Fall in Yosemite

I have grown to really really love San Francisco.  It is an incredible city full of beauty, quirkiness, and some really lovely people.  The one thing I can't quite get past is the lack of Fall.  I have come to recognize its subtlety, but it's definitely still lacking.

One day I dream of living somewhere that looks like this:

 
Thankfully, until then we have Yosemite.  We headed out there this past weekend with a few close friends for a much needed taste of nature.  It was delicious. :)

We drove in at Friday night.  I love coming in after dark, you never know what your view will be in the morning.

We love these people.  They were all so incredibly welcoming when we moved here 5.5 years ago.  We cherish their friendship.

**Clara and Micah Rice- I actually went to High School with Clara and Larry plays basketball with Micah. We are so glad they are back in SF after a brief stint in Denver.
**Lis and James Meikle- Lis and I went through second degrees at the same time.  She is one fantastic study buddy.  James is a paramedic and my favorite person to "talk shop" with.
**Julie Lockwood and Dan Quon (The soon to be Quons!)- Dan works at New Door with Larry and Julie is a japanese food master.  I have almost mastered her teriyaki and am now working on her sushi rice :).  

We have shared countless glasses of wine, games of settlers, rolls of sushi, and hours of laughs and good times with these 6. We love you all!

Saturday we hiked to Hidden Falls behind Mirror Lake.  Mirror Lake was more of a field than a lake, but still beautiful.

 

We celebrated that Larry proposed 6 years ago on October 7th. It has been such an amazing and crazy 6 years.  I sure do love this man.

We normally go over Easter weekend and in the spring there are quite a few bears.  Thankfully our campsite was bear free this time.  There were quite a few other critters around though.

Coyote or really big fox?

I thought he was dead...he was not.

Bobcat

 I am obsessed with this place.  We have a pass that's good through this weekend if anyone wants to head back...

On the way home we stopped at what is hands down the cutest coffee shop ever.  If you are ever in Groveland, CA you must stop in Mountain Sage.  It's a nursery, cafe, and art gallery.  I love it.  The drinks were fantastic.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/mountain-sage-groveland