Central California Tour

We had some airline ticket vouchers we wanted to use and central California has been on our bucket list forever, but it just takes so much driving to get there. So we used the vouchers to get to San Francisco and still drove miles and miles checking it all out.

We started in Oakland actually. We landed pretty early in the morning, piled in the car and set out to check it out. 

First stop was the Oakland Temple. The temple grounds were closed of course, but we still got our picture.

From there it was over the San Francisco Bay Bridge and into downtown San Francisco.

We headed to Fisherman's Wharf first, but we were there so early, that there wasn't much to see. Not that it mattered, much. With Covid, there isn't a lot to do/see anyway. 

We walked down to Ghirardelli Square and saw the locals swimming in the bay.  I couldn't really imagine enjoying the area when it was in full motion really so we got out of there.

We drove down Lombard Street a couple times. Roman drove it too. 

Then we headed west to the Golden Gate Bridge.

From there I really wanted to go to a lighthouse that had a great view but it was closed! BUMMER! Such is life with a virus. But they let you hike a half mile down the trail before posting any information telling you it was closed. Such is life with idiots. (sorry)

We drove a little further north to Muir Woods. That was REALLY cool and so close to San Francisco.

The redwood trees were HUGE and the forest was beautiful and HOT and Muggy!

We drove from there toward Sacramento. As we drove away from the coast the temperature went up and up and up over 100 degrees! We dared to leave the air conditioned car for a moment to go the Jelly Belly Factory. 

In Sacramento we stopped at the State Capitol for a quick pic.

Another quick stop at the Sacramento Temple before calling it a night. The temple grounds were huge and there were turkeys to chase around.

The next morning I really wanted to to go Yosemite National Park, but because of Covid they had limited admission and despite my best efforts, I didn't get a ticket. So.... We decided to drive up to Lake Tahoe and Reno.  It was a lot of driving but we got to see some places we may never get to otherwise. 

The drive to Tahoe was beautiful and the mountains amazing.

Lake Tahoe could easily be one of my favorite places on the planet, but all the people ruined that. It was just like Park City... crammed with annoying people. ha!

After dipping our toes in the water, we headed to Reno. Nevada State Capitol.

We stopped at the Nevada State Capitol, through town, and up to the Reno Temple.

Then it was a long, hot, drive back through the sun  Sacramento and down toward Fresno.

Before we made it to our hotel, we stopped at the Fresno Temple.

Day three was a good one. We woke up and drove up into the Sierra Nevada mountains to find some REALLY big trees.  We went to Sequoia National Park to see some giants.

Sequoias are HUGE! The crazy part is that the trunks stay so wide almost all the way to the top, which is WAY up there. 

We had fun exploring the park 

Seeing amazing trees

Hugging them

And climbing Moro Rock. This was probably the only time on our whole trip where we weren't socially distanced. 

What a view!

From there, it was back down the mountains.  We got a great view of the other side of Moro Rock. The roads were like a roller coaster and we were happy for good breaks that we didn't have to replace.  There were LOTS of broken down cars along that windy, steep road. 

From the mountains it was a small hike to the ocean in Monterey with a quick stop at a Popeye themed burger joint.  It was miserably hot outside but it was nice to be out of the car for a minute.

Shane's dad was born in Monterey and he still has some family there. But I do not go to the ocean to look at it (although that part is great too). I get in. I got my swimsuit on, convinced Ezra to do it too and we jumped in before the sun went down. 

The party poopers stayed on the sand. Marisa let the waves chase her, and Roman looked for treasures. 

Once the sun was down, we headed to Shane's Great-Aunt's house for a quick visit before we tucked in for the night.

Our last day was mostly just waiting for our flight. We drove past Shane's great-grandpas old house and we went down to Canary Row.

We went to Santa Cruz to check out the boardwalk and wharf. 

Then we turned in our car and headed home. It was a lot to take in in 4 days but we enjoyed most of it. As soon as we left the whole state went up in flames. Probably that 117 degree weather. Sheesh!