If you had 7 days....... (Orange, Daly City: live, prices, vs)

[ryanst530]

Cambria is an amazing town, arguably one of California's best kept secrets. You will love it there. I highly recommend splurging on an ocean view room in one of the hotels along Moonstone drive. It's worth every penny.

We stay at the Pelican Inn and Fogcatcher somewhat regularly and both are great.

[Thinking-man]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

Great plan! That will make your Yosemite adventure so smoother and more enjoyable. Glad to help out. If you get a chance report back and tell us how things went.

Derek

I sure will.
your and others' advice has been very impact-full.
So, here's my latest plan:

- Arrive in LAX in the am, stay 3 full days, and 3 nights.
- morning of the 4th day, drive north, get to Cambria, CA and spend the night.
- morning of the 5th day, drive further north, hit Monterey, then get to SF and stay 3 nights. (either downtown or Pacifica. still undecided because hotels in Pacifica are around the same price as my reservation in the financial district. I'll wait for groupon deals, etc. but i'll be staying either downtown or in Pacifica)
- The next morning, drive to napa valley, tour, then drive further East to Buck Meadow and spend the night.
- the next morning drive early to Yosemite, for 5 full days and 5 nights.
- afterwards, leave mid morning towards Palm springs and get there in the late afternoon/evening. Spend 3 nights.
- the next morning, spend until late afternoon (6pm ish) at the hotel, and then drive back to LAX for a 11pm flight back home.

[MtnSurfer]

I don't know how into hiking you are. But if can make, I highly recommend the Mist Trail to at least to the side of Vernal Falls. Then if you can keep going its totally worth getting to the top Nevada Falls and venture a bit on the John Muir trail.












Derek

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I can't imagine doing your itinerary with 3 kids under 6 years old. You either have a lot more energy than most people, or you've never traveled with 3 kids under 6 years old before :-)

But, have fun and good luck to you. You're way braver than I ever was, even when I was young, doing that much traveling and staying in different places with 3 young kids.

You might want to look into cheaper options in the Bay Area, if you don't mind driving into SF. You can probably find cheaper options in the East Bay, like in Alameda, even, or Fremont, which is somewhere you mentioned you wanted to go.

I would think Pacifica would be expensive, as is SF. There are cheaper options, if you don't need super fancy accommodations. You can find very bare bones, but safe places in Alameda, and you'd be really close to SF, for instance.

[Thinking-man]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

I don't know how into hiking you are. But if can make, I highly recommend the Mist Trail to at least to the side of Vernal Falls. Then if you can keep going its totally worth getting to the top Nevada Falls and venture a bit on the John Muir trail.

Derek

I've been to Mist Trail. amazing. The last time i was there with my wife (no kids), we did hikes every day....lots of trails and also Half Dome. Can't say i'm confident i can do that with the 3 kids (all under 7 at the time of travel)

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

I can't imagine doing your itinerary with 3 kids under 6 years old. You either have a lot more energy than most people, or you've never traveled with 3 kids under 6 years old before :-)

But, have fun and good luck to you. You're way braver than I ever was, even when I was young, doing that much traveling and staying in different places with 3 young kids.

You might want to look into cheaper options in the Bay Area, if you don't mind driving into SF. You can probably find cheaper options in the East Bay, like in Alameda, even, or Fremont, which is somewhere you mentioned you wanted to go.

I would think Pacifica would be expensive, as is SF. There are cheaper options, if you don't need super fancy accommodations. You can find very bare bones, but safe places in Alameda, and you'd be really close to SF, for instance.

haha thanks...i think... yeah, we travel a lot....usually 1000 mile roadtrips to Florida twice a year. the kids love nature, and i take them on walks and outdoors hikes (mini) around the house whenever possible; i've been showing them pictures of Yosemite and they're in awe. probably not much hiking with the kids, but i think there's plenty they can enjoy (and learn about) while we're there.

I actually was looking at the airport too.....nice 4 star hotels for like 125 or so....which relatively, is a bargain. it's just that it's an hour from SF. yikes. Yeah, pacifica, as pretty as it is, might not work. hotels are as expensive as parts of downtown SF, and they come with a 45 minutes drive.....

thoughts on staying near the airport?

[Thinking-man]

Ok, so here's a wrinkle that i just came across....
The Yosemite reservations site opened today at 10am sharp, and even though it's impossibly difficult to secure sites within the 5 or 6 minutes before they're all sites are booked, i somehow managed to secure 4 nights in the same came site!!! i know!! lol
unfortunately though, i wasn't able to book my 5th night. bummed, i went over and found a site in Sequoia National Park. My plan was to skip Sequoia and just go directly from Yosemite to Palm Springs after 5 nights; but now that i was only able to get 4 nights in Yosemite, I have the option of staying in sequoia one night before going to palm springs afterwards.

So, i believe going from Yosemite to Palm springs is like 7.5 hours. going from yosemite to Sequoia takes 4.5 hrs, and then another 5 hours from Sequoia to Palm Springs. So.....i'm driving 2 or 3 hours more over the 2 days....but i'll get to see Sequoia again.....albeit for one night.

any thoughts on this new plan?

All other things stay the same.

[evening sun]

If you plan on staying at an hotel in SF, make sure you get one, with parking included. Geary Parkway motel is a basic motel with free parking, & access to bus lines ( outside the hotel)that take you downtown etc. The commute from Pacifica is fine, we used to live there & drive to work in SF every day. The drive along the Great Highway is beautiful. If you are into nature, I would visit Joshua Tree, while in Palm Springs. Not much to see in PS< as far as I can recall, Joshua Tree Park is much more interesting, to us anyhow. Happy travels.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by Thinking-man

Ok, so here's a wrinkle that i just came across....
The Yosemite reservations site opened today at 10am sharp, and even though it's impossibly difficult to secure sites within the 5 or 6 minutes before they're all sites are booked, i somehow managed to secure 4 nights in the same came site!!! i know!! lol
unfortunately though, i wasn't able to book my 5th night. bummed, i went over and found a site in Sequoia National Park. My plan was to skip Sequoia and just go directly from Yosemite to Palm Springs after 5 nights; but now that i was only able to get 4 nights in Yosemite, I have the option of staying in sequoia one night before going to palm springs afterwards.

So, i believe going from Yosemite to Palm springs is like 7.5 hours. going from yosemite to Sequoia takes 4.5 hrs, and then another 5 hours from Sequoia to Palm Springs. So.....i'm driving 2 or 3 hours more over the 2 days....but i'll get to see Sequoia again.....albeit for one night.

any thoughts on this new plan?

All other things stay the same.

Glad to gear you got 4 out of 5! That's really good given the odds. You'll make up for some of that by getting to the park earlier at the front end. I still like your plan. However, as an another option I would instead go through the park over Tioga Pass and visit the amazing Eastern Sierra on the way to Palm Springs. The views from the top of Yosemite all along that route are amazing. And you'll go from valleys to incredible lakes which are fun for kids especially in the summer time.

For example, the drive from Yosemite to Mammoth Lakes is only ~ 2.5 hours and its extremely scenic the entire way. Lots to see and do along the way.Yosemite to Mammoth Lakes

Then its ~ 6 hours from Mammoth to Palm Springs the next day with over half the drive down one of the most gorgeous stretches of road in the state on 395. You will pass Mt. Whitney, numerous lakes and Death Valley to the east. Plus you get to skip Bakersfield, LA bound truck traffic which can add time and overall boredom on your other route.
Mammoth to Palm Springs

They are both great options. But the eastern side of the Sierra is a real treat if you haven't been there before with your family. It will be quicker and definitely a more scenic, enjoyable drive overall on the way to Palm Springs. By contrast, the drive down 99 is really boring except for your detour to Sequoia NP which will take longer. But those big trees are awesome if not too beat to enjoy them! In either case take plenty of pictures.

Derek

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by Thinking-man

I actually was looking at the airport too.....nice 4 star hotels for like 125 or so....which relatively, is a bargain. it's just that it's an hour from SF. yikes. Yeah, pacifica, as pretty as it is, might not work. hotels are as expensive as parts of downtown SF, and they come with a 45 minutes drive.....

thoughts on staying near the airport?

I would not recommend staying near the airport as a tourist. You will hit a tremendous amount of traffic on the 101 when you attempt to go to SF. Also there is nothing of interest near the airport for most tourists.

At least if you stay in Pacifica you will be near a scenic ocean and each area. You would have free parking and an easy and scenic drive to SF. From Pacifica the very scenic way to get to the Golden Gate Bridge is Highway 1 to 35 north to the Great Highway to the Legion of Honor area and through the Presidio to the Bridge.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Paci...2d37.78498!3e0

To stay in SF on a budget you could look some of the motel like places near Lombard St. Many of these locations like the Columbus Motor Inn or the Cow Hollow Inn have free parking.

[Thinking-man]

Originally Posted by capoeira

I would not recommend staying near the airport as a tourist. You will hit a tremendous amount of traffic on the 101 when you attempt to go to SF. Also there is nothing of interest near the airport for most tourists.

At least if you stay in Pacifica you will be near a scenic ocean and each area. You would have free parking and an easy and scenic drive to SF. From Pacifica the very scenic way to get to the Golden Gate Bridge is Highway 1 to 35 north to the Great Highway to the Legion of Honor area and through the Presidio to the Bridge.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Paci...2d37.78498!3e0

To stay in SF on a budget you could look some of the motel like places near Lombard St. Many of these locations like the Columbus Motor Inn or the Cow Hollow Inn have free parking.

Gotcha.
Glad i asked. the 4 star near airport is very tempting on paper...lol

I got "Pacific Heights Inn" actually....on Lombard.....for $720 for 3 nights (in june). cheapest/best i could find. i don't recall if it comes with free parking or not thought. It's yucky...but again...it's the most reasonably priced place i could find inside SF. will look at groupons as suggested above.