The Mandarin translation of Yosemit: 優勝美地, literally means superior winning beautiful land.  And what an appropriate name for this gorgeous national treasure!

The Monkey Clan spent a few days here to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. Basking in the glory of our Mother Nature, we left feeling recharged and reborn.

Rental bike is a popular way to explore the hiking trails

Mirror Lake: icy newly melted snow from the high mountains was a fun destination for all!

Curry Village: our home away from home!  From our maiden voyage of camping in the museum, to our backyard camping, we progressed to camping in the wilderness this time around!  But this was not done without a little help from the ready-set tents from the professionals.  Conveniently located in the heart of Yosemite Valley, Curry Village is a haven for hikers.  Camping in Curry Village was not as “rough” as I was told by friends who visited there 20 years ago.  Each tent was equipped with beds in the tents.  In addition, clean linen, pillows, blankets, towels, bear-proof bins to store foods and toiletries, and even in-tent safe were provided for guests.  There were bathrooms and hot showers within our camping compound.  Pizza deck, bar, ice cream corner, cafeteria, convenience store, mountaineering specialty shop and Peet’s coffee shop were all within 5 minutes walking from our tent!

There was something inspiring about getting a cup of hot coffee in the crisp morning air, watching the sun rise while a deer munched on her tender greens nearby.

Curry Village even came complete with a pool with a view!!!  After a day of hiking in the magnificent Park, we cooled off by swimming and lounging around the world’s best located pool.  This was followed by hot off the oven pizza and beer on tap since the pizza deck was adjacent to the village bar.  Sorry I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of the eateries as there were lots of people waiting for tables and we were ravenous :)

And there you have it.  Think you might like camping, but not sure if you are cut out for the wilderness?  Try a camp ground with some of the urban amenities first, and slowly work your way up as your tolerance allows.

We thoroughly enjoyed gorgeous Yosemite, and will definitely come back in the future!