious! We also found the Beyond Burger and fries in the lodge which was perfect after our 18,000 steps and 150 flights of stairs that showed on Jamison's fitbit after our hike! The best meal we had though was at a hostel called "Yosemite Bug," about 25 minutes outside of the park. Jossy had spaghetti and Jamison and I had a really nice tofu vegetable stirfry with orange sauce, washed down with my favorite draft... Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (in the Sierras!) of course! They also sold Justin's dark chocolate peanut butter cups, that we purchased and saved for our hike. They tasted so good when we reached  top of the waterfall!!