The trip was all worth for a day trip, but expect not to see everything in Yosemite. We used our 3 hour free time and stayed only in one of the waterfalls, which is a good experience. Some leftover minutes were spent at the Cafeteria ..and enjoyed charting with newfound friends.

Before booking my trip I called different tour companies. I booked both the Small Group to Armstrong Redwoods and Wineries along with a Small Group tour to Yosemite with Best Bay Area Tours. Brian and Phil were exceptional in answering all questions and concerns and the team emails the day before the tour with contact information as well as timeline expectations. They picked up at hotel on schedule. As I already wrote a review about Joe (Tour for small group to Redwoods...tour taken on Monday)...and was content that at least one trip exceeded expectations. On Tuesday I went to Yosemite...Brian was our tour guide to Yosemite and the small bus held 10 adventurous souls, only 3 were from the US. Somehow Brian bridged the "unknown cultural/language" Gap! The whole bus became more like a family watching out for each other as we had plenty of downtime hiking Yosemite. Brian was very knowledgeable, professional and basically just fun! He had the telescope ready for El Capitan where we were able to spot a free solo climber, he took shortcuts to circle back to sites as the weather cleared for the perfect photos along with stopping at spots not on a schedule for photos...his personal picks. He then followed up the next day with an email of photos and videos of our group! He thought of everything...the intro...the tour...and the conclusion. I had a great time. Best Bay Area Tours was awesome! I have booked tours through Viatour/TripAdvisor for 5 years...all were good... This tour company was exceptional! Thank you!

We were in terminal 2 going to Cabos. No currency exchange and only American has a lounge that you can only access with an American ticket even though they are part of one world. Not great. Restaurants are OK. Clean and tidy. Not great communication between the staff on security that was a little frustrating. Check in was painful. Opening luggage to shift stuff around for weight that was not a problem on any other flight we have taken. Grrrrrr ended up with stuff on the cabin that was a little unnecessary.

Oakland Airport is smaller and easier to navigate than the SF, so we appreciated that! Long walks required, note that if mobility is an issue. You can shuttlebus to car rental. If you drive to Napa/Sonoma, it’s faster to have $5s & $1s going thru tollgate. Rental cars w/tollpass not worth the extra charge (we paid $7.50), unless you visit SF a lot. Major traffic slow-downs in rush hour; CA people plan around that traffic. It’s easy to find your way w/Google or Waze, but there are a lot of very curvy roads, so you can’t maintain a nice 70 most of the time! We visited friends in Sebastopol, so day-trips included Bodega Bay, Healdsburg, some fantastic creameries (local cheese is WOW), and the Ridge and MacRostie wineries (both wow as well!). Your experience enjoyment will likely depend on allowing plenty of time to drive, time to linger & enjoy your food/wine, and a willingness to go to a few places that are very family driven—friendly and knowledgeable—such as the creameries. I would NOT plan a 7-stops-a-day, quick tour of everything. Take your time, enjoy the ambience and take notes for the next trip there. Loved it!