And weather is not reliable, at all, in late March/early April. Stududley has a point. You’re unlikely to need chains, but it could happen. You’re more likely to have nasty weather that time of year than good weather. So it’s not an awful idea to have a back up plan.

I've been to Yosemite 8 times in April. Only saw snowfall once on those trips. So yeah, while snow can fall in April, it isnt super common.

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate all the input.
When we decided on this trip, I didn't realize just how spread out everything is. It's also proving to be a tricky time of year to plan due to unknowns with the weather.

Husband and I will are going to revisit the itinerary and look at Monterey and Santa Cruz. It sounds like a much better option for the family.

Thanks for pointing out Amoeba and Musee Mecanique. Those places were definitely on my SF list. We have been to Amoeba in LA and we were blown away by the store.

If you end up visiting Santa Cruz, check out Streetlight Records.

Thats a lot of territory you're taking on. How bad do you want to see SF? Its become extremely expensive, dirty and full of harassing vagrants. Maybe the charm has warn off for me, but I used to go every year tied in with a NAPA wine shopping trip, but its become so dirty that I skip it and go straight to NAPA and stay there. Given the kids, might be better to spend time in Redwood or Carmel. Carmel is very beautiful, fun to walk around, and you can easily tie in Monterrey. Redwood forest is simply amazing and is definitely a sight to be seen once in your life. If I were you I would be tempted to do the Redwood and then head down US 1 to Carmel. Its a trip you'll never forget. Unless you are interested in galleries, I dont think your going to miss much by skipping SF, and perhaps best as an adults only trip some other time.

Dave0099: there is No need to go up north for redwoods. There is the wonderful Henry Cowell state park in the Santa Cruz mountains.

I have a very different opinion than Dave on skipping San Francisco. My kids all loved it. They were 18, 16 and 12 at the time.

Dave is right though that lodgings can be expensive, and I notice no one responded to your request for family friendly lodgings.

You didn't mention a pricepoint... within San Francisco city limits: The places I strongly considered, and did not pick included Hotel del Sol and the Suites at Fisherman's Wharf (a Wyndam property). I think both got mentioned on this board by other posters.

Since it costs so much to park a car in the city, I looked for outlying areas the last time we went. Many people stay near the airport and come in on BART for the day.

I chose to stay across the bay. One of the days, we came into the city on a ferry. The place we picked was the Courtyard by Marriott San Francisco Larkspur Landing/Marin County. A couple of great restaurants by the ferry landing too. You could also opt to look for places near other ferry landings for a changeup.

>>Many people stay near the airport and come in on BART for the day.

I still have part of our trip to finish planning, but for the nights that we are in SF, I booked a room at Pier 2620 at Fisherman's Wharf. Other choices were in Union Square. I chose Pier 2620 because breakfast was "included" in the price. I say "included" because there is an automatic $30 hotel/resort fee included and part of that fee "includes" breakfast.
I booked it with credit card points, so nothing came out of my pocket. Plus, with two teens, there are constantly concerned with food, so best to get breakfast out of the way in this easy fashion.

San Francisco is going to be the last stop on our visit, so when we get there, I am planning to drop off the car at the airport and use the super shuttle to get to our hotel. I'll buy round trip tickets and arrange for our shuttle home.

There is still an OK selection of places in Yosemite West, so I'm thinking a condo rental there will be the best option.

As far as Monterey/Carmel areas, would love lodging suggestions around there.

>>As far as Monterey/Carmel areas, would love lodging suggestions around there.

**Wyndham**

looking forward to an edit function...

I'd drop the car in San Francisco and not at SFO. Much easier with a family to drop everyone + the luggage at the hotel and then drop the car downtown.

Yosemite West is a great option for a family - it is the closest area (along with El Portal) to the Valley.

Ditto what janis said - drop the luggage and family, then drop the car (you might even be able to drop it at a Fishermans Wharf location), then take Uber or Lyft back to the hotel. MUCH simpler than dropping the car at the airport. Also, on the way back to the airport, just take Uber or Lyft - if you have a lot of luggage, you might need to take two, but if you only have carryons, maybe not. Either way, it'll be easier and maybe even cheaper than the shuttle.

What's your lodging budget for the Monterey Peninsula? Hofsas House in Carmel has two room family suites with kitchens and is reasonably priced for the area. You could also look at a vacation rental in Pacific Grove. It's the only city on the peninsula where short term rentals are legal. Monterey, Pacific Grove and Carmel are all within minutes of each other.

Henry Cowell has beautiful redwoods. There are some amazing tidepools at Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz~my kids loved those!

Thanks all. I think we have firmed up our trip for the most part. A couple reservations still need to made, but it's taking shape.
The plan of action is SFO airport to Yosemite.
Yosemite for 2-3 nights
Monterey for 2 nights: Drive to Big Sur, Pebble Beach, see Bixby bridge, Point Lobos State Park, Julia Burns State Park, etc.
Santa Cruz for 1 night: Whale watching tour, board walk. Ano Nuevo state park.
Pass through San Jose, tour Winchester Mystery House, then head up to Santa Rosa and stop at
Visit breweries in Santa Rosa area.
Visit wineries in Calistoga
3-4 nights in San Francisco to include a Warriors game, Giants game, visit to Alcatraz, Little Italy, Chinatown.

Yes, I know this is a rapid pace, but last year we did a similar fast paced spring break where we covered Los Angeles, Santa Monica/Venice, Zion National Park, kayaking in canyons and visiting Horseshoe Bend in Page Arizona, Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Sedona and Phoenix. Amazingly, it all worked and we had a great trip. Got to see the Dodgers and Lakers play and also got to visit family in LA and PHX.
We are from the east coast and we want to see as much as we can during our time. We love to travel and between work and kids school schedules, we don't get to travel for more than a week-10 days very often, so we take advantage of it while we can.

I also know that going to breweries and wineries may not appeal to everyone who has kids, but it's something that my husband and I enjoy and our whole trip can't revolve around the kids. I don't drink beer so I will be the driver for any breweries and for wine tours we are planning to use public transit and/or Uber. We have taken our kids to breweries and if at any time we've felt like the environment is not "family friendly" then we have not stayed. I also bring along cards or bananagrams and it actually is a nice time to unwind and play a game or two.
I've never to been to wine country and have no clue when we will return, so that's why we added it to the agenda .

Yes, I know free breakfast (which really isn't free, but rather "included" in the $30 resort/hotel fee) isn't all that great, but when your priority is to see as much as possible, to not have to think of one meal to please 4 people is a godsend. It's already tough enough to get out the door, so if breakfast is just getting everyone downstairs then it's a bonus.

Love to hear any other suggestions, comments, hotel recommendations, restuarant recommendations, etc.
In San Francisco, we are staying near/around Fisherman's Wharf. I had credit card points to use for that.
As far as other towns, our budget is $200-$300 per night. The cheaper the better and we try to utilize Air BnB.

>>Santa Cruz for 1 night: Whale watching tour, board walk. Ano Nuevo state park.
Pass through San Jose, tour Winchester Mystery House, then head up to Santa Rosa and stop at
Visit breweries in Santa Rosa area.
Visit wineries in Calistoga
3-4 nights in San Francisco to include a Warriors game, Giants game, visit to Alcatraz, Little Italy, Chinatown.

Does his day start in Santa Cruz and end in San Francisco???

Stu Dudley

>>Does his day start in Santa Cruz and end in San Francisco???

Ha ha!
Sorry-Santa Cruz in NOT the same day as SF.
The only towns that may be combined would be Santa Rosa and Calistoga

We purchased basketball tickets a while ago. It was actually the basketball/baseball schedule that delegated SF to the end of the trip.

Most people who live in the Bay Area will probably tell you that Healdsburg (just north of Santa Rose) is the most interesting town in the Wine Country. IMO, the Dry Creek Valley & the wineries just west of Healdsburg are more "welcoming" than most wineries in the Napa Valley.

When going to & from the Wine Country, DO NOT drive over the Bay Bridge or get on 580/80 through Vallejo. It's perhaps the ugliest stretch of road in the Bay Area and annually wins the award as the most congested. Go over the Golden Gate Bridge instead.

To get to Santa Rosa from the Winchester Mystery House, take 280, then 19th ave, through Golden Gate Park (keeping in the right hand lanes), & Park Presidio over the GG Bridge. Do not drive on the ugly/congested 101 or even uglier 880 in the East Bay. 280 is actually designated a "Scenic Highway" once past the San Jose sprawl.

Did you check the prices of admission to the Winchester Mystery House? I was surprised!! So was my wife!!

A day trip to Ano Neuvo from Santa Cruz will consume about 4 hours or more. The guided tour is 2 1/2 hrs, and we did a lot of "waiting around" before the tour departed. I don't think you can wander around on your own without a guide or docent. It's about 40 mins from Santa Cruz.

Get your Alcatraz ticket now also.

I's 72 degrees here today - and the same from last week through next weekend.

Stu Dudley