It was time to head to the big draw national park, Yosemite. But first we had to negotiate route 49 with its 100+ hairpin bends and sheer drop offs. Our online research found an ex-US forces guy say he was less scared when driving through a minefield than he was driving route 49. Having survived the insane Italian drivers on the lake Como mountain roads I was adamant that it would be fine. Admittedly we did need to stop the car once because James felt sick, but I think the ex-forces guy was being a bit dramatic.

Yosemite had captured my imagination since I was a kid. Listening to my dad and his friend energetically discuss the merits of famous black and white Ansel Adams photos. Then later in life reading about John Muir’s conservation work, and climbers’ death-defying attempts to scale El Capitan, the 2300m granite monolith which towers over the valley. So I was excited to finally get to experience the majesty of the place for myself.

However, we’d heard it was very busy and recently scarred by the hordes of Tahoe, we feared the worst. Learning from our Tahoe experience, each morning we set our alarm for 6am to get into the park ahead of the crowds. Yosemite delivered. The breathtaking vistas from Glacier Point and Tunnel View. A hike up Sentinel Dome and the vertigo inducing Taft Point, where we even saw a bear! And an epic 14km hike up (and back down) part of the Mist Trail to Vernal falls which nearly broke James… followed by a 20 minute wait for an iced coffee in the visitors center cafe which nearly broke Lucy.

However, the most memorable experience was my birthday dinner – cheese and wine by the river in the grounds of our lodge, complete with improvised cake and candle. Why has it taken me to be 52 years old to discover the delights of having cheese and wine whilst paddling in a river to keep cool in the searing heat? Love to Lucy and James for arranging and making it so special ❤️

Next on the agenda was Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, 200 km further south. This time there were no winding mountain passes, just 3.5 hours of driving through the agricultural central valley. Literally km after km of orchards and maize fields and the occasional backwater town.

Our holiday home was an annex of a cute cottage in Three Rivers whose garden backs onto the stunning Kaweah River. Complete with a 50-60m long crystal clear swimming hole full of fish, we had it pretty much to ourselves apart from a few locals. Just the tonic after the busy Yosemite.

An hours drive up yet more very winding mountain roads was Sequoia national park. Home to the largest tree in the planet, the General Sherman, and many other behemoths. The costal redwoods earlier in the trip were big, but the giant sequoias are something else.

We spent a few hours wandering the trails marvelling at their colossal size but most of our time was spent playing in the rapids and jumping off rocks into our back garden river. We enjoyed it so much that we decided to skip Kings Canyon and chill by the river for our remaining days inland before heading back to the coast.