<span class="drop_cap">T</span>his last week I was fortunate enough to escape this blazing heat and miserable drought for a trip to Yosemite National Park. Please excuse the insane amount of photos I'm posting from this trip, but I just can't help myself. While we do have an abundance of kind, down-to-earth people in central Texas, we just don't have these kinds of natural wonders. I was mesmerized. And I desperately needed to be mesmerized. 

I had the added bonus of getting to visit my sister since she works at the park, plus we had our own tour guide for the couple days we were there. And a big thanks to my husband's parents for watching our 1.5 year old daughter for a couple days so we could thoroughly explore this incredible place without stopping every three feet to marvel at a pinecone, as cute as that can be.

Okay, here we go with the photos. I'll be blabbing a lot throughout the post too.

<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-1.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="629" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2868" />

That poor innocent soul at the bottom is my favorite.

<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-2.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="717" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2869" />
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Can I take a moment to say: un-freaking-believable. How is one place so naturally majestic?

<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-5.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="629" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2872" />

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Check out the tiny people at the bottom of these two shots.

<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-6.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="720" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2873" />

This is my little sister. She is amazing to me. She's completely fearless. I, on the other hand, am full of fears and paranoia. She's the type of girl who hops trains around Europe alone and goes overnight camping by herself. I'm the type of girl who's scared to live more than 15 minutes away from a hospital because everything is out to kill me. I'm much more Woody Allen-ish. She's much more Amelia Earhart-ish. I wish I were more like her.

<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-7.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="629" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2874" />

She fits right in here.

<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-8.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="717" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2875" />

And thanks to her I have these awesome shots of my husband and I. We never took real engagement photos, so five years and one kid into our marriage I think we're due for a few cutesy couple-ly shots.

<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-9.jpg" alt=""  width="943" height="629" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2876" />
<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-10.jpg" alt=""  width="943" height="629" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2877" />
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<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-12.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="720" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2879" />

No, that is not chewing tobacco in my back pocket. It's just a lens cap, as usual.

<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-13.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="463" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2880" />
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Our humble abode the first night we were there. It was actually pretty comfy. Other than the snoring neighbor I slept pretty well.

<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-15.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="422" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2882" />
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<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-17.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="422" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2884" />

Heaven. I can't even believe I was actually there to take this shot. So unreal.

<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-18.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="629" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2885" />
<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-19.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="629" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2886" />

I adore these forest meadows. 

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When Lesley was asking me what I wanted to see while I was there I only had a couple answers for her, both very profound: "pretty stuff" and "big trees". On our way to the sequoia groves, I asked, "So where are we headed next?" Her answer: "Big trees." She knows how to talk to me.

<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-27.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="541" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2894" />
<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-28.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="629" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2895" />

This is where my husband proposed to me again, seriously. Yosemite will have that effect on you.

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This next series were actually taken at an awesome mountain lake. I didn't include any of those scenic shots though. I loved the portraits of my sister and I so much more. (Thanks to my husband who took the ones with me included.)

<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-32.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="717" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2899" />
<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-33.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="470" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2900" />
<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-34.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="470" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2901" />

Yes, I'm wearing a hoodie and she's wearing a tank top. I've been in 108 degree weather for months so I was taking every chance I could to wear warm comfy clothes. And I'm a way bigger wimp than her.

<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-35.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="720" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2902" />

I love how the light is just hitting the background and the island. Check out the tiny white car in the corner too.

<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-36.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="629" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2903" />

The second night we were there we stayed up in my sister's tent cabin. Since it was at much, much higher altitude it was a lot colder and she has to light a fire every night to keep warm. It was really funny to me watching my little sister light her own fire. We're city girls. We don't go around lighting fires. But this is her daily life now. 

<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-37.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="667" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2904" />

And this is up at Tuolumne Meadows the last few hours we were at Yosemite. I wanted to stay and see more and more and more. But I also wanted to see my daughter. 

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This last shot is actually my husband's. Love all the trees and the tiny deer at the bottom, so I had to include it.

<img src="http://shannonhuntphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yosemite-43.jpg" alt="" width="943" height="717" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2909" />