While my husband and I are on the West Coast visiting our son and his family we are planning to spend time at Yosemite. We have a room booked at the Lodge 9/22-9/26 and have begun investigating possibilities.
I'm sure some of you are familiar with the Park, and any ideas, comments, suggestions would be most welcome.
Since we are in our mid-70s some of the more strenuous activities are not for us but we do love the outdoors and are reasonably fit and looking forward to doing as much as we can in our time there.
How is the driving from SF to the Park? What is the best route for ease of driving? We have been told it takes 41/2 - 5 hours. Is that a good estimate?
What range of temperature can we expect? We live near Boston, and that time of year is still quite pleasant here. (Today it has been in the 50s, with over 2 inches of rain, no sun, so we know about the vagaries of weather!)

Any input from those who have been to Yosemite is most welcome. Thanks for helping with advice and counsel

We tend to have our Indian Summers in September. The days should be warm and the nights cool.

You have two good routes into the park. Hwy 140 isn't as mountainous as Hwy 120. I would highly recommend going in one way and coming back the other.

We like to go to Yosemite for a few days and sometimes we don't do any of the hikes. You can ride the shuttle buses around the valley just for the views. The short hike to the base of Yosemite Falls is very easy. You can get a good view of Bridalveil Fall from the parking lot but there is a short hike to the base of the falls which you might try.

Try this link for many other ideas of things to do in Yosemite.

http://www.nps.gov/yose/trip/places.htm

Utahtea

I think September would be really nice in Yosemite - as Utahtea mentioned, you will probably have warm days and cool nights. Also, since many kids will be back in school, it shouldn't be as crowded as in the summertime. The warterfalls probably wont be running, except Bridalveil with runs year round. The park will still be stunning though. There is an open air tram tour of the valley floor which is a lot of fun. We were there in May and it was a big hit with everyone in our group. My husband and I took a nice hike along the river. There are pathways and trails all over the valley. The shuttle is very handy because you can catch it and ride back to the lodge rather than having to walk all the way back.

Utahtea and J.Correa:
Many thanks for the comments. It is very helpful to have other viewpoints when planning travel. We will take note of your suggestions and impressions and add them to our notes.
Since we are both retired, it is nice to be able to travel when it is not so crowded, and most places do have reasonably good weather in September.
Thanks again.

I hear you about travelling when things aren't so crowded. My husband and I don't have any children, so we can travel whenever we can get the time off. Since everyone with children is fighting for time off during the summer months, we plan our trips in the spring and fall and never have any conflicts with coworkers over vacation time. It works out great.