Mini vacations always make me want to take longer vacations. I come back from a few days away longing for even more time away. I wonder if that is a symptom of my wanderlust or of my dislike for my daily life, of my "real world." There are parts of my daily life that I love very much, spending time with The Boyfriend, playing with Bailey, the feeling you get right when you give yourself over to sleep, laughing. Yet I find myself frequently wanting to get away from the every day and I feel it most strongly when I come back to it after being away briefly.
Last weekend The Boyfriend and I took a mini trip to Yosemite National Park. This trip was his Valentines Day gift to me and it was really fantastic. We left the Bay Area really early in the morning and drove 3.5 hours to Yosemite. Stopped at the upscale lodge for a nice breakfast before heading out to our first hike. It was a delightful 7ish mile loop up a waterfall and back around. At the valley floor it was a cloud covered, cool morning and as we climbed it started to rain and at the top it was snowing! While a lot of people probably lamented the weather wanting the picturesque views and blue skies, The Boyfriend, however, really loves the water and rain and snow. His smiles during all weather were the best. The scenery was as stunning as the reviews say, the expanse of natural beauty is truly breathtaking.
We stayed in a very cute little town about an hour outside the park. We had a nice dinner and an early bedtime the first night to prepare for the second day hike. We started a little later in the day and were greeted by several switchbacks of stairs and fantastic views of Yosemite falls. We turned around when I realized that I was holding us back a bit and moving slower than we needed to be moving to make it to the top before the weather hit. It was a really sad feeling to know that I was the reason we weren't going to finish the climb. The Boyfriend showed such concern as I started to really slow down. When we stopped on a dry log for lunch I had mini "come to Jesus" talk with myself about needing to turn around. I'm sad we had to do it, but I knew it was the right thing for my joints.
So we turned around and enjoyed an earlier end to our day by having a nice cup of hot chocolate in the sitting room of the lodge we had breakfast at the day before. We spent a few hours relaxing and talking and enjoying being in the park, drove around some to get some pictures and headed out for dinner.
Last weekend was Mother's Day so The Boyfriend and I continued our driving south a bit to see his parents and have a nice meal with his mom. They are wonderful people and I really enjoy being around them as they are very inclusive and kind.
While it was only 4 days away, we packed in a lot of activities and a lot of scenery seeing and family time too. As I climbed into bed on Sunday, it was that strange feeling of elation having had such a great time away and melancholy that I had to wake up to another Monday in my "real world."
Something has to give here.... and soon.... gosh I hope it is soon.
