You've received some good suggestions from others concerning your trip up the Coast. As a resident of Silicon Valley, let me expand on the suggestions for the two-week stay in Sunnyvale.

You should book your hotel reservations immediately. Embassy Suites is located in Santa Clara, and there is a Residence Inn in Mountain View (one city south and one city north of Sunnyvale, respectively). Hotel space in the Valley is always at a premium, even with the current recession.

Great America is actually located here, but will probably be closed in December. However, San Jose has a great Children's Museum if your children are small, and there are numerous smaller museums for children (Palo Alto and Coyote Point, to name two). If your timing is just right, you might want to drive over to the coast to Ano Nuevo to see the elephant seals. And, of course, San Francisco has the Exploratorium in addition to all the other sights. Oakland has a good museum focused on California history.

On the drive up from the Monterey Bay Area, you might want to stop at San Juan Bautista, which is a restored mission. It's also where Vertigo was filmed, so check out the movie beforehand. And, there's a small earthquake park there where you can see the effects of an earthquake.

For the weekend, I'd recommend a trip to the California Gold Country. Columbia is a restored Gold Rush town (it's a California historical monument), and fun for kids. Or, you could go to Sacramento, and check out the train museum.

Let us know if you need additional suggestions!

Dot Allen