on Aug 3rd, 2009Fishers Indiana real estate no match for Yosemite Valley scenery!
Just last week my family left the flat-as-a-pancake geography of Indianapolis Indiana real estate to the towering mountains of Yosemite National Park in California. We were there for a family reunion, and it was truly an unforgettable experience all around.
First, there was the scenery. We camped on the valley floor along the banks of the Merced River, with the granite cliffs of the Sierra Nevada’s looming above us. A short hike in any direction revealed stunning waterfalls, quiet meadows, and trickling creeks.
Then there was the nightlife. 10 p.m. marked the beginning of quiet time at the campground, and that’s when the fun began! For three nights we lay awake listening for the telltale clang of metal as the resident bear(s) conducted his nightly inspection of the inpenetrable lockers designed to protect anything a bear might find edible (Sunscreen? Really?) His mission: to determine which rookie campers had failed to properly secure their lockers. As it turned out, the most experienced camper among us to proved to be the weak link. My uncle left a latch undone, and the bear feasted on homemade granola while those of us who hadn’t yet made a midnight potty run anxiously waited for him to move on to the next course!
Finally, there was the family. It had been nearly a decade since we last gathered, and nieces and nephews who we remembered as elementary school-aged were now headed off to college. No use dwelling on how the rest of us had aged….for the most part we were still recognizable!
After three days, the ever-present grime of the outdoors made us all thankful to return to our Fishers Indiana home where at least you stayed clean for a reasonable amount of time after exiting the shower. And constantly policing the area for possible bear attractions was a lot of work. But, as my college-bound daughter declared, “Camping is my new favorite thing!”