My daughter

I wish we went to Yosemite.  My wife was in full control freak mode and was in the "We want to ...." and "We don't want to...." zone.  She projects her desires onto the kids that don't really know what they want to do in a place they haven't been to since they were babies.  

I'm back now and a bit lost for reasons I just can't explain.  Really weird.  

We flew into LA and flew out of SF 10 days later.  

The original plan was to go to the Motocross National at Glen Helen in San Bernardino, but we extended it to do some other things as well.  The kids and I ride, and my wife has become a bit of a groupie of the sport, so we go to a bit of the Motocross (summer outdoors) and and Supercross (winter in stadiums) events from time to time, but the Glen Helen national is something to see with some seriously intense hills.

Se started off with a few days at Lake Arrowhead which is about 40 minutes up in the mountains from Glen Helen.  We stayed there a couple days after the race and then went down to Santa Monica.  Because the kids are both Freshmen in HS, we (I) thought it would be nice to walk around at some of the PAC12 campuses while we were there.  So as part of the drive from LAX to the San Bernardino mountains, we spent a few hours walking around on the UCLA campus.  The kids liked that but wife was unimpressed.

Kids loved Lake Arrowhead as there were lots of kids there, and the both loved the race as they got to take some selfies with some of the racers and post them.  

Early June isn't the best time for Santa Monica, and my wife had a burr in her saddle that forced the first full day there into driving around in the LA area so she could walk around on Rodeo drive, etc.  Then she said "They" wanted to drive up the coast to Monterrey, which we did all night in the fog.  

On the way to SF, we stopped and walked around at Stanford which everyone loved.  It was one of the highlights of the week.  Such a positive and clean place, and a motivation for the kids to do well in school.  If they ask why they have to learn math or history, the answer is so you can go do a school like Stanford.  My wife even liked it there even thought it wasn't one of the things "They" wanted to do.  

We did all the touristy things in SF which really is great fun.  One evening, my son and I just went out to a neat, hip little dive for sushi and then did some stuff that was suggested to us by a guy we met outside the Pacific Club.  We had some great conversations -- like a couple guys on the town.  My son said that -- apart from the race -- was the high point of his week.  Drunk chicks (sorry for using that offensive word) were fawning all over him, and he loved it.  

Before departing, we stopped by UC Berkeley, which I hadn't visited in years.  Berkeley offended my wife, scared my daughter, and entertained my son.  They wouldn't let us near the DOE Laboratories, and the kids weren't interested in visiting the bookstore there.  Compared to my last visit 15+ years ago, it was a bit of a Star Wars bar scene.  We were the offensive weirdos there.  

The last time I visited CA for any period of time with my wife was before the kids.  At that time, we camped in Yosemite and were generally more active.  My wife even climbed Half Dome with me.  She claimed to not be in shape for Yosemite this time and said that "She and the Kids" didn't want to drive around in the mountains or camp this time.  That decision saddened me greatly, and I'm still struggling somewhat from it.  I guess if I'm going to do that again, I'll have to do it myself.  

For the most part, I was practicing my "Deal with it and have FUN" attitude, but at some point during the trip, I failed to some degree.  I frankly got depressed and had to trudge on to ensure that everyone else enjoyed themselves as much as possible.  I got the sinking feeling that this was the last thing we would do together as a family, and I wanted everyone -- wife included -- to remember it fondly.  Geeze, I'm getting really down writing this.

At one point when we were driving around in the LA area doing what "They" wanted to do, my son wanted to get out and walk the hills around the Hollywood sign.  So, we parked and started walking.  My son decided he would scramble up the hill side to the sign despite the $1,000 fine prohibition against it.  He's somewhat rebellious against my wife's collective "We" desires, so I decided to join him.  At that point, I figured a night in the LA county lockup would probably do me good.  So we did it.  I didn't get locked up.

If you get to do Yosemite, I will envy you very badly -- it's a fantasy land.  I recommend the universities as well -- especially with kids.  Like all of CA, they pretty much run the gamut.

You'd probably like him.  Most women do.

In SF, I had a woman my age -- nearly -- fawning all over him insisting there was no way he was 15.  

Now I know what one of the women here -- I think it was @mountainrunner -- was talking about regarding men looking past her at the younger women.  Only this was ME and she was looking at a 15 year old.  You women are all out for the young ones.  Us old, grey, baldies have no chance.

@creelunion

"You women are all out for the young ones. Us old, grey, baldies have no chance."

Yes, you do. If you have a naughty, mischievous personality.... [g]

I'll leave you to your own parenting style, but I'll offer this observation...

Similar challenges with my own kids - they'd pout up a storm when we'd take them on trips like this where they were disconnected from friends and technology, to the point that I regretted bringing them at all. Refusing to engage, trying to bury themselves in a cocoon ignoring the world outside, and grousing through hikes and sightseeing.

And then later, perhaps more than a year, it would emerge as having been one of their most memorable trips, when they had opportunity to relate the experience to someone else. I was like "WTF? Is this not the same person I had to painfully endure for a week?" It reinforced that the experience was as memorable as we'd expected, though the kids refused to acknowledge it at the time.

As a parent, there are those times when you have to be content knowing "you'll thank me for this later", and drag their ass to those memorable events.

Ha.  Sometimes I think having MARRIED stamped across my forehead actually attracts women.  

It's funny how this also sometimes works with adults -- myself included.  I didn't want to go anywhere near the Hollywood sign, but when we got there and saw the threat of the $1,000 fine and imprisonment, it made the whole thing worth while.

I also did Alcatraz and found that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Hey - you guys sound like fun! :-D