Heading out Friday. Fly into Fresno. 3 nights near Yosemite NP, 2 nights near Sequoia NP and Kings Canyon NP, ,then head to the coast. 3 nights in Carmel, while we do Big Sur, Carmel and Monterey. Then 2 days / 1 night in San Fran for Golden Gate and Alcatraz. Fly out of San Fran. 9 days. Can't wait.

I love Seqouia NP. Hiking around Crescent Meadow at sunset is very, very peaceful.

It turned out to be a great trip. 3 nights "in" Yosemite. 2 nights "in" Sequoia. 3 nights "in" Carmel and 1 night in San Fran.

Overall great trip. The snowpack of the Sierras gave us some early summer rivers, waterfalls and snow in July. It's incredible how much was still closed due to snow in the high country.

People love Yosemite valley for the waterfalls, among other things. By July, typically a number of the falls peter out due to ending of snow melt. This year they were all still raging in July. So were the rivers. While we were there, they opened Glacier Point lookout drive. We took it and there were tons of snowbanks along the road at the upper elevations (around 7k or 8k feet). The main road across the NP at elevation was still closed with over 10' of snow in July and they didn't think it would open up this season. Due to snow and then the subsequent damage to the paving.

I was a little surprised by the heat in the Sierras and foothills. We stayed just outside Yosemite in Fish Camp. Maybe a mile to the gate to the park. But about 4k elevation. It was well into the 90's each day. Fresno was 110 or better. The Yosemite valley also got into the 90's. We stayed right outside Sequoia NP in Three Rivers. It was 100 degrees but when you made the hour or more drive to the trees in the NP, it was in the 70's.

Yosemite was amazing. Be prepared though. It's so concentrated (everyone wants to go to the Valley) and with basically 3 routes in (Fresno, Sacramento and San Fran I believe) it gets REALLY crowded. Each morning, it took us about 1.5 hour wait to get in the gate of the park. The line on the highway forms early and it's long.

Sequoia was much more spread out and a lot fewer people. But staying a mile outside the park still included about an hour or more drive from the gate to the trees. One of the hardest roads I've driven. Like Lombardi street in San Fran but for an hour and cliffs off of the road.

We crossed the San Joaquin Valley to the coast, which was all fascinating. The agriculture is immense.

Carmel was awesome. Greater for adults than kids but did the beach and ate at a lot of fine restaurants. The high in Carmel was 58 degrees and the low 53. T shirt or puffy jacket. We saw it all in the same block. Monterey was great. Spent about 3 hours at the aquarium. Found a good restaurant for lunch. Big highlight was Big Sur. PCH drive was amazing. Pacific, beaches, cliffs etc. Then across the highway was Redwood forests, rivers, camping. Temps were about 10 degrees warmer than Carmel. Spent a day hiking rivers and beaches. Found a swimming hole at a state park. Fell in love with the Big Sur region.

Drove through Santa Cruz on the way to San Fran. Also drove through Stanford. San Fran was fine. One night. Did the Alcatraz tour. Kids loved it. Then ate dinner in China Town. Hotel was in the wharf area. Hired a personal guide to drive us around town and the golden gate bridge. Was a great 2 hour tour. Didn't see too much craziness in San Fran. Smelled weed and saw some cars than had busted out windows from robbery. Stayed out of trouble areas.

Open to any questions if you have them. Was a great trip, but probably a day too long. We were all wound a little tight by the last day and ready to be back home.