In the summer of 1996, Julie and I drove down through Northern California coming from Washington and Oregon, all the way to San Francisco. In 2003, I visited SF with my mom and daughters. We stayed at the Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf and rode the cable cars for a day. We've also been down to Orange County 3 times. The kids loved Knott's Berry Farm which is great for younger children. Costa Mesa and area is much nicer than LA. Down in Carlsbad there is an amusement park named Legoland which, you guessed it, is all about Legos. For kids under 11, this is the best park I've evey been to. Plus the weather is beautiful in this area right by the sea.
I also have to include my one brief visit to San Jose to see the Northern Illinois University Huskies play in the Silicon Valley Bowl. My brother Brian and me took a morning flight out there, saw the game in a pouring rainstorm in 40 degree weather, and then flew back the next morning. Lots of fun and the Huskies won!
Following are links to some of the places we visited, as well as a few others that we would have liked to visit. The redwood forests, with their soaring trees, were an awesome place to camp and hike. There is a state park campground off HWY 1 that is set right in amongst the redwood trees. A day visiting the St. Helena vineyards was fun and I would recommend it highly. Sonoma and the central valley are other wine areas that are supposed to be fun. San Francisco is tourist city, with the cable cars, the piers, Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Haight-Ashbury, Chinatown, and the shopping, you really can't be bored.
