me and my dog at 10000 feet in Yosemite

me and my dog at 10000 feet in Yosemite Originally uploaded by musicmuse_ca

Well, here I am during my last visit to Yosemite. We are moving out of California after living here for 25 years and back to where I grew up in NYC. I have spent many wonderful days in Yosemite National Park, so I had to go visit one more time (even though I almost burned out the brakes on my car, but that is another story). 

My first time here, my daughter was 9 years old and now she is with me 20 years later as we leave California and move back East. I am excited and melancholy all at once. I love California and I love New York City too. I can't be in both places at once, so I had to make another choice to leave someplace I love and move back to someplace I miss terribly. 

I hope to be able to spend some time in Yosemite again. I fell in love here about 15 years ago with a guy who was just falling out of love with me at the same time. After that heartbreak, I just fell in love with Yosemite itself. I have stayed in the valley in plush accommodations, tent cabined in White Wolf in the High Country and backpacked in some of the most remote areas of the park enjoying the high summits, the howls of the wolf at the full moon at night, the high mountain wildflowers and the cool mountain lakes. I am grateful for every moment I had to enjoy this special place. I will never forget the gifts the wild mountains have given me.