On Independence Day, we drove out of San Francisco and headed south eastwards to our second destination, Tenaya Lodge, on the Highway in Fish Camp, on the southern perimeter of the Yosemite Nature Park.
This proved a fascinating part of our holiday, with notable drives through Modesto, Merced, Le Grand, Raymond, Coarsegold and Oakhurst. On occasion, especially towards the latter stages, this meant a cross-country journey and many miles of isolated road with no other vehicles or people in sight.
The Lodge offered excellent swimming facilities and a modern gym, which was popular with Ben. The staff were, for the most part, extremely helpful. However, the food and drinks were prohibitively expensive.
Our first sojourn from the Lodge led us to the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Rail Road, complete with its working traditional steam engine, plus an introduction to panning for gold!
As we had been unable to secure a pass to the Reserve – these are in considerable demand – we booked ourselves onto an escorted full-day ride around the sights of the Park. As a result, we were able to take in the stunning views of mountains, pines and waterfalls.
