Category: Hotel – Hyatt House San Jose/Silicon Valley

5 Headquarters Dr, San Jose, CA 95134

(408) 324-1155

Rafting Adventure 2019

Posted on by MICHELLE N

The highlight of our summer trip this year was to go rafting on the Stanislaus River in Oakdale, which is about 2 hours driving from San Jose.

6:30 AM we left the hotel, stopped by Huong Lan Sandwiches to get some Pate Chaud and coffee for breakfast; then headed to the meeting point Golfland. We were on time but there was not many people there; and my friend was still picking up his friends, so we decided to go to the Knights Ferry.

Arrived to the Knights Ferry about 9:10 AM. We needed to check in at the parking lot near the bridge first to get our bands and pay for parking, then we head back to the bridge and walked down the stairs to where the boat ramp is. This is where they gave us a short orientation about safety and what to do, and make sure we all had the life vest on before letting us board the raft. Our family of 10 people fit nicely in this big raft.

Our group of 10
Julie, Thân, Danny & Tracy Võ
Eliza, Bryan, Victoria Nguyễn
Michelle, Tim & William

Soon after we left the ramp, friends from other rafts starting to attack us with water guns and buckets full of water. We came prepared too, so we attacked back with the water gun and water buckets. Vy, Bryan and Eliza was so vigorously in fighting back :). Soon we all were wet from heads to toes.

William at first loved the boat, the water but he did not like the water war; he asked “I want to go back to the car!” so I hugged him and tried to shelter him from all the water splashes. After that he was fine; he tried to use the water gun to shoot others too.

The river is beautiful, lots of times we can see the rocks at the bottom so some parts are not that deep. When we stopped for lunch around 12:30 PM, William refused to get out of the water, he loved to play with the paddle in the water.

After lunch, we continue our way to the Orange Blossoms ramp, which is about 3 miles ahead. This leg of the river has more waves which added more excitement to this fun adventure.

We love this place with shallow water and lots of rocks; this is near the end of trip.

We arrived to the Orange Blossoms point around 2:00 PM. There were River Journey Adventure staffs waiting to pull our raft to the shore. This is where we had to take our stuffs and got off the raft and gave back the safety box (they let us borrow for free). William did not want to leave just yet, he ran back to the water that I had to pull him back. There was a shuttle waiting there to take us back to the parking lot. So it was a one way river trip.

It was definitely a fun trip for everyone; it’s 1 of the family trip that we will remember as we go thru life. And most importantly to me is that William had fun and he was happy to play with the water.

Cost: $33.00/pp (child or adult). If buy more than 10 tickets then the website will automatically apply discount of $3.00 off.

https://www.riverjourney.com

San Jose 2019

Posted on by MICHELLE N

Saturday 6/22 – Monday 6/24

A friend (Do Vu) from San Jose asked if we wanted to join his friends to rafting on the Stanislaus river. We’ve never rafted before so it was very tempting so I asked my sisters if they want to go. The answer was Yes, so we decided to go. It was that easy!

After a few sleepless nights of researching for the hotel that can fit 10 pp, I settled on the Hyatt House in San Jose; which has 2 rooms with 1 king and 2 queen beds and 1 sofa can turn into a queen bed and a kitchen. It’s about 700 sqf so it fits 10 of us nicely. ($550.00 for 2 nights includes tax).

William was very excited when I told him that we were going on a mini-vacation.

Our trip started at 7:00 AM on Saturday morning. Our first stop was a McDonald in Ventura for restroom break and some harsh browns for William, he loves harsh brown!

Next was Solvang, a Danish town; but William did not like it; he insisted to go back to the car.

William was whining and wanting to go back to the car. He never likes hot weather!
Walking around town
William’s cousins: Danny and Tracy Vo; Bryan and Victoria Nguyễn
The 3 sisters: Eliza, me & my older sis Julie

William’s behaviors got better after we made the coin. He loves to make the coins wherever there’s a coin making machine.

Here’s the coin with Solvang symbol: the windmill.
He did not want to leave until he can make some coin. Tim had to go buy some stuffs to exchange for quarters so that he can make one.

Leaving Solvang after the kids have a chance to eat some ice cream; and my brother in law Thân tasted some cheese, we arrived to San Jose around 4:30 PM.

But the room was not ready yet; they said to come back at 5:00 PM so we sat on the lounge near the pool waiting for the room. William was so excited and ran around the hotel without waiting for me.

We came back to the front desk, the room was still not ready yet, they said “10 more minutes!”. William could not stay still, he ran up and down the elevator and played with the curtain next to the bar. Moments later, the front desk came and told us our room was ready. What a happy moment for us after a long drive, 8 hours!

To make up, the hotel offered us free parking and a plate of snack/fruit. William took the red apple and ate it while jumping around the rooms.

About an hour later, the kids went to the pool; they definitely had some fun there. It’s a heated pool but they keep it only at 70 degree so it feels cold.

William played by himself in the corner, occasionally shoot the water from the water gun.
Our nephews and nieces enjoyed the pool also.
William finished the whole bag of pop corn – a treat from the hotel

Next day, Sunday, we went rafting which we had so much fun (see the post here )

Then in the afternoon, we went to the Our Lady of Peace Church and Shrine in Santa Clara, which is famous for its Statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. William ran around the spacious garden freely. It’s a beautiful statue of Mary.