Monday: SF to Lee Vining via Yosemite National Park Hwy 120
Tuesday: Lone Pine (to see the Alabama Hills) Hwy 395 – most scenic road in the USA.
Wednesday: Death Valley National Park -especially during a full moon
Thursday: LA
Tioga Pass was open three weeks ago. Closed again because of our freak May storms. Should be open again shortly.
Lol, there is no one LA to see. It’s bigger than Rhode Island. Don’t miss other spots just to get there.
OP, I see how you’re thinking now.
Thanks @CaMom13 - it’s hard to tell what the roads are like on the map.
@AlabasterQueen Oh that is good, all I could tell on the NPS site was that it is closed and no estimation for reopening. I don’t even know about the Alabama Hills and Highway 395, will go check it out.
@lookingforward I don’t love LA but thought the kids might want to see the sights for a day. Since my cousins won’t even be there I think we will skip it and make a loop back to SF.
I am adding up the money now, definitely not cheap (always have to get 2 hotel rooms now that the kids are older!) but I think we are going to figure it out. DH took S23 golfing so when he gets home I will she him what I’ve come up with. Of course I ma the trip planner in our family, he usually says whatever then asks me a day or two before we go what he has to pack! 
@AlabasterQueen Sorry but its not true to say that Tioga Pass was open three weeks ago. I think you mean Glacier Point was opened three weeks ago (May 10).
Here are some photos from May 18 when the road was “buried under ten feet of sparkling white snow for 15 miles”: https://www.monolake.org/today/2019/05/20/tioga-pass-watch-current-conditions/?fbclid=IwAR1PZL8BJk7ugPBjqu4d3wUm_4hd52HJgB9PeISttRl6e9bL_DEoMbVTqG4
If you’re seriously thinking of Yosemite, you call every day to check availability, and it changes often. I called several times recently and was able to get threee nights in the Park. (Didn’t wind up going, but that’s another story).
Thank you ll for your help - I just booked the whole trip today! Some days will be a lot of driving but we don’t mind. Here is our plan, had to tweak a few things because D21 is working at a summer camp and the hotels at the end of the week are super expensive so we decided to take the red eye which saves us about $1000!
We only have 3 full days in SF and we are hoping to squeeze in visits with D’s best friend from college, my best friend from growing up and my high school roommate and her parents! I know some will fall through but hopefully we get to see a few people.
Now I have to go plan out our days, decide if we are going to do Alcatraz, look at restaurants, etc.
Friday - fly to SF, land around 11pm (boo, but D21 did not want to miss first week working and the would not let her skip just one day)
Saturday- SF exploration with my brother
Sunday - pick up rental car in Union Sq., drive to Yosemite
Monday - Yosemite
Tuesday - Yosemite in the AM just for a bit, drive to Big Sur, drive up coast to hotel in Carmel for the night
Wednesday- Drive 17 mile drive, go up coast back to SF
Thursday - SF
Friday - SF all day, flight at 11:30pm
Saturday - land at 8am, sleep, do laundry, re-pack
Sunday - D19 and I fly to New Orleans to meet her advisor and plan her schedule! We will be so tired!
Just got back form our CA road trip and wanted to say than you to al of you who gave me so many great ideas! It was a quick trip but we got to see so much and everybody in the family loved it.
So, so glad we found a way to squeeze in Yosemite. It was just amazing, the waterfalls and river were at their peak due to all of the snow this winter, you could hear them roaring and start to feel the mist before you could even see them. And we only did the easiest hikes because we had such a short time there, I heard once you got closer you just got soaked!
The coast from Cambria back up to SF was incredible - very view was better than the last. My favorite part was seeing the animals - especially the sea otters at Point Lobos (a great little state park just below Carmel.) We did;t even mind the long drove from Yosemite to Cambria. We were int he middle of nowhere but it was interesting to see the long stretched of dry mountains then giant green farms popping up from time to time. ur car thermometer registered 103 at one point then when we finally got to the coast less then an hour later it was down to 72!
It was great for the kids to see so many sides of the state, some day we will get back there to explore more for sure!
You got Yosemite at the perfect time! We went rafting on the Merced last weekend just below the park and it was spectacular (8500 cfs so lots of big waves and class 4+ rapids). What did you think about Yosemite West?
@Twoin18 Wow - that rafting must have been crazy! We only had a short trip (plus my kids aren’t huge hikers, we are used to flat FL!) so we tried to do a few small hikes to see a bit of everything instead of one big one. The afternoon we got there we did the Grizzly Loop at Mariposa Grove, checked into the house ten went up to Glacier Point for sunset. The next day we did Mist Trail up to the footbridge, Cooks Meadow, Lower Falls and Bridalveil. Also stopped at Tunnel View, a spot where we could watch a few climbers on El Cap, had lunch at the Majestic bar (not very good food but beautiful hotel) and did a little shopping at the visitor center store. We had to leave the next morning so I thought we did a good job cramming a lot into 1 1/2 days!
We loved Yosemite West, it worked out greta for our family. We are definitely not campers so if we had been lucky enough to stay in the valley it wold have been at Majestci Yosemite - wit 5 of us we always need 2 rooms so it would ave been well over $1000 a night. In Yosemite West we were able to get a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with full kitchen grill, deck, washer & dryer (so great to have!), etc for under $1000 for both nights! It was called Eureka Cabin and we found it cheaper on Air BnB than on the regular Yos. West rental site if anybody in interested.
It was centrally located - about 12 hour to Mariposa Grove, Glacier Pt. and the valley. We knew there were no stores anywhere nearby so we stopped at a Target on the way to get a cooler, ziplock bags, paper plates and things like that then stopped in Vons in Oakhurst to get snacks and food for lunch and dinner. We planned on going out to Majestic for diner one night but were so tired we just had sandwiches at the house which was perfect. Staying in the valley would be great but for the whole family this worked out just right for us. Oh and the morning we were leaving there were 3 mule deer outside our front door, they stayed eating the neighbor’s bushes for a long time which the kids loved.