We had never visited Yosemite, and have wanted to see if for some time. Trying to avoid the crowds, we scheduled a trip for the week after Labor Day, and booked rooms at the famous Ahwahnee Hotel, 
calling a year in advance as advised. Luckily, no one was sick when the time rolled around.
We rented a large minivan big enough to hold everyone, crammed all the bags into the back, and set off on what Yahoo maps promised was a 4½ hour drive. We learned that the algorithm for computing times needs some tweaking to account for Friday afternoon traffic in California. We pulled into the hotel parking lot in time to snag one of the few remaining spots, ate supper on the patio, and collapsed.
The next day, we set out to explore the wonders of the Park. We walked a trail that started behind the hotel, stumbling on a nice flock of warblers and other birds near a bridge over the river. Then on to Mirror Lake, which was more like Mirror Dune; the lake dries up every summer apparently. Kai enjoyed practicing walking in the soft sand, which cushioned his falls.
On the morning of Septermber 9, Jim and Linda got up before dawn to search for the Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa). We'd been told it was hanging around the field "near the Chevron station." That proved to be a bit too vague, but eventually, we figured it out. We saw a distant owl flying, but weren't sure at first whether we could call it the Great Gray. Fortunately, we spotted another bird in the same tree, and when that turned out to be a Peregrine Falcon, we had the size comparison we were looking for. Tick. (But better view desired.)
We continued thru the park, stopping along the way at a beautiful little lake, where the sun was barely lighting the trees on the far shore. While we were there, a coyote trotted by, completely ignoring us.
We drove all the way through the park to Mono Lake on the far side. This lake has been an environmental issue for years. The city of Los Angeles drained too much water from the lake, turning islands used by nesting birds into peninsulas subject to predation. Fortunately, now the lake is slowly refilling and the islands are islands again. Meanwhile, the minerals in the lake created huge "tuffs" in the past. Here's a picture of Linda standing next to one of them.
Like most of our trips, this one ended too soon. Besides, we learned that the best time to come is the spring, when snow melt fills the rivers and creates waterfalls. We're planning to return sometime.