Guess where we went to celebrate our first anniversary last weekend?!?  Can’t guess?  How about….

It’s almost embarrassing for me to say this as a Northern California native, but I had actually never been to Yosemite before. On Friday we decided to take a little weekender in celebration of our first year of wedded bliss. Saturday morning we got up early and headed to the Hotel Charlotte in Groveland (about 45 minutes from Yosemite).  The Hotel Charlotte is a beautiful, relaxing oasis–with no cell phone coverage! Yay! The couple that owns it just reopened it a couple of weeks ago, and they’re doing a fantastic job. I highly recommend grabbing a habañero margarita at the bar and relaxing on a rocking chair on their second floor balcony. Avoid their ghost, Charlotte.

We spent Saturday walking around Groveland.  It didn’t take long, as Groveland is about half a mile from one end to the other. They do have a great museum though, and we spent some quality time there.  Jason got into a scuffle with a bear!

And I fought off a bobcat!

The best part of the museum is a table where you can sit and go through old magazines. I went through a few Time and Life magazines from the 60s/70s and check out this Anchorman ad! Ron Burgandy would be so proud!

You look like a blueberry.

And check out this article about an ambitious young politician running for Senate at age 29. Name ring a bell?

On Sunday we made the trek to Yosemite.  A lovely view of Half Dome:

Apparently May is the time to go to Yosemite, because everywhere we looked we saw gorgeous waterfalls. I literally have dozens of pictures of beautiful waterfalls from the trip.

Our first stop was the Ahwahnee Hotel for brunch. The Ahwahnee is beautiful and their brunch is one of the best I’ve ever had. We timed it right because after our first plate (it’s a buffet) they switched everything over to lunch. So we had the best of both worlds.

Check out this dessert sampler! 

After brunch we went on a little nature hike. Jason single-handedly fought off several squirrels. They are everywhere! We were looking for a bear, but didn’t find any. Next time we’ll bring picnic baskets and honey.

Then we went over to the museum (because we’re museum nerds). There was a great section about getting to Yosemite in the olden days and how much things have changed. These days you just have to sit in a car and drive four hours, going through such places as Oakdale, the “City of Action,” and the place next to the motel with the sign that just said “Girls! Girls! Girls!” Back in the olden days, you had to sit in a flipping wagon for 36 hours. And before that? God only knows. No thank you.

The museum also had a teepee. I don’t know why.

And a giant cross section of a tree. This tree is something like 900 years old.

A close-up. Every little white line is one year…

Our adventure continued. Can you find the bear in this picture? Okay, how about the squirrel? This is inside a restaurant by the way. See him? He’s moving fast.

Not fast enough to avoid getting a finger shaking from Jason. Where are your manners, Mr. Squirrel?

Our afternoon adventure involved a two-hour horseback ride up to Mirror Lake. Jason and his noble steed, Buck.

Buck was a bit of an asshole. But he came around.

My horse, Poco (short for Pocahontas, which is totally a girl’s name), was a doll. So sweet! Check out his pretty picture (you can’t see here, but he has a blue eye and a brown eye).

After the ride we hobbled over to another waterfall. Gorgeous! Followed up by a nice dinner at the Yosemite Lodge. The couple behind us was celebrating their 30th anniversary. Apparently they went to Yosemite for their honeymoon and have gone back every year for the anniversary.

Day two: more critters. This guy was just walking along the road.

We took a little nature walk to the giant sequoias. Jason sitting on a giant sequoia:

This guy was a little mad that we came trampling through his ‘hood. His fault for living amongst the giant sequoias.

After our hike we decided to check out Hetch-Hetchy on our way out of town. The park ranger told us it would take “twenty minutes” to get there.  An hour later…

I’m glad we went though. It’s so pretty!

At the top there’s a little drinking fountain. Imagine the freshest, most delicious water (if water had flavor).

And then this train wreck was parked next to us in the parking lot. Good bye beautiful nature land, hello crazy people world.

All in all, a lovely first anniversary. Here’s to many more adventures!