Nothing worthwhile is ever easily attained, but now, after three years of closure, you can return to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias in Yosemite National Park and marvel not only at the big trees but also the reinvigorated grove.

For eight years, families whose memories of the Blue Ridge Parkway were nurtured around summer evenings chasing fireflies on the rolling highland meadows below Bluffs Lodge at Milepost 241 have wondered when it might reopen. But a question that might better be asked of the charming 24-room lodge that opened in 1949 is whether it ever will be able to reopen or instead be razed.

Barring an unexpected storm, the Tioga Road near the roof of Yosemite National Park will open this coming Monday, May 21, at 9 a.m.

With warm weather becoming more prevalent, it's time for crews to put the cables up on the shoulder of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. They are scheduled to be in place this Friday.