About two weeks ago, my brother's friend from his MBA program, Cara, came to visit California. She'd only ever been to San Diego so Edward planned all sorts of fun northern California adventures for her. They went to San Francisco one day, wine tasting another day, and Yosemite on her last day. I went to Yosemite with them since I'd only been there once.
Cara and Edward:
Because it is quite a drive from either Davis or Livermore (3-4 hours) and our tour was set to leave early in the morning, we decided to stay at a hotel in Sonora so the morning drive would be much shorter. (My mom graciously offered to come to Davis to stay with the dogs while we were at the park.)It was super hot when we got to the hotel so the first thing we did after dumping out stuff in the room was go swimming. I'd never actually gone swimming while pregnant and it felt GREAT. The "roof top" pool was very small but the perfect temperature.
That night we went to a casino for dinner and watched Cara play a few games of poker (I can't remember the type of poker but it was a slow game, easy to follow, and hard to lose tons of money on it). The next morning we headed off to the park and missed our full-day tour by 5 minutes! Grrrr. I was worried that they'd not refund our money, but the lady said we could just book another tour and get the remainder of the cash back. Whew. So we ended up taking two tours: a morning open-air tram tour of the valley floor and an afternoon bus (with AC!) tour that went up to Glacier Point. Had we known how much better the second tour was, we would have just hiked or played in the river instead of wasting our money on the morning tour. Oh well, next time.We loved the bus tour because it had AC, we got to see more sights, and we could take a snooze on the way up the mountain to Glacier Point.
If you are ever going to Yosemite (either taking a tour or driving yourself), make sure you go up to Glacier Point! You can drive or hike there and it is SO worth it. You can see pretty much the entire valley...it is stunning.Here's a picture I snapped on the tram tour early in the day. You can barely see any clouds in the background.
The views at Glacier Point were especially stunning for us because a major thunderhead had built up so Half Dome really stood out. 
If you ever ask Edward to take your picture, be aware that he'll just snap away until you take your camera back. I always end up with a few pictures of me getting ready to have my picture taken, a few good shots, and then at least one picture of me with a look on my face that says, "Edward? Are you still taking pictures?" That's what this one is and I thought it was pretty hilarious (me giving him that look while pulling up the back of my maternity shorts):
Me and Edward at Glacier Point:
Since Edward drove to Yosemite, I offered to drive back home that afternoon. But the heat and maybe the altitude made my hands SO SWOLLEN that I couldn't even grasp the steering wheel. My fingers looked like sausages. 
None of my friends have complained of the same thing during their pregnancies, but online resources and the midwives tell me that water retention in your arms is super common in pregnancy. The water build-up puts pressure on the tendons in your wrist, which leads to swelling of the fingers. Many nights I go to sleep grasping a cold, unopened soda can in each hand to reduce the swelling. It is worst in the morning...to the point that I can't bend my fingers much, which makes things like holding toilet paper difficult (gross, but true) and my knuckles hurt badly. (Oh, and several fingers on my right hand are completely numb or tingly all dang day...)My advice: don't get knocked up in the fall because then you will have to be pregnant during the hot summer. =)
We took the hospital bag in the car with us to the park, just in case I went into labor while we were there. Luckily we didn't need it...although it would have made a great story!
1 comment:
Dang girl! You are very adventurous to go to Yosemite so close to your due date, but as my OB said once, "well you can go, but don't be surprised if you end up having a baby there." I hope the swelling goes down as soon as that baby is out! Oh and Garrett proposed to me at one of the falls there. I would have to ask him which one b/c I can't remember. In other words, Yosemite will always have a "place" in my heart. Good luck w/ the upcoming birth and I hope that everything goes the way you would like it to!
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