Central California Itinerary

 

California Itinerary – we had a free National Park pass for having a 4^th 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

San Francisco, CA

We spent a Sunday in San Francisco.  We parked in the financial district from 8:15-4:30.  We used parking guru to find a spot.  We found out after the fact that street parking is free on Sunday but parking in a garage was good for peace of mind.

For the most part we followed the walking tour here.  I was really glad I had printed out the map with the walking directions on the other side.  It was well-worn by the end of the day.

 Ferry Building

 Pier 39 with the harbor seals a must see.

 We took a cable car ride.  We did the Powell-Mason line because it was the first one we came to. The Powell-Hyde goes past more the tourist stops.

 Natural Park Museum - free

We had a 4th grader with an Every Kid in a Park free National Park pass.  We ended up checking out a few of the boats.  The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located on Hyde St Pier. The park includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility 

 We got our free sample.

 Hike up to see Lombard Street.

Coit Tower view

 Cable car museum - free & very interesting (off the walking tour)

 China Town.

 we definitely got our steps in.

Golden Gate Bridge

 There are many great places to view the Golden Gate Bridge.  My favorites are on the south side of the bridge. 

Here's a link to a site with location for viewing on both sides of the bridge.

Point Reyes National Seashore - North of San Francisco

 At the visitor center, located at 1 Bear Valley Rd, there's an simple earthquake trail that takes you along the San Andreas Fault.

Here's a link to the blog we used for a lot of our stops. 

 Cypress Tree Tunnel

We kept driving past on the Visitor's Center on Sir Francis Drake.  It was a lot farther than we thought to Chimney Rock, probably 45 minutes from the VC.   Hike to Chimney Rock was a favorite of the day.  We got to see lots of elephant seals.

 We saw some elk on the way.

We tried to go the lighthouse but it was closed.  This picture was taken a different visit.