Now equipped with a better understanding of Yosemite Valley’s shuttle bus system, our second drive in from Wawona ended with us parking at Half Dome (Curry) Village. Knowing that Happy Isles is just two shuttle stops down the road, we figured we’d attend the Junior Ranger talk we missed on Monday before going one more bus stop further to the trailhead for Mirror Lake, to which we’d hike for lunch. Our plan was a little too efficient – we got off the bus at Happy Isles, walked to the Visitor Center, and found it locked, not opening until 9:30am. With 30 minutes to kill, we walked out on the familiar island paths we had visited two days prior, although it was the first time for half the group – a passing hiker took a nice photo of all of us before we came back to the Nature Center to meet our ranger. We were the only attendees, although another group joined us a little later, and the boys had fun participating in the initial demonstration. After about 20 minutes, the ranger led us down by the river for a brief stop at the Valley’s main weather station, a small building studded with antennae, before guiding us westward to what she described as one of her favorite places in the Valley, a lush meadow area known as The Fen. We can see why the place is special – removed from the road and associated crowds, it was cool and quiet here, the morning light particularly beautiful as it filtered through the tree cover. A nice boardwalk runs through these wetlands connecting Happy Isles with a Junior Ranger lecture area to the west, and we soon arrived here where the kids got to draw, ask questions, and eventually take their Junior Ranger oath and get badges (again, for the Arredondos). After the talk ended, we took a different path back to the bus stop, realizing that Cynthia had completed mile 13 along the way – appropriately, we took her photo outside the ladies’ room near the bus stop.