|
Day 1 - Traveling west
Left from Milwaukee at 6:45am on
Midwest Airlines
and flew to Kansas City, Missouri. Switched planes in KC and then flew to San Diego. After gathering
up our luggage, we caught a shuttle to the Enterprise rental car place to pick up our rental. We were
allowed to chose which rental car we wanted and decided on a brand new Dodge Stratus. It only had 23
miles on it! But by the time we were done with it, it had over 1200 miles on it! It was a nice car, but
I suppose it should have been since it was brand new! After getting the rental car all squared away we
set off to the north for Pismo Beach. We originally thought it would take a little more than 4 hours
to drive. Took more like six. We did make a 20 minute pit stop along the way and got caught in a bit
of traffic in the Los Angeles area. But we eventually made it to Pismo Beach that night and checked
into the Best Western Shelter Cove Lodge.
This hotel is right on the ocean. Our room had a balcony and ocean view. Very nice place with a
pool/hottub, continental breakfast, in room mini fridge and microwave, and was a large room.
Day 2 - Hearst Castle 33 photos
The reason we drove this far north after arriving in California was to go to
Hearst Castle. If you're
not familiar with Hearst Castle, it was the "ranch" that publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst built
high on a hill in San Simeon, California. The pictures were taken during two of the five tours they offer.
We went on Tour 1 and Tour 3. Mary and I had been to Hearst Castle in 1990, but couldn't wait to go back.
This was Danny's first visit and really liked it as well. We would highly recommend this place to anyone
visiting California.
Day 3 - Pismo Beach, California 31 photos
Before we left Pismo Beach to head back to San Diego we took a bunch of photos around the hotel grounds.
There is a short walking path and a set of stairs that head down to a beach/cove area (hence the name
Shelter Cove Lodge). On the way back to San Diego, we drove through Santa Barbara. Wow, what an upscale
community that place is. Neat looking houses built into the edge of tree covered mountains with views of
the ocean. Very cool. We also drove through Los Angeles/Hollywood (on the freeway only) and saw the famous
"Hollywood" sign from the
freeway (sorry no pic, that's why I put a link to it). Once in San Diego, we checked into the Comfort Inns
and Suites. We've stayed at Comfort Inns before and chose this place because they have something called
"a kids suite". Great concept. The room is broken up into two rooms. Adult side has king size bed, tv, mini
fridge and microwave. The kids side has bunk beds, its own tv and a small table. The rooms are separated by
a sliding door. Like I said, great concept but this place was pretty much in disrepair and unclean. Paint
flaking off in lots of spots, cracked tiles on the floor, dingy part of town lacking any kind of restaurants.
We were supposed to stay for 6 nights. We stayed that first night and then left the next morning after booking
a room at the Residence Inn on
Scripps Highland Drive a bit farther out of downtown.
Day 4 - Legoland 39 photo
After booking a room at the Residence Inn this morning and then checking out of the Comfort Inn, we headed
to Legoland in Carlsbad, California for a good portion of the day. What a neat place if you're a kid (or adult!)
are into Legos. It is geared toward the younger kids, but we had a nice time. The best part of the grounds
was Miniland USA. They've recreated parts of cities and landmarks all in legos. Washington, DC, the New York
skyline, Golden Gate Bridge, Daytona Speedway to name a few. Check out the pictures. The GO San Diego Card
got us all in FREE - would have been about $142 without the card. After leaving Legoland, we "meandered"
down the coast. Stopped and watched some people surfing and taking in the scenery. Finally made it to the
Residence Inn and what a refreshing
site. The hotel was in immaculate condition. Like I mentioned before,
this place was further out of the San Diego downtown area, but what a nice place!! King size bed, sleeper
sofa, kitchenette with full size refrigerator, sink, microwave and plates/forks/spoons/etc., outdoor
pool/hottub, exercise room and best of all clean and upscale. This is the second Residence Inn we've stayed
at and will most likely be the only place we look to stay in again. They are great.
Day 5 - Cruises 30 photos
We drove down to San Diego Harbor to see about a harbor cruise and a whale watching cruise. They recommend
advanced reservations, but when we got there they had spots available for the South Harbor Tour cruise
(they also have a North Harbor Tour) that was set to leave in just over an hour. And they had a whale
watching cruise leaving about an hour or so after we got back from the harbor tour. We used the San Diego
GO Card for these as well and all was FREE using the card - would have been about $113 without the card.
Definitely recommend the harbor tour. Our "guide" on the tour pointed out all the ships in the harbor as
we went by and many of the landmarks that can be seen along the cruise route. The whale watching was kind
of long since you have to work your way out of the harbor and into the open ocean to see the whales on their
migration south. The whole trip took just over three hours and we really only saw two whales - well really
we saw water spouts and a tail! These whale watching cruises are only available during certain parts of the
year and this day happened to be the first day of that time frame. So that may explain why there were only
a couple to see. Maybe if we had done it a week or so later there may have been more to see. Who knows, but
it was still kinda cool.
Day 6 - Point Loma & La Jolla 17 photos
We went to the Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma and saw the Juan Cabrillo statue, old Point Loma
Lighthouse and views of San Diego Bay and the San Diego skyline. Later in the day we drove up to La Jolla
and saw harbor seals and ate a late lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe (including a $5 off using the Go Card). Danny
especially liked the guitars hanging in the Hard Rock. This day ends with a funny story of our brush with
"fame" (or infamy as it were). Every night that we got back to the Residence Inn we would usually head down
to the outside pool/hottub. We usually had the place to ourselves. Maybe the cool air at night discouraged
people from using it, but the pool was heated and felt good. Well this night started like most. We started
in the hottub, then moved to the pool. Danny and I were "splashing around" in the pool, when Mary decided
to go back to the hottub. Shortly after that a very large guy comes into the pool/hottub area and heads
straight for the hottub. Mary's talking to this guy and Danny and I are still fooling around in the pool.
Then another guy shows up and goes right into the pool. The first guy eventually moves to the pool. Mary,
Danny and myself decide we'd had enough and headed upstairs. Mary tells me that the guy in the hottub said
that he played for the San Diego Chargers for a few years starting in 1998. So of course I asked, "Did he
tell you his name"? Nope. But she did have a bunch of other info. He's from Montana, played in the Rose Bowl
for Washington State, he was back in San Diego to see his brother who was playing (for the Oregon Ducks) in the Holiday
Bowl. So naturally, since we had our laptop with us and free internet access in the room I did a bit of
investigating. Turns out it was Ryan Leaf!
Remember him? His brother is Brady Leaf and is quarterback for the Oregon Ducks. In case your wondering,
Oregon lost to Oklahoma 17 - 14.
Day 7 - Torrey Pines & Balboa Park 38 photos
Went to Torrey Pines State Reserve. Then headed over
to Balboa Park which is were the zoo and many museums
are located. We went to the San Diego Zoo, the San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego Model Railroad
Museum, Botanical Building and Lilly Pond, and the San Diego Aerospace Museum. These are all we had time
for, but there are many more museums to check out. You have to go to Balboa Park if your in San Diego. If
we didn't have the GO San Diego Card it would have cost about $150 to go to the zoo, History Museum, Model
Railroad Museum and the Aerospace Museum.
Day 8 - Mary's Race & SeaWorld 33 photos
Mary ran in the Bumble Bee Seafoods 5K Run which preceded the Big Bay Balloon Parade. The race took place
right down Harbor Drive along the San Diego Harbor. We also went to
SeaWorld; not cheap but we think its
worth it. Saw two Shamu shows, penguins, sharks, manatees, etc. SeaWorld is another must see while in San Diego.
Day 9 - Traveling home
On our way to drop off the rental car, we drove through Presido Park. Very nice park in Old Town section
of San Diego. Then caught our flight from San Diego to Kansas City, then KC to Milwaukee and back to reality.
It was snowing when we got back home!
|
