280 miles away...

I'm going to take you back to 36 years ago, when my parents first got together; At the time a promise was made to my mum, that if they stayed together, my dad would take her to Yosemite National Park, having been there himself, two years previous.

36 years later, he kept to his word and on 23rd September 2016, a promise became reality.

The drive to the park was so unlike the rest of California, that we'd seen days previous; with much smaller, almost quaint towns, comprised of little independent businesses and the temperature gradually dropping as the miles gained, the views were becoming more and more amazing as we got closer to the heart of Yosemite. 

Now, there's not really a way in which I could describe the park itself, without actually taking you there and in the most cliche way possible, I can only describe a lot of it as breath taking. 

A lot of the photos I'd taken of the day almost look as though i've photoshopped our bodies onto a backdrop and I feel that explains it, in it's entirely, just how out of this world it felt there. 

Unfortunately, due to the huge drought California is going through, this year, a lot of the lakes had dried up, which is perhaps the only thing I felt the park lacked but I'm sure if we had continued our journey around the vast land, we would have eventually seen some of the mirroring lakes the postcards show. Definitely something to bare in mind, if I'm ever lucky enough to return - spend more than a day there and see more than a day's worth! 

In some ways, I did feel like maybe I shouldn't have been there to ruin such a special moment in my parent's marriage but then, I wouldn't have the special memories myself, nor would I have witnessed seeing the huge smiles planted across their face and the realisation that no matter what crap life can throw at you, love always has it's ways of making things better and a promise can be kept (even if it does take 36 years!). 

I'll leave this post here, with a video put together by YouTuber, Sawyer Hartman, who  is the only person I've seen, who comes very close to capturing the beauty of a place and whose video is the only one i've seen to show Yosemite as it is; truly stunning. 

Until next time...

Lots of love, hugs, kisses & special wishes 

From Katy ♡

P.S. if you want to see my whole trip to California, plus more, visit my YouTube Channel HERE