Do any of you guys know of a good aircraft museum I could take my
family to here in California? I live up north...

Here are some suggestions in the broad general vicinity of San
Francisco.


The Western Aerospace Museum at North Field in Oakland (the
general-aviation and cargo part of OAK) has an interesting collection.
It's a short cab ride from the passenger terminal if you're flying.
Take the Hegenberger exit from I-880 and turn west on Doolittle if
you're driving. An outdoor static display of a Shorts Solent flying
boat makes the last turnoff rather hard to miss to say the least.
http://www.westernaerospacemuseum.org/


This is about five or six miles from the USS Hornet:
http://www.uss-hornet.org/


On t'other side of the Bay is the Hiller Museum:
http://www.hiller.org/


and a bit south of San Jose you find Wings of History:
http://www.wingsofhistory.org


At the former Castle AFB (in the Central Valley between Sacramento and
Fresno, about three hours from the Bay Area, depending on what part of
the Bay Area and of course on traffic) there is a museum:
http://www.elite.net/castle-air/


Not aviation related, but worth a visit as long as you're in the
vicinity, is the USS Pampanito, a WW2 fleet submarine in San
Francisco:
http://www.maritime.org/index.htm


Figure on one or two a day depending on how much time you choose to
spend at the exhibits (and other things in the area) and on drive time
in between, which can be a large variable.

Cheers,
--Joe