California Itinerary – we had a free National Park pass for
having a 4th grader
Day 1 – we were able to get a direct flight to San
Francisco. We picked up our rental car
& drove to Point Reyes. We walked
Earthquake Trail, Chimney Rock, saw Elephant seals, & Cypress Tunnel. We wanted to stop at Muir Woods but the
parking lots required reservations & it was full. On our way back to the city, we stopped for
views of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Day 2 – We spent the day in San Francisco. We parked the car & explored the city
starting at the ferry terminal & then Pier 39 to see the sea lions &
Alcatraz. We took a cable car ride. We
ate lunch at The Codmother Fish & Chips and then walked to Fisherman’s
Wharf. We went to the National Park
Museum and Maritime National Historic Park (using our park pass). We walked through Ghirardelli store. We hiked up to see Lombard Street & then
Coit Tower. We went to the Cable Car
Museum & saw China Town. We walked
close to 11 miles. After supper we went
to Half Moon Bay to see where we got engaged.
Day 3 – Since we didn’t get to see the big trees at Muir
Woods, we went to Big Basin Redwoods State Park. We drove down Highway 1 and did the 17 mile drive at Pebble Beach.
Day 4 – We saw Monterey Harbor before heading to Pinnacles National Park. We did the Bear Gulch
Hike and hike to Condor Gulch Overlook .
Day 5 – Drove to Yosemite – stopped at the overlook, Bridal
Veil Falls, Upper Yosemite Falls, hiked to Vernal Falls, hiked around Mirror
Lake (water was so high over the trail, we ended up walking through it to get
to the other side), stopped to see Upper & Lower Yosemite Falls. Over 12 miles hiking. Only the valley area was open. We drove to Fresno.
Day 6 – We went to Kings Canyon National Park & saw
General Grant tree. We did the Hume Lake
trail in Sequoia National Forest. We went
to Sequoia National Park & saw General Sherman tree. We were there in April so a lot of the park
was still closed.
Day 7 We flew home from Fresno