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San Francisco & Yosemite recomondations?

Ivan Kristensen

Well Known Member
My wife and I are planning to fly from South Western Ontario Canada to California in the next week or so. Several stops are planned incl. Rapid City SD, Page Arizona and Las Vegas.

Our goal is to arrive in the San Francisco area on or about Sept. 7th. and spend 4-5 days visiting both San Fransisco and Yosemite Natl Park. I am looking at parking the RV-10 at Modesto (KMOD) get a hotel and use it as a base, rent a car and go from there.

Being totally unfamiliar with the area any help and suggestions any of you might have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Ivan
 
For Yosemite, land at Mariposa (kmpi). They have rental cars on the field with very reasonable rates. only a 30 mile drive or so from there.

For downtown San Francisco, consider landing at Oakland. Signature actually isn't too expensive if you buy some fuel. If you want a slower paced field, you could head to livermore which is still much closer.

Modesto will always work, but its not much of a destination and quite a drive to both places you want to see.

Caleb
 
Agree Mariposa for Yosemite and Concord for SF Bay. Concord has a BART station (subway train) which services the whole bay area. A rental car in SF is not as fun as using the public and private transport services such as bus, train, boat, cable cars, uber, etc.
 
Agree with others. SF is a good city to use public transportation. Driving and parking can be unpleasant.
San Francisco. Land at CCR or LVK. CCR (Concord) has a Hilton on the field; BART station is about a 2 mile walk, or short cab or Uber ride. LVK (Livermore) has several hotels within walking distance of the airport. BART station (Pleasanton) is a 6 mile taxi or Uber ride.
Yosemite. Agree with others, Mariposa is a good bet. Rental cars, or there?s a two or three times a day bus. There is some lodging available in the park, more likely to find a vacancy after Labor Day. Mariposa has a few motels.
Suggestion: if the wx is good, fly a tour around the Bay. Stop at HAF for lunch (walking distance to the boat pier).
Caution: a few weeks ago northern CA forest fires? smoke forced the closing of Yosemite for a week or so. May want to check status prior to departure.
 
San Carlos has a hotel on the field and others close by. Nice rental cars available from the pilot shop (and can arrange shuttles/tours as well, give Hans a call). CalTrain station is close by.
 
Tend to agree with the others.

Mariposa is the place for Yosemite access. (I'm on the hangar waiting list there)

Concord or Napa for the SF trip (if you're doing wine)
 
Check the current situation in Yosemite re fires and access.

Also, I would suggest on initial drive in to Yosemite, take the loop up to Glacier Point - yes, I know it is a few miles but if clear, the views are the best you will ever get of the valley.
 
Another suggestion - if you do the bridge, do it weekday on foot. You get the city side view and you will always get on the ferry back from Sausalito. If you bike across, you may get the sea side (aka fog) and you may wait ages in line for the ferry. Alternatively, get an E bike and go out to Sausalito on the ferry and use all your ergs for the climb up the hill :D

Oh and be careful wearing your VAF cap on the cable car - nearly lost mine - see view thread !
 
Bay area/Yosemite visit

Wow! Thanks guys for all the great suggestions. Looks like Mariposa is going to be the place to land for Yosemite. I will be sure to check on the fire situation.

I am looking at the various options for the Bay area, it seems obvious that a rental car is a bad idea so an airport with good access to public transportation and hotels will be the way to go.
 
Bay area VFR???

Suggestion: if the wx is good, fly a tour around the Bay. Stop at HAF for lunch (walking distance to the boat pier).
I would love to fly a VFR tour around that area but it would scare me to death to do so in fear of violating that complicated airspace.

If someone familiar with this airspace would meet up and fly with me to keep me out of trouble that would be great. (lunch on me)
 
Tourist attraction

I loved the WWII diesel submarine tour on the pier in the harbor. Pay attention to the engines. I thought they were just diesel but they are the opposed piston engines by Fairbanks Morse I think. Interesting concept that is being worked on again. Might be a great airplane engine someday.
 
Hi Ivan, I live in SF, so I can help, too. I will send you a PM with my contact info.

Especially around the city and in all neighborhoods, the most important piece of advice, unfortunately, that must be said is, NEVER EVER leave anything in your car of value. I have seen too many unfortunate tourists who have had all of their luggage and valuables stolen from their cars. Do not even show a charging cable, loose change, etc. Do not give them ANY reason to break a window (it only takes a couple seconds). They watch to see what you put in the trunk. No neighborhood is safe, not even in front of Nancy Pelosi's house.

If you are staying in SF, you can argue not having a car and just Uber around. It will be expensive but probably easier. Personally, my favorite places are all outside of the city (Napa Valley, Yosemite, bay beaches, coast line, Marin headlands, Sausalito, Tiburon, Pt Reyes, Muir Woods, Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Monterey, etc. etc.) For all those, you want a car.

The weather is getting better here, IE less hot inland and less cold on the coast. Our best weather is the fall months. You should have a good trip, as long as you dont leave anything in your car! :D

Jae
 
Hey Ivan,

Dave von's Nephew here... not sure your plans for the enroute stays, but with my last job we used to stay at the Hotel Alex Johnson in Rapid City, SD. Probably only worth it if you're staying for an entire day or so. It's a Hilton property and on their website they're showing around $215/night. A bit rich for me, but when I do an "out west" trip, I was thinking about doing that for a night. It's pretty unique and nice. Located right in the middle of downtown which is very walkable.
 
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