We bought a Groupon back in October for a two night stay in one of the cabins at at Evergreen Lodge, just outside Yosemite. I waited a few weeks to actually book our stay, so by the time I called, the next available nights were in March. It seemed like such a long way away, but it was amazing how quickly the time passed.
We picked this particular weekend because Kevin works what they call a 9-80 schedule (meaning he works 80 hours in 9 days instead of 10, so he gets every other Friday off) and this past Friday was one he did not work. I took the day off, and after a morning bike ride (Kevin) and a bit of work/packing/etc (me) we headed out towards Yosemite.
The traffic wasn't bad, but we made stops for lunch, and at REI to get me some hiking pants (plus a bonus bikini: http://www.rei.com/product/828641/carve-ryder-bikini-top-womens and http://www.rei.com/product/846234/carve-janie-reversible-bikini-bottoms-womens) so we didn't get to the Evergreen until after 4pm.
Because it is the off season, (hence the half price Groupon deal on the cabin) things were pretty uncrowded, although the area of Yosemite closest to the Evergreen (Hetch Hetchy) was closed due to snow on the road. The areas where we were, however, were lovely. No snow, and mid-60's during the day.
Our cabin was very adorable and quaint without being rundown:
The neatest parts were the electric stove heater inside (which I did not photograph) and the porch out back, equipped with chairs for relaxing and savoring the view (or reading and drinking wine):
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| Kevin's socks! |
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| My new hiking pants! |
There was a tavern and a restaurant at the Evergreen, which was nice, because it's about 45 minutes from anywhere else, and you can't cook for yourself because it attracts bears (or so they say!). The food was nothing to write home about, and I had more than my share of fried potatoes between the dinner and two breakfasts we ate there, but it was better than nothing.
On Saturday we headed down to Yosemite Valley to do some exploring, and so that I could get my 18 mile training run in. The views were not too shabby:
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| Kevin was there! |
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| And me too, in my running ensemble! |
Kevin went for a hike up to Yosemite Falls while I spent almost 3 hours running a loop and a half of the Yosemite Valley. It was nice because there's one road into the valley and one road out of the valley, and they loop together so I did a reverse loop, facing traffic the whole time. Most people seemed a bit surprised to see a runner coming at them, but also very polite (ie. no one threw anything or honked or yelled at me). I was pretty proud of my pace (9:30 minute miles) especially since I ran without headphones for the first time in a while (since they aren't allowed in my marathon, and I wanted to mimic those conditions - great scenery, no tunes) and at 4,000 ft above my regular running elevation. My knee did start to bug me a bit towards the end, but I'm hoping it was a product of having to jump off the road to avoid cars.
After lunch at the Ahwahnee Hotel (a bit overpriced, but the waitress was super nice, and when I requested no dairy on my veggie sandwich she asked "Oh, are you vegan?" and made suggestions as to what I might or might not be able to eat, which was sweet.) we headed back to the Evergreen, and did some lounging, hot tubbing, and reading.
All in all the vacation was a success. We got to relax, enjoy nature and drink wine outside (what more can you ask for, really?). Can we do it again next weekend?!?
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