CONGRATULATIONS TO SARA ZOOK, the winner of OMCA's deluxe, two-night escape to the Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite contest!

Sara wowed us with her essay below. It looks like her dream to "...set foot upon trails that I have not touched, take in the calm with a yoga class and create new cherished memories in the timeless walls of Yosemite," is about to come true. Read Sara's full submission below, and join OMCA in congratulating her for winning first prize in the Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite contest! We think John Muir might just be smiling from afar.

My earliest memory of Yosemite may be the simple act of looking upward. When you are a small child, you do a lot of looking up. This is due to the simple fact that everything and everyone is bigger than you. Bu I remember squinting into the rocks that seemed as if they had protruded out of the sky instead of the ground. I remember, creaking back my head in awe, asking my parents, "Do you think giants get to play on those when everybody else goes to bed?" The fact of the matter is, it is impossible to try not to look up when you are in the presence of that kind of beauty and grandeur.

Ever since I was a small bowl-hair cut little girl with bulging eyes pasted to the rocks, Yosemite has been a huge part of my life. My mom always tells the story of bathing my brother and I in her favorite salad bowl at the Wawona Campground. Although I cannot seem to remember this, this helped to plant into be the outdoorsy Yosemite spirit into my soul.

Next, I remember riding bikes all over Yosemite Valley, pausing only to watch coyotes sneak into the bushes. I would whiz by on my Schwinn, bragging to my cousins about every secret hiding spot around, as if it were my own back yard. We would lie back into the meadow and spend the day deciding if that cloud looked more like an elephant or a rocket ship. The nights would have us connecting-the-dots with the brightest specks in the night sky. The scent of campfire brings me right back to the oozingly decadent crunch of one of dad's famous s'mores.

This past summer, I came back to my favorite rocky giant's playground with my boyfriend, Brian. We oo-ed and aw-ed like little kids at the majesty of Glacier Point. We hoofed and sweated up the magical Mist Trail, pausing and giggling at Nevada Falls to think, "I wonder what John Muir would say now." Then we would explode in laughter as we imitated his voice, fabricating a profound quote in an accent we imagined as Mr. Muir's. As we reached the final cable crossing on Half Dome, we smiled and kissed because we realized we had made it to the top of the world.
It would be hard to argue that my dream vacation in Yosemite has not already happened! I have soaked up the wonder and grace of the craggy walls of rock, the sweet scent of the Jeffrey Pine, and the laughter of friends and family. My dream vacation in Yosemite is just the dream of being there! I would be honored, of course to experience the Tenaya Hotel, set foot upon trails that I have not touched, take in the calm with a yoga class and create new cherished memories in the timeless walls of Yosemite.

Sincerely,
Sara Zook

PS- pictures included so you can fully picture that little bowl-haired little girl...