big trees in CA

[ninergrl6]

I second (or third?) the Roaring Camp recommendation. I went there several times as a kid. They have special events in the area (like Civil War reenactments) so you might want to look for a schedule before you go.

Also, the Central Coast as SO much to offer, but it sounds like you'll be zipping through. Worth seeing if you have time or need a pit stop: the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Carmel, Pismo Beach, the Madonna Inn, Santa Barbara.

Also, I'm biased as a San Jose native, but the Winchester Mystery House is a cool stop about 45 minutes south of San Francisco.

 

[bcla]

I second (or third?) the Roaring Camp recommendation. I went there several times as a kid. They have special events in the area (like Civil War reenactments) so you might want to look for a schedule before you go.

Also, the Central Coast as SO much to offer, but it sounds like you'll be zipping through. Worth seeing if you have time or need a pit stop: the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Carmel, Pismo Beach, the Madonna Inn, Santa Barbara.

Also, I'm biased as a San Jose native, but the Winchester Mystery House is a cool stop about 45 minutes south of San Francisco.

I think my kid would love their Thomas the Tank Engine events. I've seen them pop up while I'm watching our regional cable networks. I also see their regular ads all the time on local/regional TV. The latest one talks about their beach train from Roaring Camp to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I've never taken it before, but I've seen it while I was in Santa Cruz.

Strangely enough I've never been to the Winchester Mystery House. I've lived and worked in the South Bay but never went there. However I did see it a lot from visiting the since-demolished Century/Cinedome movie theaters

I guess one of the more interesting places in the area is the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose. I never figured out why it's there, but we visited it on a school field trip when I was a kid.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosicrucian_Egyptian_Museum

 

[oakleycat]

The Egyptian Museum is definitely an interesting place to visit, much more so than I expected. I forgot it existed but should take my kids next time I'm up there. I've been to the Thomas the Tank Engine events down here in southern CA several times when my son was younger and obsessed, and it's worth going if you have a train fan.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Just coming back to thread to give feedback. Roaring camp=Awesome. We ended up also squeezing in Sequoia National Park. Also amazing, but the drive was serious through the national park to get to the trails, winding roads on mountains. We also encountered some of this at Bryce Canyon but Sequoia was more heart thumping.

This isn't about big trees but we were pretty shocked by San Fransisco. Not sure what we had in our heads but San Fransisco had a weird vibe. Sorry to offend folks from there. Not upbeat at all. Very difficult to get around. Very dirty. Lots of homeless. We have lived in large cities (London, New York), so it wasn't the difference between city/suburb. I have no desire to ever go back there at all. But the Disney Family Museum was really wonderful. One of the best museums we've ever been too. Napa also was gorgeous and had a great feel. And LA has great energy except for the traffic and prices. Gas=insane $ in California. We bought a pallet of water from Costco and got charged a $2 fee for buying bottled water. I asked another customer about it while we were waiting for pizza and she said that isn't right, they must have overcharged you. And then she looked at her own receipt. She had purchased 3 pallets of water and was charged an extra $6. She was shocked and said all this time I never knew they were charging me this. Ugh. How crazy is it that water that costs $2.99 in the rest of the country costs $4.99 in California. That's almost a 70% price increase.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

We bought a pallet of water from Costco and got charged a $2 fee for buying bottled water. I asked another customer about it while we were waiting for pizza and she said that isn't right, they must have overcharged you. And then she looked at her own receipt. She had purchased 3 pallets of water and was charged an extra $6. She was shocked and said all this time I never knew they were charging me this. Ugh. How crazy is it that water that costs $2.99 in the rest of the country costs $4.99 in California. That's almost a 70% price increase.

It's worse in Oregon. Our deposit is $0.10 a bottle. But we can get it back by recycling.

 

[ninergrl6]

This isn't about big trees but we were pretty shocked by San Fransisco. Not sure what we had in our heads but San Fransisco had a weird vibe. Sorry to offend folks from there. Not upbeat at all. Very difficult to get around. Very dirty. Lots of homeless. We have lived in large cities (London, New York), so it wasn't the difference between city/suburb. I have no desire to ever go back there at all.

Ha! I'm a Bay Area native and I feel the same way. I was just in SF on Saturday and came off BART (the subway system) by the cable cars to folks with megaphones screaming obscenities at each other about some social issue. My friend and I rolled our eyes. She said, "That's San Francisco for ya," and I said, "I wonder what tourists from other places think of this." I agree that it's dirty and doesn't feel safe. I've seen people mugged in broad daylight in the theater district. I'm MUCH more comfortable walking around NYC in the middle of the night that I am SF in the middle of the day. There's something to be said for the "bohemian"/anything goes culture, and some parts of SF are lovely, like near the marina and the Disney Family Museum, but most of the city is a dump IMO. I'm always baffled when I meet people who've visited SF and say they love it. Really? They must not have seen the areas I usually go.

 

[bcla]

There's something to be said for the "bohemian"/anything goes culture, and some parts of SF are lovely, like near the marina and the Disney Family Museum, but most of the city is a dump IMO. I'm always baffled when I meet people who've visited SF and say they love it. Really? They must not have seen the areas I usually go.

Most of San Francisco is distinctly suburban and more or less unremarkable. You don't see homelessness or drug use in the Sunset, Richmond, etc. It's kind of centered around SOMA, downtown, the Tenderloin, etc - although the homeless do seem to congregate around city parks where they sleep on benches.

The Walt Disney Family Museum is on federal property and the National Park Service won't mess around if there are homeless trying to camp illegally. They did have an issue with a guy on a boat who was squatting in their waters.