The last day we went to visit the Giant Sequoias at Mariposa Grove. There is a very small parking lot at the bottom of the hill near the South Entrance and it was full. We had to drive about 30 minutes to another parking lot and wait for the shuttles that came every 20 or so minutes. There is a souvenir shop there so I could spend some time wandering around.
Once there there is a paid tram tour but I was kind of cheap and decided to do the hike. We hiked to one of the cut out trees were and went back. It was about 2 or so hours. Cameras just cannot capture the size of these trees.
One of the fallen trees and a popular photo spot near the beginning of the hike.
We went by the Valley one last time (for souvenir shopping :-D) and then were on our way back to civilization. For our trip total (including a trip to San Francisco) we drove about 1000 miles in 5 days.
Final thoughts: Hiking shoes are useful. Bring Water. Dining options are limited in the park and outside of it so don't wait too late to eat. Be prepared to drive a lot. Plan to get to your destination well in advance, i.e. for sunset photo ops or scheduling a ride. May consider hiking Half Dome in the future.
Mariposa Grove:
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/mg.htm
http://www.yosemitehikes.com/southern-yosemite/mariposa-grove/mariposa-grove.htm
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