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The
girls discover the reclusive hermit crab
at Point Lobos State Park
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| Client Name: |
Gary and Stella Jenkins |
| Group Size: |
4 adults, 3 children |
| Group Make-up: |
Gary and Stella, their three young daughters
and Stella's parents |
| Home: |
London, England |
| Interests: |
Nature, shopping, good food, relaxation,
getting a good sampling of California in
a fairly short amount of time. |
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Gary and Stella contacted me looking for a fairly
simple family vacation that would be enjoyable for
3 generations, including themselves, Stella's parents
and their three adorable daughters. They had a pretty
good idea of where they wanted to go, and planned
to spend some time on their own at both of the tour
bookends (San Francisco and San Diego). Their primary
objective was to see as much as they could in a somewhat
limited amount of time with us - just 6 days.
Challenges:
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Pack as much variety into 6 days
as possible, without exhausting Stella's parents,
or exceeding the patience of three young children. |
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Incorporate varied sights, sounds and activities
into a single package that had something to appeal
to all three generations. |
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Fit Yosemite National Park, and the two 4-hour
drives required to reach it and return from it
to the coast, while still leaving time for a reasonably
paced trip down California's coast. |
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The Jenkins only had six days to spend with us, and
they wanted to cover a lot of ground, without being
rushed. So, being a bit limited on time, we needed
to travel with maximum economy.
We began by picking the group up early in the morning
for a departure from downtown San Francisco, where
they had already been staying for several days. The
plan was to get nearly 2 full days in at Yosemite,
while only spending one night. Our early departure
allowed us to arrive in Yosemite's High Country in
the early afternoon for a picnic on Tenaya Lake, and
to enjoy that portion of the park at a leisurely pace,
while still being able to get to the Valley in time
to enjoy it with plenty of sunlight.
The second day, we spent in the Valley, Glacier Point,
and at the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. If you
know Yosemite, and the distances between each of these
places, you'll understand that that's a full day.
In order to gain back some time into the itinerary,
our recommendation was to use the evening hours to
travel the 4 hours it would take to get back to the
coast. The Central Valley is mostly agriculture, and
not particularly breathtaking, so the reasoning was
that those who wanted to sleep could, and those that
were awake wouldn't be missing anything anyway. The
tactic allowed us to start fresh the next morning,
already out on the coast in Monterey.
Here's the trip we put
together for the Jenkins
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