Road Trippin thru California! July 12th- July 26th - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Road Trippin thru California! July 12th- July 26th
Photos have been uploaded and organized and now I can begin my trip report! I’m excited to share all the details. This was our first time in California and we saw SO much of that state!
I’ll start with our cast of characters:
Me- Amanda, mom, wife, teacher, photographer, and, of course, lover of all things DISNEY! I’ve been to WDW 9 times and this was my FIRST Disneyland trip.
DH- Matt, dad, husband, engineer, and also big Disney lover (though he doesn’t always admit it!) He’s been to WDW 7 times and this was his first Disneyland trip too.
DD- Emily, 8 yrs. old, lover of Disney, her favorite character is Stitch and her favorite WDW park is Epcot!
DS#1- Brandon, 6 yrs. old, loves Star Wars, and…… Figment! (Of all things!)
DS#3- Nicholas, 3 yrs. old and obsessed with Mickey!
DBil- John- proud member of the US Air Force. Took his first trip to WDW with us in July 2009. His first trip to Disneyland as well. No matters what he says, I think he loves Disney too! J
I didn’t write a pre-trip report so I will give a little background information about how this trip came to be. DBil is stationed in California until spring of 2012 at which time he will probably retire from the US Air Force. We knew if we ever wanted to visit him in California now would be the time! We wanted to spend at least 2 weeks over there which meant visiting in the summer when the older kids would be out of school. We decided on our dates, July 12th-July 26th (Tuesday air travel saved a good bit of money on airfare for 5!). Now we had to come up with a traveling plan!
Originally, we were going to fly into LAX, drive to DBil’s, spend some time with him and then hit San Diego and Anaheim. Well, DBil had some leave time to burn so he decided to travel with us so we started adding other sites to the list of must-sees! Even though we knew a lot of driving would be involved, DH really wanted to see Yosemite. And I figured if we went all the way there then we might as well see San Fran too! So, we worked out this plan:
Day 1: Fly into LAX, drive to Ridgecrest for the night.
Day 2: Drive to Yosemite.
Day 3: Off to San Fran.
Day 4: San Fran
Day 5: Take Coastal hwy 1, stopping in Monterey/Carmel to sightsee, heading on to Lompoc (where DBil lives) for the night.
Day 6-9- San Diego- Zoo, Sea World, Coronado Beach, and Legoland
Day 10-14- Anaheim- Disneyland!
Thanks for following along! Up next: kids enjoy their first plane ride and our first day in California!
We got up around 4am and were on the road by 4:30am. I thought the kids would continue to sleep in the car but they were too excited! Arrived at the Charlotte airport a few minutes after 5:00am. This was our first experience flying with the kids. As suggested, we decided to use curb-side check-in which was the BEST idea EVER!! (We didn’t on our return flight and that was a nightmare!! But more about that later). We had the bags and car seats checked within 15 minutes and then DH went to park the car in long-term parking while I took the kids to the potty. Shortly after, we meet up with DH and were through security with no problems! With about 45 minutes until we boarded, we decided to get the kids some breakfast. We probably spent a small fortune but the kids ate nothing!!!! I guess they were still too excited for their first plane ride.
(notice their pajamas? My DH had let them pick out fabric from JoAnns a few days before the trip and made these for them! Yes, HE made them! )
At the gate, I checked my stroller and we boarded on time (6:30am flight) but were delayed on the runway for about 20 minutes. This made me a little nervous because we only had an hour layover in Ohio where we would hop on our connecting flight to LAX.
Kids LOVED the flight. The boys kept asking if it was going to “take off like a rocket” (which DH answered with Yes!). DS1 chatted the entire flight! One question after another. Once the flight landed we only had about 40 minutes before our connecting flight which may seem like plenty of time but…. it was just barely enough. We decided to split up, I would wait with my youngest son to get the gate-checked stroller while DH went with the other two to the connecting flights gate. Looking back, I’m not really sure why DH suggested that; I think it was so he could let them know we were coming if the flight was already boarding??? Anyway, the stroller finally came and I rushed to the connecting gate, where a ton of people were waiting, but NOT DH and kids. Uh-Oh! I wasted about 5 minutes looking around for them and then decided to check the board/tv screen. Sure enough our gate was changed!! I was at the wrong gate! I found out our new gate which luckily wasn’t too far and ran! DH and kids were waiting on us, we were the last to board! Got onto the FULL plane and realized our seat assignments had been changed at the last minute. We were now sitting on 2 different rows, about 10 rows away from each other. And, someone was sitting in one of our seats. The person moved and we decided my DD and I would take those two seats and my DH and sons would sit together 10 rows back. While getting myself and DD settled, I hear some commotion in the back. Sure enough, my DH was talking to the attendant and looking a little stressed. I go back there and find out that the three seats are spilt (two of them are supposed to sit on one side while the other was in the middle of two passengers). The attendant was asking the people in the rows to switch around so they could be together and the first two people she asked flat out said NO! Finally, someone agreed to switch so DH and the boys could sit together. Situation under control, I go back to my seat.
The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful. The flight was 4 ½ hours long so I had packed the kid’s backpacks with lots to keep them busy. DD did great during the flight, chatted a little, played ds some, colored and drew a little. We had snacks and some great bonding time! Only during the last hour did she start “are we there yet?”. I thought I had gotten the better deal sitting with DD but when the plane landed and I met up with DH he said the boys took almost a 3 hour nap!!! They must have been exhausted from getting up so early. DD didn’t nap at all! We land in LAX around 10:30am (but feels 3 hours later to us!). DBil John meets us at baggage claim, helps with our bags, and we are off to pick up the rental car!
Up next: Ridgecrest, California and Red Rocks Canyon!
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After we picked up the rental car, everyone was hungry so we stopped at a nearby Burger King for lunch. This was one of only two times during the entire trip that we ate a national chain that we have back in NC. One of our goals for the trip was to eat only at places we didn’t have back home! After lunch, we got on the road for the 2 ½ hour drive to Ridgecrest. When planning the trip I knew that the first 5 or 6 days would be heavy on the driving and worried how the kids would handle that. They did fine on this drive. I think they spent most of the time enjoying the “new” car and looking at California through the windows.
About 30 minutes before we got to Ridgecrest we stopped at the RedRockCanyonPark. It was deserted!!! And hot!! We got out and let the kids climb the rocks for a little while. I think we stayed about 30 minutes.
Here's the crew! DBil is on the left and DH is on the right.
Look at that!
Running off to explore!
We thought we could stay a little longer but kids were still in pjs (it was at least 95 out!) and they were getting a little cranky from the long flight and drive. So we left and we’re pulling into our hotel in no time. It was around 4pm at this time and I really thought the kids would be about to crash from the jet lag but they wanted to get to the pool. We also needed to eat dinner at some point. We quickly decided to let them swim for about an hour and then find somewhere for dinner. Kids enjoyed the nice break in the pool. For dinner, we ate at a little grill called “Casey’s”. For the most part the food was ok BUT my DS2 ordered a hot dog and when I start to cut it the middle was frozen!! Solid!!! Everyone was very apologetic and another hot dog was brought out. Which was also frozen!! At that point he decided to just go with chicken nuggets.
After dinner and a Walmart stop to pick up snacks and things for the drive to Yosemite in the morning, we headed back to our room and got the kids ready for bed. Unbelievably, it was 8pm LA time (making it feel like 11pm to us!!!) and the kids finally crashed. I thought they would’ve gone to sleep much sooner but I guess the excitement keep them up and running (or maybe we did!).
Up next: The LOOOOOONNNNNNG drive to Yosemite….. which made for a VERY long day!!!
Your kids sure held up well! That's just unbelievable about the hot dog...glad the chicken nuggets were a better option! I hope your next meals are better!
Looking forward to hearing about more adventures!
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The next morning kids were up a little earlier than usual, about 5:30am. I had worried they’d get up at their “normal NC” time and be up even earlier so 5:30 wasn’t tooo bad!! Within the hour we were all up and showered and had a quick continental breakfast in the hotel. The food was pretty decent and we were all geared up for our long drive to Yosemite. While planning the trip I came across a few different California travel forums that said HWY 395 was a beautiful drive from LA to Yosemite so we decided we’d take that route even though it was longer. So, we were off on a 5 ½ hour drive! Kids did pretty well during the drive. They all slept a little and kept busy with their bookbag full of goodies. We bought them a Nikon Coolpix before the trip so the older two took turns taking pictures out of the window.
The drive along HWY 395 wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. A few people on the travel forum even said it was more beautiful than the coastal hwy 1 in California. I definitely don’t agree with that but it was pretty. It was a lot of desert and it became beautiful the closer we got to Yosemite. Once in Yosemite State Park we stopped at the Wawona Information Center. The kids were getting restless and I wanted to get some postcard stamps. While I went inside the station, DH, DBil and kids went walking around the area across from the station. Postcard stamps, postcards, and snacks in hand, I gathered up the crew and we headed on to Yosemite Valley.
Now, we knew this was a major national park but had no idea the size of the crowds in the valley. It honestly took us a little over an hour to find parking! At that time the kids were starving for lunch and found somewhere to eat. I don’t remember the name of it so I’ll call it a “quick-service” place! We ate at an outdoor table. Food was ok and the kids really liked watching all the wildlife around us. Once our bellies were full we went off to check the tour group times. We’d planned on taking one of the 2 hour tours on the open air tram but found out the last afternoon one had just left! DH joked that we didn’t need it anyway; we’d just driven the same route trying to find a parking place! We decided to explore a little on our own. First we went on the Lower Yosemite Falls hike. This was a BEAUTIFUL hike and very easy. The kids had no problems. We stopped frequently to take photos and let the kids take photos with their new camera.
Lower Yosemite Falls
We decided to take the Meadows hike next. DH, at first, thought it would be better to get on one of the shuttle buses and take it to the Meadows hike entrance. He must have misread the map because when our falls hike was over we were right across from the next hike entrance. Well, DS#1 didn’t like that. He thought we were getting on a shuttle and that’s what he wanted to do! So, a meltdown was coming on fast!!! I’m not really sure why he was fascinated with taking a shuttle. Maybe because he was tired and all the travel from the past two days was catching up to him or maybe he just really wanted to ride on that shuttle! So, we decided we’d all ride on the shuttle and get off where we started. It gave the kids a short break from walking and it was a nice way to see the views of the park. After the short break, we took the Meadows hike. This hike wasn’t as busy as the falls and we enjoyed the nice quiet time to take in our surroundings. On the hike, we met this wonderful couple who asked me to take their photograph with Half Dome behind them. Then they told us the sweetest story! Just the day before they’d gotten permits and hiked all the way to the top of Half Dome where the guy proposed!! She said she “really had to work hard for that proposal”. How cool is that????
Beautiful Half Dome
Hike over, it was getting close to dinner time and we all decided it would be best to leave. I had really, really wanted to try one of the nice restaurants in the Valley but we knew it wouldn’t work with the kids. They were tired and getting cranky. So off we went to find our hotel for the night. Now, our hotel was another hour and a half away in Sonora! Crazy, right???? It seems that unless you stay in Yosemite (which I would’ve loved to do!), you have to drive quite a bit to find a place outside of the park. Well, at least the kids rested for most of the drive. Once we found our hotel we stopped for a quick dinner at Applebee’s (the second and last chain restaurant!). Food was ordered and my DS#1 started eating up the buffalo wings. About halfway through the meal, the waitress brought over bingo cards and the kids had the most fun playing. We had to drag them away when we’d finished the meal!!! On the way out, DS#1 says he’s feeling sick! Uh-oh! Sure enough, he gets sick all over the sidewalk!! Now, he has some major food allergies with peanuts and eggs being the biggest no-no’s for him. We’d made sure his food didn’t have either but I know cross-contamination can always occur. I’m not really sure if that was the problem or his stomach was just upset from the drive (it was pretty windy from Yosemite to Sonora) or something else all together. But thankfully this was an isolated event and he was fine the rest of the evening and next day. We got to the hotel and everyone went right to sleep!
I was really glad that long day was over! Tomorrow, we could let the kids sleep in before heading off to San Fran which was only a 2 ½ hour drive. And the best part, was that we were staying put for 2 nights so we had a drive-free day coming up!
Some final thoughts on Yosemite:
We definitely needed more time here. You could easily spend a week or more camping or staying in one of the nice lodges in the Valley. However, we are really glad we made the long trek to see it even though we were only there for 6 hours. It was really beautiful and it was nice to share that with the kids.
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Kids did pretty well during the drive. They all slept a little and kept busy with their bookbag full of goodies. We bought them a Nikon Coolpix before the trip so the older two took turns taking pictures out of the window. 
We ate at an outdoor table. Food was ok and the kids really liked watching all the wildlife around us. Once our bellies were full we went off to check the tour group times. We’d planned on taking one of the 2 hour tours on the open air tram but found out the last afternoon one had just left! DH joked that we didn’t need it anyway; we’d just driven the same route trying to find a parking place! We decided to explore a little on our own. First we went on the Lower Yosemite Falls hike. This was a BEAUTIFUL hike and very easy. The kids had no problems. We stopped frequently to take photos and let the kids take photos with their new camera. 
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