Kids had not been happy with the fact that though their parents had been to California, they were yet to see the state; so, when a clan convention was planned to be hosted in the San Francisco area during the summer, we jumped at the chance to plan a trip to the golden state. The planning was planned to start in January, but knowing that countless hours would be wasted in "discussions" and haggling with Mrs. Porcupyn (full confession: we are the yin and the yang of trips and/or trip planning), I was smart enough to unplan for the trip. I sent myself an e-mail titled "Preliminary Plan" which is reproduced in its (almost) entirety below; I made doubly sure that the plan did not get within sniffing distance of Mrs. P, else both the plan and I would have been history!
<div>Thursday - open day - picnic, meet friends</div>
<div>
<div>Friday - clan convention</div>
<div>Saturday - clan convention</div>
</div>
<div>Sunday - local sightseeing and/or drive down to San Luis Obispo on the SR 1</div>
<div>Monday - leave for Kings Canyon/Sequoia</div>
<div>Tuesday - Yosemite</div>
<div>Wednesday - Lake Tahoe</div>
<div>Thursday - Crater Lake</div>
<div>Friday - Mount Shasta/Redwoods</div>
<div>Saturday - local sightseeing</div>
<div></div>
<div>On the face of it, it does look like a daunting trip plan; however, we had accomplished something very similar to this over a decade ago but for the preliminary trips to Redwood and Mount Shasta, and that too in spite of a close encounter with a full-grown buck who happened to jump across two lanes of I-5 and land up on the car's engine and windshield as I drove in broad daylight!</div>
<div></div>
<div>So, though it was doable, the X-factor this time around was the presence of the kids and my mother, who was visiting us for a couple of months. Either way, to be honest, I did not think we would be able to do all of this (which is why it was a preliminary plan) but I wanted to use that as a springboard for our 'unplanned' expedition out west.</div>
<div></div>
<div>Now that we are back, I am glad to note that we managed to visit most places listed above, except for the Redwoods and Crater Lake which, in hindsight, was really an overreach. On the other hand, we did see more places than we had done on that previous trip.</div>
<div>Thursday - open day - picnic, meet friends</div>
<div>
<div>Friday - clan convention</div>
<div>Saturday - clan convention</div>
</div>
<div>Sunday - local sightseeing and/or drive down to San Luis Obispo on the SR 1</div>
<div>Monday - leave for Kings Canyon/Sequoia</div>
<div>Tuesday - Yosemite</div>
<div>Wednesday - Lake Tahoe</div>
<div>Thursday - Crater Lake</div>
<div>Friday - Mount Shasta/Redwoods</div>
<div>Saturday - local sightseeing</div>
<div></div>
<div>On the face of it, it does look like a daunting trip plan; however, we had accomplished something very similar to this over a decade ago but for the preliminary trips to Redwood and Mount Shasta, and that too in spite of a close encounter with a full-grown buck who happened to jump across two lanes of I-5 and land up on the car's engine and windshield as I drove in broad daylight!</div>
<div></div>
<div>So, though it was doable, the X-factor this time around was the presence of the kids and my mother, who was visiting us for a couple of months. Either way, to be honest, I did not think we would be able to do all of this (which is why it was a preliminary plan) but I wanted to use that as a springboard for our 'unplanned' expedition out west.</div>
<div></div>
<div>Now that we are back, I am glad to note that we managed to visit most places listed above, except for the Redwoods and Crater Lake which, in hindsight, was really an overreach. On the other hand, we did see more places than we had done on that previous trip.</div>
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