Flying into Fresno early this month. Traveling to Yosemite. Looking for "must see" areas. afordable, but nice accomidations, restaurants, area attractions.In past have benifitted from experience of previous travelers. People have such great suggestions! Have a day/eve before need to be at meeting in Fish Camp. Suggestions as to where to stay/ do before hand? This will be our first trip to Yosemite. Stay/ visit Sierra National Forest? Sequoia National Park or Other nearby locations such as attractive lakes? Meeting at Tenya Lodge-Fish Camp. Looks beautiful, but a bit pricey. Saw menu prices online $$$, think will stock up on snacks beforehand on drive there. Wanted to check out surrounding area when meeting not in session. Any special attractions, shops or other of interest things to do? Will also have a couple of afternoons and evenings during meeting to explore area nearby and a day before and after on way to/from Fresno.
Husband/Wife traveling without our teen children. Hike some, but not, too seriously. Enjoy photography, some water sports, outdoors, with limited biking ability (not handicap just out of shape especially at higher elvevation!)
Do you have any travel suggestions traveling from Fresno?
Would love help planning our fall Yosemite trip! New to the area. Tell me what you loved.

We stayed at the Tenaya about 3 years ago - also in the fall. It was nice, but I agree, pricey. Yosemite was spectacular that time of year - not too many crowds, warm days, chilly nights, and some great fall folliage.

I would focus on Yosemite Valley, as well as the Wawona area, which is in the south end of the park - maybe Yosemite Valley for the first day and evenning, Wawona for one of the afternoons you have free. For some spectacular views, drive to Glacier Point - you could do this on an afternoon.

You might see if you can get reservations in the Valley for the first night - maybe at Yosemite Lodge, so you can maximize your time in the valley, then maybe spend the rest of your nights in the Wawona, Fish Camp, or Oakhurst areas.

Maybe someone else can help with recommendations for less pricey places than Tenaya Lodge.

The Tenaya Lodge is very nice. Stay there if you can. You could ride the Logger, which is a lot of fun. A train ride through the mountains, we did this one Mother's Day.

I really like the Pines Reosrt in Bass Lake, we have stayed here many times over the years with our family. Get a spa suite, just steps away from the lake. Ducey's is very good for dinner. www.basslake.com

What are your interests? Oakhurst is a fun place to explore. They have the Golden Chain Theater there where we like to see plays. El Cid is very good Mexican food and if you want to spluge, the Elderberry House is a five-star dining establishment. www.elderberryhouse.com They also offer bistro dinners on the weekends that are less expensive.

If you like casino activity, check out the Chuchanski Resort. We have stayed here and the rooms are very nice. There are seven great restaurants on the property. J Correa, have you been here yet? It's my parents second home, LOL

They stay there once a week free, with some deal they got for going there so much!

Any other specific question, just ask. I live in the area, when I'm not on the Oregon Coast.

If you want less populated lake areas, drive to Shaver Lake or Huntington Lake. They are gorgeous areas. We're headed up to Huntington Lake for a few days soon to kayak.

We were just there on Sun. and had a very relaxing time sitting by the lake and reading while our Vizsla roamed around! Dine at the lakeshore Resort, they have a crab feed every Fri. and the Chicken Huntington is outstanding!

There are a couple of marinas there to rent boats. We just took out a really nice Pontoon boat for a few hours and had lunch out on the lake while the High Sierra Regatta was going on. ***kim***

We haven't been to Chuckchansi yet. I have friends who have gone up there and they said it was nice.

We were going to stop in on our way home from Yosemite last May, but we were pretty dirty after spending 5 days camping, so we thought we should just head on home. It's funny - I didn't feel particularly dirty the whole time we were camping, but when we began to approach "civilization" again, I started to feel like that Peanuts character with the dirt cloud around him

LOL, you should get up there, you'll be hooked! I'm just waiting for them to build a swimming pool.

The rooms are really cheap there during the week, like $79/night. We stayed there for Valentine's Day, then went to the Edlerbery House for some wine tasting and dinner at Ducey's in Bass Lake. ***kim***