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Your California travel family adventure begins at 6:00 PM at the Hyatt at Fisherman’s Wharf. A transfer from San Francisco International Airport to Hyatt at Fisherman’s Wharf is included. After traveling all day, your family might enjoy taking a dip in the outdoor heated pool or exploring a little of San Francisco’s famous Fisherman’s Wharf. Please join us to meet your Tauck Director and the families who will be traveling with you at our welcome reception and dinner this evening.

Meals: Dinner

Lodging: Hyatt at Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco

An early start today for a sightseeing drive to view Nob Hill, Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf, Coit Tower, Victorian homes, the Marina District and Lombard Street, “the crookedest street in the world” – world-famous symbols of San Francisco. A busy day seeing so much of all there is to see in San Francisco begins with a visit to the California Academy of Sciences where a world of natural wonders waits. It’s the only place on earth with an aquarium, a planetarium and a natural history museum all under one roof! There’s a lot to see and a lot to learn at this terrific place that houses more than 38,000 living things including penguins, but maybe one of the coolest things about the Academy is that its roof is alive! Your visit there will be a highlight of your California travel. You’ll sail under the Golden Gate Bridge on a harbor cruise that also circles Alcatraz Island, the site of the first lighthouse and U.S. fort on the West Coast – and later an infamous federal prison that held some of the most notorious and dangerous criminals of the time. The rest of the day is free for your family to explore what interests you most in San Francisco.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch

Lodging: Hyatt at Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco

As the song says, “run and catch the wind” – and that’s just what’s been happening at the Altamont Wind Farm, one of the earliest wind farms in the United States. You can take some great pictures of the kind of giant windmills – technically, wind turbines – that may look like “alien visitors,” but will produce more and more of our electricity as the future unfolds. Continue on to Jamestown for lunch in a historic 1859 hotel. Later, put your rock-wall climbing* skills to the test on the climbing wall at your mountain resort just outside Yosemite National Park – the rock-climbing wall is exclusive to Tauck guests until 7:00 PM. Dinner is at your leisure this evening.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Lodging: Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite, Fish Camp, CA

Yosemite National Park is chock-full of awesome wonders and adventures, as your family will discover today. Have you ever heard of a drive-through tree? You may see one today, as well as the Grizzly Giant, a humungous sequoia tree thought to be between 1,900 and 2,400 years old! The Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias in Yosemite National Park, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is home to about 500 of such ancient trees. Many of these trees are real “celebrities,” with their own fascinating names and stories, as you’ll find out during the Big Trees Tram Tour this morning. Lunch is on your own today and Wawona might be a great place to have it. While you’re there, you can visit the Pioneer Yosemite History Center in Wawona; learn more about life in the good old days as you investigate historic buildings brought to this living history museum from all over Yosemite. Or, head on back to the Tenaya Lodge and spend the afternoon enjoying all the fun activities it offers with your family. Depart the lodge late evening for a special evening. First up – try your luck panning for gold, just like the old prospectors – then get set for a rip-roaring evening on the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad Moonlight Special. First, you’ll chow down at a great barbecue dinner while the Sugar Pine Singers entertain you with old-fashioned ballads and toe-tapping melodies. Then, it’s ALL ABOARD The Logger steam train for a narrow-gauge rail excursion powered by a resrtored vintage Shay steam locomative.Ride through Sierra National Forest and back in time to the days when lumberjacks and steam locomotives ruled the woods. Gather round the campfire for a sing-along during a stopover in the canyon, and hear that lonesome whistle blow as you chug home in the moonlight!

Meals: Breakfast, dinner

Lodging: Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite, Fish Camp, CA

Y ou’ll learn about Yosemite’s history, geology, plant and animal life, and must-see attractions from park rangers during a two-hour tram tour along the valley floor. Spend some free time with your family exploring this amazing place… go for a hike, rent bikes, go to programs presented by park rangers… or anything else you choose. Tonight, see what really goes on the woods at night during an interpretive hike lit by flashlights – and perhaps by starlight or moonlight, too – in the Sierra National Forest.

Meals: Breakfast

Lodging: Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite, Fish Camp, CA

Visit the Mariposa Museum & History Center for a look at indoor and outdoor exhibits including an authentic Gold Rush-era saloon, a typical miner’s cabin and a one-room schoolhouse. California travel wouldn’t be complete without seeing “America’s salad bowl.” At least 25% of America’s agricultural products come from California and the majority of them are produced in the San Joaquin Valley. You may see vineyards, nuts, citrus fruits and vegetables basking in the sun as you drive along. Hopefully they’ll make you hungry because you’ll want a big appetite when we stop for lunch at Big Bubba’s Bad BBQ… it’s “bad to the bone.” While you’re waiting for your lunch to arrive, check out the huge indoor tree house, ride the mechanical bull* or bring your family outside and take their pictures sitting on a big pink pig! Travel through the scenic Coast Mountains to the California coast this afternoon and tour the Monterey Peninsula along the 17-Mile Drive to the renowned Pebble Beach golf course. Spend the next two nights in seaside Monterey at the Portola Hotel & Spa, right on Fisherman’s Wharf, near Cannery Row and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch

Lodging: Portola Hotel & Spa, Monterey, CA

This morning, your family can choose between three fun things to do – a bike tour* along the coast, a kayak adventure* in Monterey Bay or a self-guided walking tour of old Monterey, once the capital of California. Did you know that an octopus tastes with its tentacles – or that corals and jellyfish are cousins? That’s just part of what you may learn at a late-afternoon behind-the-scenes visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, located on the former site of a sardine cannery and one of the world’s largest aquariums. Its 200 galleries and exhibits introduce you to an amazing underwater world, including giant octupuses, jellyfish, large green sea turtles, barracuda, sharks and coral reefs, as well as natural displays that showcase playful otters and endearing black-footed penguins. Your visit ends with a special farewell dinner right at the Aquarium in seaside Monterey.

Meals: Breakfast, dinner

Lodging: Portola Hotel & Spa, Monterey, CA

Your California travel ends in Monterey. Your family can fly home anytime; a transfer is included from Portola Hotel & Spa to Monterey Peninsula Airport. For those flying from San Francisco International Airport, one group transfer is included from Portola Hotel & Spa for flights after 12:00 noon. Please allow 2 1/2 hours for flight check-in formalities. We wish you a safe and pleasant journey home.

Meals: Breakfast