California Dreaming: The Ultimate U.S. Road Trip (Part I)
A few years ago the kids and I set out on our first major road trip. I had done my own “Eat, Pray, Love” trip to California a couple years prior and, on that trip, stopped to visit my cousin and her family in Sacramento. At the time, I vowed to return with my kids before her kids - then early high schoolers - graduated and moved out. As you might expect, as I started planning for our vacation in the months leading up to it, I turned to my travel Bible, 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up.
We had ten days to work with, and made a plan to fly into San Francisco and out of San Diego. We would spend a couple days in Sacramento with my cousin and her family, but the rest would be spent driving down the Pacific Coast on Highway 1. I’ll be honest. I had some serious reservations about flying my then 7- and 8-year old across the country for a 10-day road trip…alone. 😳 But in spite of how intimidating it may have felt at the time, I was determined to give them these memories and I’m so glad we did it. Both kids still refer to this trip as their favorite vacation ever.
As I was preparing this post and sifting through our photos, it was amazing how quickly and clearly the memories came back to me. That’s what I love about travel and, especially, traveling with my kids. Life gets so busy. It’s easy to get into the routine of school, work, homework, dance lessons, sports, dinner, go to bed, get up and do it again…and before you know it, another year has passed and they’re another year older. But with travel and vacation, time seems to stop for a moment, and those memories you build together are somehow etched in your brain differently than the monotony and routine of daily life.
I’m excited to share our itinerary here. Ten days is a lot to cover in one post, so I’ll cover the first four here, and you’ll have to stay tuned for Part 2. So here we go…our 10-day California road trip extravaganza. Enjoy!
Day 1 - Travel day: DTW TO SFO
On Christmas Day 2016, after celebrating Christmas in the morning with my family, we packed up and headed for Detroit airport. While I’m a big fan of supporting my local Fort Wayne International Airport and find the prices to be very comparable to surrounding larger airports, I got a steal on these tickets - $75 OW per person. And when you’re traveling with two kids, you can’t pass up that kind of deal.
This was Weston’s first time on a plane, and the first time Kenyah could remember. They were SO excited! I bought them each new luggage and neck pillows for Christmas that year, and I remember Weston put the neck pillow on the minute we got in the car for the 2-hour drive to the airport, and didn’t take it off until we landed in San Francisco! 😂 We landed in San Francisco late that night, picked up our rental car, and headed straight for the hotel.
HOTEL: doubletre hotel San Francisco airport
car rental: fox rent a car
DAY 2 - San franciscO
We woke up early on Day 2 to start our sightseeing. We only planned for one day in San Francisco, and had to make sure we could fit in everything we wanted to do. As you’ll see, we focused on a few of the highlights. And while I have a pretty strong “no repeats” vacation policy, I have a special love for California - and especially Northern California - so I know we’ll be back someday to catch the things we didn’t see on this trip.
Golden Gate Bridge
First on the agenda: driving across the Golden Gate Bridge and stopping on the other side for some photos. It is truly so iconic and the kids had seen plenty of photos of it so, even at their young age, it was something they recognized and were excited to see!
Cost: $8.35 Toll each time vehicle crosses bridge
location: on US Hgwy 101, San Francisco
Contact: 415.921.5858 | bridgecomments@goldengate.org
The full house house
As a child of the 80s, no trip to San Francisco would be complete without tracking down the house where DJ, Stephanie and Michelle Tanner grew up! The special bonus of this stop was the fact that my kids had also recently taken an interest in watching reruns of the show, and they were just as excited as I was to find it. The house is situated in a quiet residential neighborhood, nestled among other homes, but the neighbors seemed used to the fact that loyal fans make this pilgrimage regularly. We also were able to catch the Painted Ladies that are shown in the opening credits of the show as we explored San Francisco throughout the day.
Cost: FREE
location: 1709 Broderick St, San Francisco
Contact: n/a
Fisherman’s Wharf
Next we headed to Fisherman’s Wharf. This ended up being a great central location to park the car for the day and walk around. Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39 are the epicenter in San Francisco for tourists to take in spectacular views of San Francisco Bay and its local colony of sea lions, while also shopping or enjoying fresh seafood from one of the many restaurants or street vendors on the pier. As you walk along, Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge are also clearly in view. Some have written off Fisherman’s Wharf as a tourist trap, but I would say this quaint, bustling pier is quintessentially San Francisco and a must-stop location.
Cost: FREE to visit (Parking and food at an additional cost)
location: 100 Jefferson St, San Francisco
Contact: 415.674.7503 | fishermanswharf@sbcglobal.net
Ghirardelli Square
From Fisherman’s Wharf we walked along Beach Street over to Ghirardelli Square. Ghirardelli Square, the former site of Ghirardelli’s Chocolate Factory, is widely considered the first successful adaptive reuse project in the country. Today, it is home to not only The Original Ghirardelli Chocolate & Ice Cream Shop, but also a variety of other shops and restaurants. One look at Weston’s face here should tell you that we give this stop a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ recommendation!
Cost: FREE (BUT YOU CAN’T LEAVE WITHOUT INDULGING IN A TREAT!)
Location: 900 north point st, San Francisco
Contact: 415.441.2560
Lombard Street
Famed as the “crookedest street in the world,” Lombard Street is a must-see attraction when visiting San Francisco. While I did not think it would be wise to load my children up in the car and attempt to navigate its eight hairpin turns on a 27-degree incline (see my post on Pebble Beach in Part II), we did walk up to Hyde Street to watch other cars adventure down, as we walked down the street on the sidewalk beside them. My kids were so amused by how steep the streets are in San Francisco! We had such a great time watching the cars work their way down this twisty little path with the gorgeous view of the Bay as a backdrop.
Cost: FREE
Location: Lombard St, San Francisco
Contact: n/a
Cable Cars
Not even gonna lie. This may have been the biggest failure of our Cali trip. 😅 We walked the ENTIRE DAY trying to track down the location to catch a ride on a cable car. We watched them driving through the city all day long, and I even took the kids to the place where I had bought a ticket and started my ride the last time I visited San Francisco. No dice. No matter what we tried, we could not manage to score a ticket or an actual ride on a cable car. So, we settled for a posed shot on a stationary car and called it a day! 🚃 The lesson here (and it’s one I have to remind myself of often): flexibility is key when traveling!! I cram a lot into these trips because I want my kids to see everything! But sometimes it’s just not possible. And so we roll with it. But they did get to see the cable cars and I suspect one day they’ll return to San Francisco and get to experience riding on one as well. 😊
Cost: $8 per ride
Location: No clue. travel blogger fail. if you know, please tell me. 😅🤣
Contact: https://www.sfmta.com
Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island was on our original list of places to see in San Francisco. Unfortunately, we knew before we left for our trip that it would be closed the week between Christmas and New Year, so this was the one key San Francisco landmark we didn’t get to see. We will definitely be adding this to our list for our next trip to Cali!
COST: Varies, depending on tour; typically starts around $40/adult, $25/child
Location: an island in the bay
Contact: https://www.alcatrazcruises.com (NOTE: WE DID NOT USE THIS COMPANY)
After a full day exploring San Francisco, we headed back to our car and made the two-hour drive that evening to Sacramento to visit my cousin’s family - the Mahnkes!
day 3 - sacramento
I have found that one of my favorite parts of travel is the opportunity to connect with family and friends in other parts of the country and world that I may otherwise have lost touch with. My cousin, Bonnie, and I were always very close growing up and she was the first from our tight-knit family to move further than a few hours away from everyone else. Although she and I managed to stay in touch over the years, one of the consequences of the distance was that our kids didn’t get to know each other growing up. We were both so excited for them to be able to spend a couple days together and, in the end, the four kids enjoyed it more than I think we could have imagined or expected! Bonnie and her family were amazing hosts, showing us some of the best of what Sacramento had to offer in the limited time we had together.
In-n-out burger
Kenyah and Weston had not yet experienced the deliciousness that is In-N-Out Burger, so Michaela and Josiah had to make sure this was our lunch location! The kids (obviously) fell in love with this amazing burger joint. We stopped at In-N-Out at least three more times on our trip, knowing we wouldn’t be able to enjoy it once we returned to Indiana.
cost: $1-$7
location: THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA, ARIZONA, NEVADA, UTAH, TEXAS, AND OREGON
contact: https://www.in-n-out.com
Old Sacramento waterfront
After lunch, we headed to Old Sacramento Waterfront, a historic district with over 125 shopping, dining, event and attraction options. We wandered through one specialty shop after another - toys, western jewelry, books, clothing, kites - the list goes on. Then we stumbled upon a shop that stopped us all in our tracks: Candy Heaven. For anyone who knows me, I am a candy feind and I have, unfortunately, passed this down to my kids. We all just have a major sweet tooth! Candy Heaven had the most incredible assortment of old-time candies and salt water taffy, and we stocked up for the evening…and the rest of our 10-day road trip. 😉
cost: FREE
location: 1002 2nd St Sacramento, CA
contact: https://www.oldsacramento.com/post/contact-us
We headed back to the Mahnkes’ house for the evening, where we had dinner and played games. I can’t begin to express how grateful I am for this time we had together. My kids still talk about it and have fond memories of that time getting to know Michaela and Josiah, and I’m so glad we made the time to do this!
day 4 - Highway 1
Sea lions at ANO NUEVO STATE PARK
The next day, we had breakfast with the Mahnkes and headed out mid-morning for the next leg of our adventure. This was when we would start our big drive down Highway 1! Our first stop was just south of San Francisco at Half Moon Bay. There, we would be going on a guided wildlife tour to see the great elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Park. It was a 3-4 mile round trip hike that took about 2.5 hours total to see the seals, but it was completely worth it, and the kids loved every minute of it! I was afraid at their age the hike might be a little too long, or they would get tired and complain, but they never did. They were mesmerized by the seals and loved being outdoors!
The seals themselves were no joke! They weigh, on average, about 3 tons each!! We were able to see them in their natural habitat, just lying on the beach. It was mating season when we were there and, oftentimes, you might witness some “activity”😅 or serious bloody fighting among the males during this time. We did not see any of that. They were all pretty lazy and just lying around. But it was spectacular, nonetheless, to see such massive animals so close in nature.
Side Note: The thing I love about this 500 Places book is that it not only takes my kids out of their comfort zone sometimes, but it also forces me out of my comfort zone. I’m not much of a “guided wildlife tour” kind of person and would never choose this on my own. But the book said to do it so we did! And because of that, both my kids and I have much more enriching, well-rounded vacation experiences.
cost: $11/PERSON (MAKE RESERVATIONS APPROXIMATELY 2 MONTHS IN ADVANCE)
location: 1 New Years CREEK RD, Pescadero, CA
contact: 800.444.4445 | https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=27613
monterey
After we finished our wildlife tour, we continued our drive down Highway 1 the remainder of the afternoon, making our way to Monterey, where we would spend the night. The kids wanted to stop along the way and walk into the ocean, which was, quite honestly, one of the most beautiful moments of my life. There are too many photos to share here, so I’ve posted many on my stories on Instagram (follow me there!).
The photos I took that evening are some of my favorite images I have of my kids. Standing quite literally on the very edge of our country, looking out over the ocean - just the two of them. I have no idea what they were talking about, but I know what was in this mama’s heart. Big, big dreams for them. Hopes and dreams as big as the ocean they were looking out over. Bigger than they could dream or imagine for themselves in that moment. Hopes and dreams I still have for them and work hard every day to help them realize for themselves. I think travel - seeing and experiencing new cultures and ways of living and thinking and doing life - helps them get there.
As they ran into the Pacific Ocean for the first time that night - fully clothed and full of joy and giggles - my heart was so full. Every inhibition I had about taking two young kids alone on a 10-day road trip was gone, and I was filled with excitement for the days ahead and the adventures that awaited us!