"everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."

this place makes your mouth pause,

and your heart pound,

and your soul fly.

i hope the images today {and all week} lift your heart.

the very first stop we made was a stop because we saw everyone else stopping.

there was this little bear. very tame. not like the honeymoon bear our friends encountered in yellowstone over a year ago.

some of you may have heard of "flat stanley."

i brought him along with us to help my nephew with a school assignment.

i think stanley had the trip of a lifetime.

{by the way, that skirt i'm wearing: i finished sewing it that morning...more about that later}

this was our first peek into the yosemite valley.

we knew it was going to be spectacular.

epic waterfalls are everywhere. can you imagine living here hundreds of years ago?!

there are sights you must stop to see. you are compelled to pull over and stare, stare, stare.

we stopped to see el capitan. these cliffs are truly amazing.

{el capitan below}

i must admit, i'm a little glad the climbing gear never got out of the bag.

i like to look and mosey around.

we stayed at the lodge that is right at the base of yosemite falls.

what a location!!

we began our hike to the falls late morning.

the views were amazing.

the trees so perfectly cool.

i plan on having a picnic by this river next time we go.

i need an entire afternoon for a lovely, idle picnic.

i just can't get over how vast this place is.

it truly is full of wonder.

ceej.

so grateful to have him with me.

half dome!

the trail is closed this time of year,

perhaps we will hike to the top another time.

i could easily look at this view forever.

more images later today...

{title quote : john muir}