What do you want to do today?

As I finish up our final arrangements, I'm really excited about a few extra activities we've added as our budget allows. A lot of our destinations are self explanatory, and this trip will include 10+ visits to State or National Parks. For the most part, we try to limit expenses by looking for free, family friendly activities like self guided walking tours, hikes, and low cost or free museums. Here are some highlights:

Manzanar Relocation Camp

This Japanese relocation center was active between 1942 and 1945. It is located in Owens Valley, five miles south of Independence, on the west side of US 395. It was one of ten relocation centers in the Western United States established to house over 120,000 American citizens of Japanese ancestry. Remains here include the two rock guardhouses, a large gymnasium, cemetery, and ruins of scores of other buildings. The site is on the National Register of Historic Places and is State Historic Landmark #850. In early 2004, the restored gymnasium opened as a site museum (Facts from Gary Speck's Ghost Town website). We're looking forward to stopping here on our way up to Lee Vining. We haven't covered 20th century history in our homeschool yet, but I couldn't pass this up. Best of all, it's free.

Bodie State Historic Park

Bodie SHP is 13 miles east of US 395, basically in the middle of nowhere. Back in 1878 when the gold was flowing, it was 10k people strong, but now its the best, most intact ghost town of that era. It was designated as a National Historic Site and a State Historic Park in 1962, and the remains of Bodie are being kept in a state of "arrested decay". The entrance fees are $5 for adults and $3 for kids.

Barbary Coast Trail

The Barbary Coast Trail is touted as San Fransisco's best historical walking tour. It's 3.8 miles long and begins at the Mint and winds through China Town and North Beach and then down to Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square. The trail is marked by 170 bronze medallions and arrows embedded in the sidewalk. We'll improvise a bit and use a local bus (39) to get up Telegraph Hill, and use the Powell-Hyde cable car to head back up to Union Square. We'll look for a brochure about the Barbary Coast Trail in the Border's Book Store near Union square, and pay for public transportation, but otherwise the self guided walking tour is free.

We've also booked an Alcatraz Tour and a Cowboy Cookout (in Yellowstone), but both come with hefty price tags, in my opinion. But we've never been to Alcatraz, and I can't find a single bad review of the Cowboy Cookout, so we are splurging on those. We'll also visit Marshall Gold State Historic Park in CA, and Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in WA.