We’ve been on a hiatus from house projects. We are tired! Granted, there are only a few projects left. But, with increasing responsibility at work, a growing child who is getting into extracurricular activities, we eventually need a break. Does it sound familiar to wake up around 6:30AM to get ready for work, make lunches, serve breakfast, leave the house by 7:30AM, drop a kid (or more) off at school, go to work, pick the kid(s) up from after care, buzz home to eat by 5/5:30PM and then head to a sports practice? Weekends are house work and either sports or house projects. It’s no small wonder the latest conversation around where to put some focus was on a vacation.
So…Our next big trip is a vacation in California, including a trip to Disneyland! A few things came together at the same time for us on this one. A family member was getting married in San Diego, another family member lived north of Los Angeles and we hadn’t had a chance to visit since the move, and, in looking at the map for how to get from a family visit to the wedding we realized we would driving right by Disneyworld and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take our child there for the first time. As if we needed another excuse to spend time in California, my cousin, whom I hadn’t seen since she had her babies, was going to be vacationing nearby our route so we tacked on a day to be able to spend an afternoon with them. And this was how our 8-day California adventure was born.
Here’s what we did in 8 days (Sat-Mon).
Day 1 – Flew into LA arriving just before noon. Rented a car from Alamo (Alamo and National are our favorites) and started driving north. We meandered to Highway State Route 1 and took it up the coast to the Santa Barbara area. Arriving just in time to catch a drink and dinner, we met up with our family member and ate at a beautiful seaside restaurant that was as equally kid and dog friendly as it was polished. Route 1 is just as beautiful as people say it is and well worth the drive. Even if it added time to our agenda, we’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Day 2 – Drove north to Solvang, a quaint and picturesque Dutch town with no shortage of shops, restaurants, and charm. Completely worth the trip. Spent most of the day there then bid adieu to family #1 to drive south along Route 1 past LA to Anaheim.
Day 3 & 4 – Disneyland. We’ll do a whole post on Disneyland but we stayed for 2 full days. We could have done 1 more but probably not more than that, at least not in a row. While amazing, that place wore us out!
Day 5 – We slept in a bit and drove from Anaheim to just north of San Diego to spend the rest of the day on the beach. We needed a break so badly we forgot to write down where we stayed but I can tell you we didn’t do much other than lay in the sun and eat at a nice, leisurely dinner :). I’ll cover this in my Disneyland post as well but we highly recommend a relaxation day after a sprint at the parks.
Day 6 – Packed it up right after breakfast and dropped in to visit Seaworld. It was a very enjoyable experience. The rides were not the highlight for us, the shows were. We stayed until mid afternoon and then left to check in to our hotel we were staying at for the wedding in time for dinner by the water followed by rehearsal.
Day 7 – Wedding festivities! The bride and groom married in the park-like area of a hotel close to the water in San Diego. It was lovely and lush. Lunch and dancing were followed by invitations to the pool and dinner poolside. A good time had by all. Little man served as the ring bearer and loved every minute of it.
Day 8 – Met up with my cousin and met her adorable little kiddos in person. By dinnertime we were winging our way back to the Midwest. We were tired but happy as clams for our productive and enjoyable time off work as well as the opportunity to build new memories together.
Travel summary:
The biggest take-away I would share is to travel the coastline and hit up more than one place in California. We saw many things in a short time and each place had their own approach to the California vibe. Next time, and there will be a next time, we’re going north in this beautiful state.
Another few disclaimers for you. If you are the type that likes to get somewhere and stay put, this type of adventure is not for you. We knew the days would be full and we’d be moving often. We lived out of our suitcases and discussed ahead of time the need to keep our sense of adventure. In addition, we have a child who is very used to trapsing around wherever we go and we discussed each day before they happened so he would, while still very young, understand the next day would be different than this day, etc. Some kids do well with this type of schedule and varied settings, others do not. I get that. If this trip doesn’t sound like your family’s cup of tea plan a different adventure perfect for your family!
Finally, the trip required quite a bit of planning and coordination. We did not use a travel agent or purchase a package. We did look for discounts, offers, etc. for every thing we did once we had planned the trip, but, California is not cheap, and with the amount of movement we had to plan our days out (sort of). Depending on the type of vacationer you are, these are just some considerations to keep in mind so you aren’t stressed out planning, in execution, or afterward – needing a vacation from your vacation. That’s not why we vacation, is it?!
Cheers.
Not Tomorrow 