California Road Trip

[ShlockDoc]

DW and I took two weeks off from work and are driving a loop from San Francisco down to Tijuana and then back up the east through the national parks.   I’ll start the post with details and update it as we travel. 

DAY ONE
ATL - SFO
Southwest with two Companion Passes

Went straight from the airport to the hotel.

Holiday Inn Express Castro Valley
20k IHG Points

DAY TWO
Muir Woods:
Great hike among Redwood trees.  Part of America the Beautiful National Parks Pass.  Gorgeous, easy hike.  Made reservation to park at a particular time.  Came an hour late but it was still honored. 



Muir Beach Overlook:
Nice, quick walk to a beautiful view. 



Baker Beach:
Stopped for a nice beach walk and view of the Golden Gate Bridge.



Lunch at Sabra Grill:
Hugely overpriced. Decent taste. Not many other options so we paid the high price. 

Walked from there to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory.  Was cute to see how they make the cookies but I felt bad for the workers who appeared over work and under appreciated.

Blazing Saddles Bike Rental:
We rented bikes to ride over the Golden Gate Bridge.  One son rode his own, DW and other son road a tandem and I rode an electronic bike. Check google for a 20% off coupon.  We rode over the bridge and then over to Sausalito to catch the ferry back.  The wind was strong on the bridge and there’s a lot of uphill pedaling but everyone had an amazing time. 

Holiday Inn Express and Suites Santa Cruz
40k IHG Points

DAY THREE

Santa Cruz Mystery Spot:
Cute Americana roadside attraction.   They give a tour as if there is an area with strange gravitational forces but it’s really a series of very cool optical illusions that you see and feel. 



Mavericks Beach:
We drove pretty far out of the way to see the big waves but apparently didn’t read that they are only big on the winter.   Was still a nice walk but really a waste of time. 





Pars Kosher Market
We came in for a late lunch and to get Shabbat food.  Lunch was excellent. Pargiot sandwiches, schnitzel, etc.   Shabbat food on the other hand was a terrible waste.  Two frozen chicken nugget stars and two mini hotdogs and rice.   We paid a lot of money and felt so ripped off. 



Computer History Museum:
We bought the groupon and went in as a family. The museum does a great job laying out the evolution from abacus to the first computers to about 10 years ago.  Was weird that it mostly stopped at about 2010.  I’m the geek of the family so everyone else was kind of board but I had a great time.  Was strange to see items from my childhood in a museum display case. 





IHG Staybridge Suites

DAY FOUR
Shabbat. Hung out in our suite, enjoyed the pool. 

DAY FIVE
Heading down the PCH.  Stopped along the 17 mile drive.  Was worth the $10/car entry to check out the views.



Bixby Creek Bridge
Great place to stop for pictures of the bridge and the views.   Amazingly gorgeous bridge.   

Partington Cove:
Short hike down a trail to a beautiful view. 



McWay Falls:
Short 10 minute hike to a beautiful waterfall.  Park along the side of the street instead of paying to go into the State Park. 

Limekiln State Park:
Beautiful hiking trails, pretty simple and relaxing.   



Moonstone Beach Park:
Nice walk on the beach, climbing on the rock, view for sunset. 

San Simeon Lodge
Motel on the beach.  Just needed a place to get out of the car, get sleep, and get back into the car. 





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[SSLPhD]

Nice. We did a similar, but shorter, road trip a few years back.  Stopped at the Computer History Museum, too.  Family was bored, but I enjoyed very much. Would like to go back with a friend and not feel rushed.

Do you have reservations for each night, or are you choosing motels when you want to stop?

[myi]

Very nice, enjoyed the pics.
 Seems like you guys enjoyed.

[ShlockDoc]

DAY SIX

Elephant Seal Rookery
A short drive North on the PCH to a place with hundreds of elephant seals laying around on the beach.  Was an incredible sight and we hung around watching them for a little while.   

Salmon Creek Falls
A little further north was a stop on the road with a very short hike to a beautiful waterfall.  The hike was fun for the kids who got to climb on huge rocks and find creative ways to get around them.  Ultimately we had to walk across a downed tree limb to get to the actual fall.   We had an amazing time. 



Pismo Beach
Pismo Beach has miles and miles of massive sand dunes.  We rented ATVs from Sunbuggy and went out to ride the dunes.  Once out on the dunes it feels like you're on a different planet, just massive hills of sand everywhere.   It took us some time but we got good at going up and over the dunes and after a little while we were tearing it up.  Highly recommended activity!



We had a lot more planned but were exhausted so skipped everything we planned to do in Santa Barbara and headed to our hotel in Ventura. 

Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach
25k IHG points.

[ShlockDoc]

DAY SEVEN

Finally in Los Angeles

El Matador State Beach
A nice beach with wade pools.  The kids enjoyed finding all kinds of crabs, mussels, etc.  Nothing particularly special about the beach but still a fun place to explore. 

Hollywood and Highland
Walked around, checked out the stars on the sidewalk, saw all the interesting people, and moved on. Not much to do here.

Lunch at Jeff's Sausage Factory
Delicious!! 

Santa Monica Pier - Venice Beach
We walked around the pier which was fun people watching and then used our phones to use the electric scooter sharing service, Lime. DW and I and our boys each got our own scooter and we rode all the way down through Venice Beach and back.  It was great to stop and take in the various sights along the way.  A skate park, acrobatics, muscle beach, a street show, it was so much fun zipping along on our scooters. 

We were exhausted but drove down to our hotel in San Diego and crashed into our beds. 

Comfort Inn & Suites San Diego Zoo SeaWorld
20k Choice Points

[ShlockDoc]

When I'm back at a computer i need to upload pictures and convert the ones already uploaded to inline images instead of attachments. 

[thaber]

keep it up - enjoying

[jose34]

keep it up - enjoying

+1!

[tanipollak]

We're planning on going Aug 1-9 flying from NYC - SFO or SJC or MRY. I have 2 free hyatt nights so staying at the cat 7 in Carmel CA. Anything to do around the hotel or near? Then we're driving up for SF and need to find a hotel for shabbos and sunday. I see there's a pickwick hotel next door to the chabad. What brand is that and can I use chase points for that?(CUR is down right now)
I also have free IHG night so gunna stay at Intercontinental SF for 1 of the days.
Is napa worth it? Any kosher food or gluten free places?
We're staying in SF for 5-6 days so looking for things to do which are friendly as well for our 16 month old boy...
Also any flight help? Only want to use points and I have Chase UR.. Alaska air nice?
TIA

[Dan]

Nice TR!

[Mordyk]

Very cool TR! Was gonna do a road trip this summer. Didnt end up working out. Hopefully next summer.

[ludmila]

When I'm back at a computer i need to upload pictures and convert the ones already uploaded to inline images instead of attachments.

Thanks for the TR.

[marduk]

Awesome trip! Nice shots of places and stuff

[mgarfin]

@ShlockDoc  wasn't this going to be a 2 week trip?