Family Photo at Inspiration PointThis was a bold plan and probably my finest moment in family adventure planning. I should retire right now while I’m still on top.

Since the boys have moved West and we are still on the East Coast, planning holidays has gotten a bit more challenging to say the least. Not wanting to have the boys pay the high airfare around the Thanksgiving holiday for a short trip back East, Herb and I figured we would go their way, adding a week before and a week and a half after the holiday. The problem was where was “their way,” as they lived 13 hours apart from each other.

Then it hit me – Yosemite Valley. But would the family go for it? Who was I kidding? This was unanimously our favorite place on Earth, and I barely got the question out to each of them, before receiving an enthusiastic and resounding “Yes!!”

So there was the anchor point in our trip – 4 nights in Yosemite Valley. Now all I had to do was figure out a plan for before and after, which is something I love to do.

Celeste’s wonderful parents made the before part really easy, by inviting us to a pre-Thanksgiving feast at their house the weekend before, plus the promise of hikes on the Sonoma Coast. The trip was starting to take shape nicely.

For the back end of the trip, Herb and I figured we would drive down the Pacific Coast Highway to San Diego and back, beaching and kayaking along the way. Unfortunately, the record breaking cold front that moved in after we left Yosemite put a kink in any water-related activities, but we still got to see some beautiful, new places to come back to in the future, when bathing suits rather than a parka would be the proper attire.

It turned out to be, as one of the boys proclaimed, “our best family vacation ever,” and that’s saying a lot!