ccrosner

I have procastinated writing this trip report for a week now as I'm still enjoying the "afterglow" of our most recent family trip and don't want it to end. But I know how helpful trip reports are to others planning similar vacations so I will give it my best shot over the coming days.

First, many thanks to all on this board for their helpful, patient responses to my many questions prior to the trip. Particular thanks to Stu Dudley (see Day 2) for his detailed touring plans and great timing advice. My family agrees that we gain invaluable information from our fellow travelers that have saved us time, money or (most importantly) have improved our experience. Thank you. I hope my comments offer as much insight.

The travelers included me, my husband, son (age 12) and daughter (almost 10). We have traveled quite a bit together and are generally o.k. with some adventure. Several years ago my husband and I decided it was important to show our children the beauty of the United States beyond their New England backyard and started taking 10 day long National Park tours. We were in Yellowstone/Tetons in 2001 and GC/Bryce/Zion/Las Vegas in 2004. The former trip was such a huge success and continues to be a favorite family memory.

As we began to plan the 2006 family adventure, I worried that we couldn't top Bryce/Zion, etc. Those fears were unwarranted--everyone loved this year's trip as much although it was quite different. I will comment later on my own reactions.

I began planning and booking this trip in January 2006 (a bit later than I usually do). We were fortunate to get three nights lodging at Yosemite Lodge and we worked the rest of the trip around that.

Day 1 - Boston to SF

Don't you just hate flying these days? I could do a whole trip report on "dealing" with United Airlines for this trip but it's a terrible memory so I won't. We used three frequent flyer tickets and paid for one so had to connect through Denver. Security at Logan wasn't as bad as I had expected, our flight was delayed, then cancelled, then back on. All fun with kids in tow. However, with lots of rebooking and worrying, we eventually arrived at SFO around 9 p.m. Our bags arrived on the flight ahead of us and were waiting on a baggage belt for us. Quick cab ride into San Francisco with a friendly, very knowledgeable cabbie.

Had booked three nights at the Westin St. Francis and were not disappointed. Got a "3 nights for the price of 2" deal on a double/double room in the historic section. We had heard that the check in lines were horrendous but had no trouble (did see long lines during the day, however). We were given a room overlooking Union Square on a high floor. My son and I have height issues (more on that later...), so I did not want a room in the new tower with a glass enclosed elevator

The location of the Westin was terrific. My only complaint, really, was that even on a high floor you could hear the outdoor noises (garbage trucks, etc.). I think that was made worse by our jet lag issues so we were always up early hearing the noise. I would still go back there.

We all crashed that night given that it was 1 a.m. our time! And husband had scheduled a 6 a.m. business call the next morning!!

Day 2 - San Francisco

This was one of our favorite days on the trip. My husband woke up and took his conference call at the lobby coffee bar. Kids and I got up a bit later and headed off to Sears (a block away) for a yummy breakfast. Kids are clearly excited to be in SF and can't wait to ride the cable cars.

Did I mention it was cold?! Of course, I've been in SF in August before so we were prepared. Glad we brought long pants and sweatshirts. We needed it!

I had booked Alcatraz tour tickets for 10:15 a.m. before leaving Boston, so we took the cable car from the Market/Powell turnaround spot. Probably waited under five minutes for a car. It's certainly not an economical way to get around SF (each ticket cost $5 for a one way trip), but it was worth it. The highlight of the trip for our kids was riding the cable cars. And you can't blame them--it's quite an experience! We rode on the back of the car with the conductor and had a great view.

Got off at the Hyde Street turnaround and walked over to Ghirardelli Square. Kids enjoyed seeing all of the chocolate and purchased some right away. Have to say that I don't think Ghirardelli Square is a must see in SF--not much there.

We then walked over to the Alcatraz boat pier by way of Boudin's bakery. Had no trouble getting our tix from the self-serve kiosk. The line to get on the ferry is quite long. It takes longer than it should since they take a souvenir photo of EVERYONE who is going on the trip.

The trip over to Alcatraz takes about 15 minutes and gives beautiful views of SF and the Golden Gate. Unfortunately, it was still a bit foggy when we went but that's part of the SF allure.

I think it was worthwhile to stop and watch the movie first as our kids knew little about the gangsters who had been incarcerated there and also the native american protest. Then we were off for our audio tour (included in everyone's price) of the cell block. Kids LOVED this. And we have some great pics of them "behind bars". The tour is about 45 minutes long and pretty easy to follow. We then wandered around the grounds a bit and took in the views before getting on a return ferry at about 12:30 p.m.

One warning: Alcatraz stinks! it is home to many birds--mostly pigeons and sea gulls--so there is guano everywhere. We were fine with it but it is definitely something you notice.

We arrived back at Pier 41 in time for lunch at Pier 39. We could have done better with our lunch choice (can't remember the name--an Italian restaurant on the second floor overlooking the sea lions). But the kids needed to eat! Our waiter was an unsual, brusque guy who made it an uncomfortable lunch but we were glad just to have refueled.

Spent a bit of time wandering Pier 39 (I know, I know, it's not the real San Francisco and is truly a tourist trap) but kids like all that stuff and you have to balance everyone's needs.

From there I had planned that we would walk back to St. Francis by way of Coit Tower, North Beach and Chinatown. Thankfully, I am a big believer in "going with the flow" when you are travelling with kids since we only made it part way.

Here's what we did. We walked up Stockton St. and eventually ended up at Coit Tower. Made a detour to a park I had seen written up here (the smallest park in SF?). Wish I could remember the name...It was charming with a fabulous view. Would have been better if there wasn't a romantic couple already there--felt we were intruding on them.

We didn't ride the elevator to the top of Coit Tower (knew it wasn't really necessary) but did spend time viewing the WPA murals and explaining the WPA, etc. to the kids. Then, we did a trip highlight (found here) of walking down the Filbert Street steps and finding the Parrots. WOW! First of all, it was so cool to see these cottages hanging on the sides of the hill and thinking about how it must be to live there. Then, to have a FLOCK of parrots fly over your head and to see them hanging out on electrical wires, was just terrific. We eventually found our way down to the Embarcadero and took a cab back to St. Francis. Figured we could take a rest and go to Chinatown for dinner.

Turned out to be a good plan. Headed off for Chinatown about 5 p.m. and everyone got a kick out of seeing the shops, etc. After some aborted attempts to eat at certain recommended spots (including House of Nanking--should have gone there), we ate at Lychee Gardens on the edge of Chinatown. We were the only non-locals so we were sure it would be fine. And it was. Not spectacular but the Chinatown experience we had wanted. Back by cab to the hotel for an early bedtime.

More later...

ccrosner

Day 3 - San Francisco a la Stu Dudley

Before leaving on our trip, I printed out the August 16, 2006 entry from Stu Dudley on a post that's titled "SF Must Dos" that gives a detailed driving tour of the SF highlights. We didn't do all of it on our second full day in the city; however, we did a large portion of it and it was PERFECT! Many thanks Stu.

We used a Hertz free day coupon and picked our car up at a downtown location. First went to Lombard St. for the obligatory ride down the crookedest street. Then backtracked a few blocks (on the advice of my travel book) and found Filbert St. It is supposedly the steepest grade street in SF (the portion that runs east of Hyde) and, believe me, it takes your breath away. You perch on the edge and just take the plunge without any sight lines of the street below you. Kids loved it so much my crazy husband went around a full three times to "do it again!"

We then took off through Pacific Heights, Alamo Square, Fort Point and on to the Cliff House by way of Seacliff (where we did come across Robin Williams' house thanks to Stu's perfect description). I had hoped to use the car to go over the GG bridge to see it and the Marin Headlands beyond. Had planned to do a picnic and all. But the weather that Saturday was very overcast and foggy and there wasn't a point to dragging the kids there. Another time as that's my favorite view.

Unfortunately, we learned on this trip that our daughter gets motion sickness in a car. So we cut our driving up and down and around the city down a bit after she got sick at the Cliff House. Decided to find an easy spot for lunch and then head back to the Westin. Cliff House looked like a nice place now to grab a bite to eat but not under DD's circumstances.

We did take the time to pop into the Cable Car Museum before turning in the car. IT was worth the quick stopover--it's free and you really understand how it works after being there.

Returned the car and then back to the room before heading out again for our last cable car ride. Hadn't planned this one but the kids wanted to do it one more time. Walked over to the California line (at Market St.) and took it to our ultimate destination--the Tonga Room.

Thanks to Fodorites for giving me the Tonga room idea. I guessed right that my kids would enjoy it and never told them about the "surprise". We had tropical cocktails and the kids happened to be checking out the whole room by themselves when the thunder storm started. They thought they had caused it When we returned from our trip they cited the Tonga Room stop as one of their top 4 favorite things on the trip!! DS said he only wished that we had stayed for dinner.

We wanted a nice Italian restaurant for dinner and my husband googled Ristorante Milano in Russian Hill (it was closer we thought than going to North Beach). It was a great choice--very warm welcome, good food with fine choices for the kids, fabulous waiter. It's small and the tables are on top of each other but we were very happy with our choice.

Back to the St. Francis for our last night of sleep before Yosemite.

We all loved our stay in San Francisco. Wish we could have stayed longer (another day would have given us a chance to explore GG Park, Exploratorium, North Beach). But you can't do everything...

Day 4 - On to Yosemite

We were up pretty early this Sunday morning in order to pick up our Hertz SUV (used the location right in the St. Francis which was great). Had a quick bite at the lobby coffee bar and were off before 8:45 a.m.

We had a AAA triptik for directions and that worked well. It was interesting throughout our trip to simply drive through a completely different landscape than we would have back East. We were intrigued by the windmills generating power as well as all of the fruit and vegetable fields. It was good to show our children where much of our produce comes from and what it takes in terms of area to provide the amount of food the US needs (we saw MANY fields growing things throughout our trip through Central California.

We stopped at a Walmart along the way to buy water, snacks, a box fan (knew there was no A/C in the lodge accommodations), Raid, bug repellent, flashlight and a a cheap cooler. We could have lived without the Raid and bug repellent (we never saw any mosquitos!), flashlight (walking to our lodging wasn't as dark as others had told us) and the cooler (pain to bring in from the car all the time and we really didn't use it). But they couldn't say we weren't prepared!

It is quite the ride up from the foothills to the Yosemite area. That road of switchbacks with no guard rails through Priests Grade was SCARY. I told you I don't do heights well and that was obvious from the white knuckles and the handle clutching that I did all the way up that incline. Of course, it became somewhat of a theme throughout the trip as we climbed in and out of Yosemite and Sequoia. Wish that California road department had spent more money on guard rails!!!

We stopped in Groveland for a quick lunch. Quaint little town. Bought gas as we were encouraged to do by all.

And then we entered beautiful Yosemite. Wow. it was as special as I had remembered. We stopped at the first overlook and then went on to Bridalveil Falls. It was time to stretch our legs so we had fun walking up (with everyone else...) to see the falls.

Then back into the car to get to the Visitor Center. Our daughter bought the Junior Ranger book (she loves doing that at the parks) and we saw the movie. We then made our way to Yosemite Lodge and were able to check in at 3:30 p.m. (even though their posted time is 5:00 p.m.). We stayed in Cedar Lodge which was one story and perfectly fine. But it's not a luxurious hotel. You can't beat the location, the restaurants work well and the pool was a plus. And, fortunately, although I had worried about it quite a bit, we were never visited by raccoons. But we did see them roaming the grounds around 9 p.m. one night so I could see that you might meet one in your room if you're not careful.

We had dinner at the Ahwahnee Hotel that night (where I had stayed as a teen in 1973 for $40 per room per night!) and had a lovely meal, service and view. They gave us the "queen's table" which is their prime 4 person table. Guess we looked tired. Totally worth dressing up a bit for the experience. It is definitely the nicest dining room in a national park lodge that we've been too (much better on all fronts than El Tovar, Old Faithful, Lake Yellowstone, Bryce Canyon Lodge). We liked the others, but the food and atmosphere at Ahwahnee are special.

Back to hotel for a good night's sleep before a hiking day in the morning.

moneygirl

enjoying your report...thanks

LoveItaly

Charming report ccrosner. I always loved traveling with our daughter, I think children bring so much fun to a vacation. And of course one has to go to Pier 39 when in SF with youngsters, and Chinatown and a ride or two on the Cable Cars (the increase to $5.00 makes me cringe however). I got car sick as a youngster and to this day I absolutely hate being on windy mountain roads with no guard rails so you both have my sympathy.

Your trip so far sounds fanstatic..how wonderful your children are getting to see all the various areas of their country!

ccrosner

Thanks for the encouraging entries. Glad you're enjoying reading about our family. So here's another entry.

Day 5 - Hiking and Rafting Yosemite

After some pretty amazing hiking trips through GC/Bryce/Zion two years ago, we were up for a good hike or two in Yosemite. Or, I should say, my husband and I were up for it! Our DD whined uncharacteristically for the first 30 minutes of the ascent but finally got in the groove.

We took the shuttle bus from YL to Happy Isles stop and walked over the bridge to start the hike to Vernal Falls. While I realize that this is a popular hike in Yosemite, I was surprised at just how popular. It is not that easy (they call the first part moderate but it's definitely a climb) and clearly there were families who rarely hike.

This hike was a highlight for me. The view of Vernal Falls is gorgeous even though the steps are quite strenuous. There is still plenty of water flowing in August and we only got a bit wet from the mist. I would say that it took us about 1 1/2 hours to get to the top of Vernal Falls by way of the Mist Trail.

I think we all wished (the next day) that we had pushed onward to Nevada Falls; however, my husband and I thought additional steps would not work for the kids. So we decided to hike down using the John Muir Trail. Well, no one mentioned that the first 1/3 of the hike "down" was actually "up" on the John Muir Trail. Can you say "cranky children"? It was not quite warm and they were ready to get down. But I'm still glad we went that way as it was much less crowded and our quads would have been in pain had we descended using the stairs.

We had our picnic lunch near the footbridge and then finished the hike after lunch. I'll comment here that the one thing I didn't like about Yosemite were the numbers of people. We try to take these national parks trips toward the end of the summer so that some of the crowds have thinned out and have found that to be good in other places. Yosemite was still full of people midweek late August.

After the hike, we went back to YL, changed in to our bathing suits and headed off to go rafting on the Merced in the park. Lots of fun. The river was running slowly at that point so it was a leisurely drift down stream (with occasional needs to get out and walk the raft). Our son considered it one of the highlights of the trip for him. Bet it's a blast in July with faster water. The views are incredible. Really liked this but wished we had brought some snacks and drinks. One downside: waiting for the shuttle bus back. The concessionaire definitely saves money by only running busses every 45 minutes and packing them in.

We had dinner this night at the Mountain Room at YL. Much better than I had expected. Definitely less money than Ahwahnee and the service was pretty good. A louder room and less fancy but quality of food was quite good. The do not take reservations for parties of less than 8. I just went over early while people were dressing and put our names in, Worked great.

DH, DD and I went to the outdoor park program at YL after dinner (DS had had enough at that point) so that DD could get her Jr. Ranger badge before leaving the park. Very good speaker with good background on Yosemite.

A very good day!

Stay tuned for more hiking...

FainaAgain

I am really enjoying your report, and I read them maybe a dozen a day

Have hight issues too, so in the glass elevators I always stand with my face to the doors. If the elevator is not full, and I still can see the glass walls, I close the eyes till it stops.

As for motion sickness, ginger works. Ginger ale is good if the bathroom access is unlimited, or take a pill (sold in pharmacies) the night before, and another one in the morning. Works even on Hwy 1

Kerry392

This is a great report. We also just returned from a trip to Yosemite.
Your thoughts on the hike to Vernal Falls matched ours exactly!
I can't wait to read the rest!

J_Correa

Hwy 120 into the valley always makes me think of that movie The Long Long Trailer with Lucille Ball and Dezi Arnaz

Loving the trip report.

ccrosner

Thanks for the compliments on the report--especially since I believe I took advice before this trip from FainaAgain and J_Correa. Good to know about the ginger (although you'll read later that dramamine worked well too) and J I think I saw that Lucy/Desi movie but may need to rent it again. Can't even begin to imagine doing that hill with a trailer!

Day 6 - Laundry and Glacier Point (not necessarily in order of enjoyment!)

I had decided pre-trip that laundry would need to be done some time so I didn't overpack. So we were at mid-point and time for laundry. I got up early thinking that I would arrive at the Housekeeping Cottages laundry area in Yosemite when it opened at 7 a.m. All went well (got my coffee, clothes sorted, easy drive) until I realized that I should have checked the opening time. It was 8 a.m.! So back to YL for breakfast with family and try again. They actually opened before 8 and it was easy to get the job done. 38 minutes for wash and 10 minutes per dryer cycle (of course you need several). I had bought detergent at the early Walmart stop. Also bought Spray & Wash stick which was a real find. It even worked well when I handwashed a few things that my daughter couldn't wear without spilling on. I know this is boring detail, but I was looking for some of this info in advance of the trip and had a hard time finding it. There is only one laundromat in Yosemite so plan accordingly. I was out by 9:15 a.m.

And then we were off to the Glacier Point area. More white knuckle driving (for me) but husband was very kind. I should have told you earlier that my hubby has a rep with me and the kids for taking risks (he's the one who thought it was a fun idea for us all to learn how to rappel while in Zion 2 years ago....). And he isn't too patient with my fears (usually). But I tried to read him the riot act in advance of the trip, letting him know that I was aware that people who pushed the envelope (climb past safe lookout spots, swim where you shouldn't) had actually died in Yosemite. Guess it worked because he seemed to really feel for me on these roads and slowed down when I asked him to.

I loved the Glacier Point area. We first went on the hike to Taft Point. Wow! Those fissures are incredible. Kids PLEADED with their father not to insist on having his picture taken at the edge of the most treacherous one and he listened. I never made it completely to the railing that allows you to 'safely' look out over the valley; however, the rest of them did. I could still enjoy the view just down from there without stressing myself out. It's quite beautiful but not for the faint of heart.

Enjoyed the hike as there were several rock climbing areas for the kids. Unfortunately my dd had some stomach issues that prevented her and me from going on the hike to Sentinel Dome. So I encouraged my DH and DS to go it alone and told them we'd take the car and meet them at Glacier Point.

They enjoyed their hike but found that it wasn't well signed so they feared they may have gone wrong. At one point, the only time my husband had cell coverage, he left me this cute message that said something like "if you can't find us and are listening to this message, we took the left fork and can see Yosemite Valley. The time is 2:15 pm." Thankfully, it was a cute message I never needed. They made it over to Glacier Point in less than two hours.

My daughter and I took our time getting to Glacier Point and were awed by the Washburn Lookout. Most amazing view in Yosemite for me. You could see Half Dome, and the Vernal and Nevada Falls. It's just spectacular and I was glad I had binoculars.

Now here's the tricky part (that Faina will appreciate)...what WAS I thinking when I graciously offered to drive the car to Glacier Point?! It occurred to me too late to do anything about it that there would be some scary driving with ME at the wheel. There is one amazing hairpin turn toward the Glacier Point parking lot where there was no guardrail. I think I could have been in the Lucy movie. I slowed to about 2 MPH (figured less chance of going over the side that way and then proceeded to move into the other lane (the one for oncoming traffic). Figured it was better to get killed head on than going over the side! Really comical but I lived to tell.

Enjoyed Glacier Point and met some nice people while waiting for the boys to arrive. Had a snack at the shop (where you could definitely get a picnic sandwich) and then headed back to the Valley.

Another dip in the pool for the kids and then we were off for our second great dinner at Ahwahnee. I feared that they might not let me and dd in with denim skirts, but no problem. They did turn away a man in front of us who had jeans on. Delicious meal and a great way to end our time in Yosemite.

For the record, I had been a bit concerned about altitude issues for the four of us in areas outside of Yosemite Valley. In 2001, kids had trouble going from Grand Tetons up to Yellowstone (think YNP is at 8,000 ft). WE took the advice of people here and elsewhere and waited to do Glacier Point at the end of our stay. And we decided to do Glacier instead of a day up in Tuolomne (which I know is equally beautiful) as it is higher and would mean a bit more driving. We had no trouble at all. And I didn't feel like the altitude caused any breathing problems for me--those days at the gym over the past few years must be working!

More tomorrow....on to Sequoia.

scraphappy

I thought I would hop over to the California board to see if you had started your trip report! I'm loving it - and it's providing me a nice break from writing mine!! You have such a wonderful writing style ccrosner - so much so that now I'm feeling very self conscious about finishing my report!

At any rate, I laughed when you talked about that one hairpin turn near the top at Glacier Point - I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I saw it for the first time. I did it twice, once in a bus (yikes!) and once in a van (yikes again!) I can't believe that thing doesn't have a guard rail on it! I wonder if anyone has ever gone over the edge? After reading the book Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon, I think I'm a little too inquisitive about National Park accidents! At any rate, I'm glad you survived it. I would do it over again for those views at Glacier Point - and I'm sure you would too! I only wish I had found this website back in 2004 - I'm sure my trip would've been a lot better!

I look forward to the rest! Great job!

J_Correa

We've been to Yosemite several times, but never up to Glacier Point - someone told my husband about that hairpin turn and now he doesn't want to go - LOL!

I was glad to read you guys had a fun time rafting. I have always wanted to try that, but we always go in May and the rafting concession isn't open yet for the season. We have seen people with their own boats in the river, but that water is soooooooo coooooollllldddd that time of year, we barely even put our feet in. My husband - the "risk taker" LOL - brings up the fact that if a person should capsize, hypothermia would set in in 2 minutes (or whatever it is - he told me, I wasn't listening that closely). My response was "Well, don't capsize." So I guess we will have to go in August or September when the river is low and slow

ccrosner

J--thanks for the chuckles. Good thing your husband and I didn't marry or we'd never go anywhere!! The rafting is fun but July or early August would be best. We didn't think the water was too cold but, heck, we swim in the waters off Cape Cod!

Scraphappy--thrilled that you enjoyed my trip report since I am thoroughly enjoying yours! Thought yours was better written so we can be a mutual admiration society Loved your photos as well. My son enjoyed reliving our time in Bryce by viewing them. Horseback ride there continues to be an all-time family favorite. And if anyone wants to see my family of four BEFORE we started rappelling in Zion two years ago, go to zionadventure.com and click on the family day link. That's us. And then there's one of my 8 year old dangling off a rock face with me below her DYING.

Back to California...

Day 7 - Sequoia

We were sorry to say goodbye to Yosemite but all good things must come to an end. We took the route out of the southern entrance but first stopped at the Wawona area so that DD could get her junior ranger badge. So cute. Love that they make a big deal out of it. Took a quick peak at Wawona Hotel but was glad we didn't stay--too far from things.

Here's another day where DD and DS have trouble with motion sickness. That drive through Yosemite got them started and then when you leave Yosemite (before Oakdale, I think) it's VERY windy (although not scary). We heard "Daddy, I need you to pull over!!!!" and out we ran. Finally was able to convince my hubby that a bit of drowsiness from Dramamine beat feeling lousy and possibly messing up the rental car. So both kids took it. Happily, they felt better an hour later (and had only about 1 hour of sleepiness).

You come out of Yosemite and WHAM you are back in the flats of the Fresno fruit and veggie fields. So interesting. Then we started making the climb into Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park. It wasn't as bad as I had anticipated (AAA map looked bad...) and we made it to the entrance about 2 1/2 hours after leaving Yosemite's south entrance.

I got myself a bit confused by the park map and somehow we didn't go the right way for Grant's Grove. Sorry to have done that for two reasons: first we hear it's a great place to see the trees and second we needed lunch badly. Forunately (not), we came upon a sign for the Montecito-Sequoia resort and pulled in. I had read here and elsewhere that it was a gem to some and not to others. Put us in that latter camp! It's like sleepaway camp for families and it quite rustic (aka rundown) looking. The pond and pool looked nice but the whole area had no grass, was dusty and just not terrific. But we were hungry so we pressed on. Went into the dining hall where they were serving a buffet lunch (sleepaway camp style). We thought we were out of luck but the desk clerk said we could stay (they take off-property guests). Suffice to say that hunger allows you to eat in places that you would normally walk away from (just seemed dirty to me). We ate and got on our way. Not a highlight.

We then drove on to the Lodgepole visitors center to get our bearings and to buy tickets for the Crystal Cave tour the next day (you can't buy them at the cave for some silly reason). Then it was on to see the giant trees. WOW! They are massive. We had actually seen some on the drive down to lodgepole and were amazed at the size--mostly the circumference. Even our 12 year old son thought it was amazing. We hiked around the General Sherman tree and the others but the kids' sleepiness was kicking in here. It's quite a walk from the parking lot to the trees (this is a new thing, I guess, to protect the trees) so I eventually offered to pick everyone up so they could avoid the long walk back up to the car. Again, what WAS I thinking about driving the car?! Not really that bad...especially if you go slowly

We then decided to just call it a day and check into Wuksachi Lodge. Although others complain about Wuksachi being spread out (you drive from check in lobby to another parking lot and then haul things up a hill), we liked it. The rooms are a bit nicer than YL and walking was something we had gotten used to on this trip. No pool for the kids but they were happy to "plug in" with some t.v. for an hour before dinner.

DH and I went back to the lobby so he could use the WIFI and we could share a drink. Great bartender. I was glad that I had made a dinner reservation in advance of our arrival. The dining room is the only real dining around and some people had to eat very late.

We had a nice dinner there (hubby's trout was his best meal on the trip) and then played cards in the lobby before returning to our room.

Day 8 - Sequoia and on to LA

We had breakfast this morning at Wuksachi's dining room. Continental buffet was just fine--hot buffet didn't look very appetizing. Very good service (waitress even took my husband a To Go coffee in the lobby while he connected with the office). Had a problem with checkout (that still needs to be resolved). Seems they thought I had bought the trip insurance when I booked the room online. If I did, I didn't mean to and didn't get a confirmation of the same. And the Wuksachi/Delaware North staff couldn't credit the bill since the two entities aren't connected (although somehow they are connected enough to have it on their bills....). Didn't want to hassle too much so we got on our way.

First went to climb Moro Rock. I had no idea how BIG this Rock was. When people said it was a 1/2 mile walk, I thought they meant you walk 1/2 mile and then climb the rock. No. You climb the rock for 1/2 mile. Using stars and railings that some incredible human being spent time putting in the granite!!! Have I mentioned i don't love heights?! But I "did it for the children". Hubby was again very understanding on this one trying to make sure I was o.k. and would be able to get down afterwards. I chose to go almost to the top and then gave up. Knew I'd have a hard time coming back down if I went further--especially get nervous watching my kids in treacherous situations. The view was incredible although LA smog caused a haze even at 10 a.m. Of course, I was as far from the edge for these 10 minutes of waiting and forcing myself to "enjoy" the view.

From there we drove through the log with the tunnel in it for cars and a quick look at Crescent Meadow. Then it was on to Crystal Cave for our tour.

They weren't kidding when they said to give 45 minutes to get from Moro Rock to Crystal Cave even though it's only a 10 mile drive. The road into Crystal Cave winds back and forth and back and forth and back again. You think you'll never get there, but you do. Then you walk quite a ways DOWN to get to the cave. It's all not as bad as you think when you do it in reverse but that hike back up would not be easy for older people or people who are out of shape.

We LOVED the cave. Our kids had never been in a cave before and this one did not disappoint! Guide was great--totally into caves and knowledgeable--and you spend about 45 minutes there. Definitely worth the money and time.

It was then time to leave the national park portion of our trip (so sad) by way of Sequoia's southern entrance. Now there's a road that may even give Yosemite's Priest Grade a run for its money. So glad we were going down as it seemed endless. And they are doing some construction on some of the hairpin turns so we had a 10 minute delay. Beautiful country though.

Wish we had packed a picnic lunch as Three Rivers is not as big a town as I suspected. I figured with a few chain hotels it would have a McD's or something. Nothing. So we decided to push on for Visalia. Visalia has EVERY fast food you could want. Husband was thrilled to try an In and Out burger (deemed it quite tasty) and kids and I opted for McFlurry's. Now it was time to high tail it down to the LA area to meet my aunt and cousin for dinner.

With a 75 mph speed limit, I could make time (yes, I was driving now since it was flat...). We got to Santa Clarita and the restaurant with a few minutes to spare.

It was nice to see my family (they've lived out west for a decade or so so I only see them very sporadically), but they are not much on small talk so we were able to get to our next stop by 8:30 -- the Hilton Universal City. All worked out nicely (good room, etc.).

Welcome to LaLa Land!

J_Correa

I am going down memory lane with your description of Sequoia We had such a good time there last summer - I'm glad you guys enjoyed it too.

We had originally planned to go to Yosemite that May with a big group we go with, but my finals schedule got in the way, and we had to cancel. I was craving some time in the mountains, so we decided on a camping trip to Sequoia instead - neither of us had been there. I was absolutely amazed at the size of the trees - and I grew up in Santa Cruz and spent plenty of time in the mountains with the coastal redwoods. I knew the sequoias would be neat, but I was not expecting to be awed by their size. They are so much more massive than the coastal redwoods. It amazes me how something can grow that large.

Glad you guys enjoyed Crystal Caves too. That drive in was great - the road gets narrower and narrower and the pavement worse and worse, and the road just keeps going - LOL. We were joking that we knew we had to almost be there because at the rate the pavement was decaying, if the road went on much farther, we wouldn't have a road - LOL.

Kellyuf87

Great reports, ccrosner. Now a related question for you: we are trying to plan an "out west" trip next summer. We've narrowed it down some, to 1) Yellowstone/Grand Teton, 2)GC/Zion/Bryce or 3)Yosemite/Sequoia. I don't really think we can go wrong, and none of us (sons will be 9 and 17) have been to any of the areas. Since you've taken all of these recently, which would you recommend? We'll probably have 10 days total, including travel from Florida, and would don't need fancy places to stay or eat.

ccrosner

I know I owe the end of this report and will motivate someday to do it. In the meantime, I'm happy to answer the most recent question. If I had to pick, I'd do the GC/Zion/Bryce trip. First, I just found those areas to be fabulous and special. Also, it's easy to fly into and out of Las Vegas without connections. I'd first try to see what kinds of in park lodging you can get at this time and go from there. Try to get Kachina/Bright Angel/Thunderbird or El Tovar at the Grand Canyon and work from there.

Here's how we broke up our trip:

Day 1 & 2: LV (arrived late the first night)
Day 3 & 4: Grand Canyon (Kachina Lodge)
Day 5: Page, AZ (Lake Powell Resort)
Day 6: Bryce (Bryce Lodge--wish we had been able to get 2 nights)
Days 7, 8, 9 & 10: Zion (Flanagan's)

Be sure to read Scrap Happy's recent trip report on that area. Good detail and fun reading.

I did trip reports for the other two trips so you might be able to search for them. GC/Zion trip would have been written in September 2004.

You can't go wrong with any of them!

FLmom

I found the LV/GC/Lake Powell/Bryce/Zion trip report from Sept 2004 in 3 installments. Not sure about how to do this, so hope it works

Installment 1
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34526954
Installment 2
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34527619
Installment 3
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34527682

These reports are invaluable to those us planning similar trips or simple dreaming about going. Thank you for the time and effort it takes to write them.

P.S. ccrosner- I’ve never really given California much thought until today; sounds kinda neat.

scraphappy

OK ccrosner - I'm doing my part with my trip report now it's your turn - you've left us hanging - and I love LA! Let's hear about it!!! Your 2004 trip report has helped so many, specifically me when I was planning my trip. This trip report is the same - it will be read by many over the years. Your information is invaluable - so get to it, girl!!

ccrosner

O.K. I'll finish!! Thanks for the encouragement.

To recap, we've left Sequoia and are now at the Universal City Hilton.

Day 9 - Universal Studios

Our daughter is a dancer and musician and is convinced that she will be on Broadway or in movies someday so Hollywood and a studio tour were a must. Son prefers roller coasters to dancing so we chose to do Universal Studios. I had been as a child when it wasn't a themepark and was pleased that some of what I remembered is still there.

On the advice of some Fodorites and others, we did not buy a Front of the Line Pass at Universal and didn't regret it. We arrived before the park opened (used 4 minute trolley ride from Hilton) and went straight to the BackLot tour when they dropped the ropes (felt like we were back at Disney World!). Kids really enjoyed the backlot tour and then went on almost all of the rides immediately afterwards. They clearly have shoehorned the themepark onto their limited space so walking isn't too extensive. We did the shows after we ate lunch--hubby loved WaterWorld and kids loved Fear Factor--and left the park by about 4 p.m. Never waited on line for more than 10 minutes.

Spent some time in the Hilton pool and then got ready for dinner.

Decided to go to Hollywood and HIghland complex for dinner thinking that we could do the Walk of Fame, Mann's Chinese theatre and then have dinner. Worked out well. Universal to Hollywood was 10 minutes including Hollywood Bowl traffic and you park right under the mall. Quite the characters on the street outside Mann's but all was fine. Ate at a good Italian restaurant at the mall (can't remember the name) with a great waiter.

Day 10 - Beverly Hills/Malibu/Star Tour

You can't go to LA and not go to Beverly Hills. So we checked out of the Hilton and went to Rodeo Drive and the Beverly Wilshire. Of course kids wanted to see famous people but there wasn't one to be found. Did finally find someone selling Hollywood Star Homes maps (on the west side of BH off Sunset) but found that only half of the addresses actually worked. Did see Tobey Maguire, Halle Berry, Tom Cruise, Dr. Phil, Whoopi Goldberg, Steven Spielberg houses. Kind of a stupid way to spend an hour or so but you do get a sense of the wealth and the great difference between California lifestyle and architecture and that which we see here in Boston.

Had lunch near UCLa in Westwood. Wanted to show the kids UCLA....thought about getting out of the car to do a walking tour and then my hubby and I looked at each other and said, "What are we doing trying to encourage them to go to college 3,000 miles away?!" And since they could have cared less about seeing a college, we moved on.

Drove through Pacific Palisades which is beautiful and on to Malibu. I wanted the kids to stick their feet in the Pacific Ocean and also thought they'd get a kick out of saying they'd been in Malibu. Also thought that we'd have a chance at a star sighting given that it was Saturday afternoon.

No luck and horrendous traffic. And it's very hard to find beach access and a parking spot! When you see a sign for "Coastal Access"--jump. It's a narrow opening and that's it.

From there we drove to our close friends' house in Pacific Palisades to spend the evening. Nice to be back in a house after days of travel. Kids had fun in the pool, playing hoops and on their trampoline. We had fun catching up.

Day 11 - Home

We flew from LAX to Boston on a nonstop flight. took about 1 1/2 hours plus to get through ticketing, baggage and security. Travelling is not easy any more. And you have to bring your own food!!! All went smoothly and we were back home before long

Some final thoughts:

We had a wonderful time on this trip and certainly created lasting memories. Both children have used some portion of the trip already in assignments in school and enjoy telling friends and family what we did.

About a week or so after we returned home, I braintormed about 14 things during the trip that I thought the kids enjoyed. I then asked them to rank them by giving out 4 ones, 4 twos and the rest threes. My motivation here was to get a sense for future trips what they really enjoy doing. Their responses weren't surprising except that hikes ranked lower than I expected. Here were some of their favorites:

Cable Car rides
Tonga Room at Fairmount in SF
Alcatraz
Universal Studios
Crystal Cave in Sequoia
Rafting in Yosemite

Hubby and I enjoyed some of that but also the Vernal Falls hike in Yosemite and the Taft Point/Glacier Point areas in Yosemite

If I had it to do over again, I think I would do the trip in reverse. For me, LA was a bit of a letdown (though I'd been there many times before and knew what to expect) and SF was a bigger highlight for my kids than I expected.

The pacing of the trip was good. If time had allowed, I would have added a day to Yosemite so we could go up to Tuolomne. And another night in Sequoia might have been good.

Using Fodors and Tripadvisor to plan, as always, was a great decision. REally makes a difference to the details.

This trip was more expensive than our GC/ZC/Bryce trip. Think that's because SF is expensive and Yosemite (lodging, food, etc.) is more than the other parks. Not horrifically so but definitely spent more money on this one.

One last thing I would do differently. Somehow do it so kids aren't jetlagged going back to school. We like to hit the national parks late in the summer so that others aren't there; however, the kids paid a price. They really took over a week to get back in sync.

All in all, wonderful! Can't wait for the next trip. Maybe Europe the next time (London or Italy) or a return to Bryce/Zion with the addition of Moab.

Happy travels to all!

scraphappy

ccrosner,

Thanks for finishing your report. I smiled all through your LA portion. I just love visiting LA - of course I would never want to live there! My kids preferences are very similar to your kids. My boys still talk about Alcatraz and the cable cars! Faith loved Chinatown for the obvious reason that she's from China. We didn't raft in Yosemite but they loved all of the rocks they got to climb at the base of the waterfalls. I know we are providing our kids with a lifetime full of memories!

What a wonderful trip report, thank you for doing it. I, too, am already thinking of the next big family vacation. We still need to do Alaska, Glacier National Park, Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. I did all of these things in my childhood with my family (except Alaska - I've never been there.)

In the spring of 2004 we went to London for a wedding and took the kids. I have to say that they loved it but it was so expensive - it makes any trip in the United States look cheap. We go to London fairly often because of our friends being there, but taking the whole family broke the bank! I have fond memories of going back in the 80's (before kids) when our dollar was a lot stronger!

It will be fun to see what vacation you end up choosing. Thus far, we have done similar trips to you. I have a passion to show my kids the world, but alas, money does not grow on trees - lol! My husband just shakes his head as he sees me planning more trips! Luckily he's a good sport about it and he knows that we always have a great time.

I'm being long-winded as per usual. Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your report. I re-read your 2004 trip report over and over when I was planning for this past trip. The information really is so helpful and it escalates the anticipation of the trip - which I think is half of the fun!

Take care and I'll see you over on the Arizona and Utah boards!

ccrosner

Scraphappy-

Great to hear from you. Glad you enjoyed the LA piece. And guess our kids can be similar Always amazed at how gender does play a part even when you try to be androgynous!

Funny you should mention Glacier. Just got an email today from a college classmate who did Glacier/Banff/Lake Louise with her family last month. We share trips as we ran into her family while standing around the Old Faithful Lodge back in 2001! Ended up having dinner with them several nights later when we both landed at Lake Yellowstone Hotel. Her kids are a bit older so I can always steal ideas from her

My husband and I did the Canadian Rockie tour in '92 just after we got married. Loved it and really would like to take the kids there. But I fear that there might not be enough "fun" stuff to do to balance out the hiking and the beauty. Will see what my college friend says.

We have done Yellowstone and Grand Tetons with the kids. That's a great trip--that could be next for you. And, yes, I know London is ridiculously expensive. My husband's company is based there so we usually have the chance to go annually with the two of us paid for. Had hoped to tag onto one of those trips with the kids (could stay in the same room) but then they decided this year to go to Geneva Switzerland instead. So may wait another 2 years to do that.

All fun. Now I'm planning a D.C. trip over Christmas to celebrate my parents' 75th birthdays with my brother's family. The reason for D.C. (we just decided the destination yesterday) is that my dad was in the Old Guard that guards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier back in the 50s. It's a huge honor and a special part of his life. We'd like him to be able to show the grandchildren the Tomb and where he and my mom lived that year so we thought it would be a good idea. Know that the time of year stinks but my niece is in college so we are limited on the family travel dates.

Enough said....I'll see you in Utah

Carol