dbdurand

I think the Wild Animal Park is great. But I would suggest that it be done on the way back to LA, since it's in Escondido. It's a good idea to get there when it opens and take the first tram around the periphery of the reserve, then come back and walk to the various points of interest.

Also, the park locale was chosen to approximate conditions around Nairobi, Kenya. The animals that are exhibited at the WAP are mostly those that are characteristic of that region. Not entirely. And lions and tigers, oh my, are not abundant. The giraffes eat 'em, I think.

SeaUrchin

Yes, the weather is perfect for the Wild Animal Park and visiting on the way to LA is a great idea. The first trip of the day does sound the best, I have never been able to make it.

rtw0910

Shanek - I am enjoying your trip report so much. Its the first thing I check each morning when I get into work. The weather in Sydney is so gloomy and your trip report brightens up my day. I am also embarking on a trip state side just next week and will spend 3 weeks in Califorian doing a very similar route to yourself. I have been taking note of your restaurant tips- and cant wait to try out all these "world famous" places. I have one question- what are the gas prices like? I am just doing a rough budget at the moment and have no idea what to allow for gas! Cant wait to here more about San Diego as thats where we head after LA and a couple of days in OC.

Jean

rtw0910, you can get a general idea of current prices of different grades of gas and diesel here:

http://gasbuddy.com/

shanek

TUESDAY JULY 6TH.

Another morning, another hotel, another city. I am starting to feel like I need to plant myself somewhere for more than a few nights. This inclination is well timed, as today we drive to San Diego, La Jolla to be exact, and we have booked a 7 night stay at the La Jolla Travelodge. This Hotel is highly regarded by Trip Advisor and we have secured a suite for around $150 a night. The extra space will be pleasant ,as will the knowledge that we can finally unpack our bags without the thought of moving on anywhere for a whole week. The only down side is that this is effectively our last hurrah, the final leg of almost 5 weeks on the road, with only a single night, in a yet to be determined Los Angeles location, separating us from a return to Australia.

We set a course for the main street in Santa Barbara, to find somewhere to have breakfast whilst we check out the local scene. A strangers voice gives me the direction to turn right in 50 meters. It has a vaguely familiar accent, with strangely elongated vowels and syllables that run together. It is certainly not the trustworthy Kate, with her motherly intonations, as apart from the change of accent, it is also the voice of a male. As it turns out, Kerry and Joel, without consulting the driver, have decided to select a new GPS travel assistant, the voice of Ken from Australia. To show that I am not the dictator that they would have you believe, I resist my natural impulse to revert back to the voice that has successfully guided us half way around California. I will give this Ken guy a chance and we will see if he can prove as efficient as his predecessor. Silently, I wait for his first wrong move so that I can put him back into his digital box.

There is a word for Santa Barbara, but I am not sure if it falls within the limits of my vocabulary. It is more that beautiful, but perfect is just a little too strong. It is far too graceful to be described as pretty and handsome would not really do it justice. Even though a light drizzle falls, it has no effect on the majestic splendor that presents itself to us as we turn onto Cabrillo Boulevard, that runs along the pristine main beach.

We find a beach side car park that has a sign signaling a charge of $3 for 2 hours parking. I look for a booth or a meter to make a payment or to take a ticket from, but there doesn’t appear to be anything of that sought round, and there is no gate for collections upon departure. We give up and walk towards a sign announcing the East Beach Grill, which appears like the perfect location for our one meal in Santa Barbara, when I see a large upright metal container with dozens a small slots cut into it, each of which has a number above it. It would appear that this is some bizarre honesty box for the collection of parking fees. Not wanting to fall foul of our temporary hosts, we fold up a couple of dollar notes and insert them into the numbered slot that corresponds to a small number on our chosen parking spot. I don’t really understand how this is policed, if in fact it is at all, but the large amount of cars parked here, in comparison to the street side meters, may reveal some clues.

The first thing that we notice, as we take a front row seat at the East Beach Grill, is several hundred little munchkins running around on the beach, all adorned in identical yellow and red attire. We have, by chance, selected the location of a lifesaver holiday camp for school children as the site of our brunch. This provides us all with plenty of entertainment as we consume excellent “Santa Barbara Omelets”, that are cooked with a homemade salsa and cheese, washed down by adequate but uninspiring coffee.

I could sit here all day, but I have promised Kerry some time for shopping today, on route to San Diego. She has located, with the assistance of Google, a factory outlet mall in the town of Camarillo, a mere 45 minutes away. I had allocated about 2 hours to this retail pit stop, but as I pulled into the car park, I immediately realized that I was not going to get away from this place in under 4. This is a city in itself. 160 premium outlet stores broken up into 3 separate zones. A movie cinema complex with its own Imax screen. A multitude of restaurants, cafes and several hotels catering directly to the malls patrons. I would be lucky to see San Diego before nightfall.

If the truth is to be totally known, I was as happy spending time here as Kerry was, and as the clock ticked on past 3pm, we entered our final store for the day, a factory outlet clearance centre for Samsonite luggage, so that we would have something to carry all our purchases home in. This now presented us with a new set of challenges. Our current suitcases were old and battle weary, so we were happy to do some culling before we went home. But, do we go through the process of repacking everything now, in a crowded bust car park, or can we find a way to cram 2 extra, very large Samsonite cases into an already overloaded Chevrolet HHR? In the midst of decided which child would catch the bus to San Diego, I had a brainstorm. How about trying to place our already packed suitcases, inside of our newly acquired ones? Somehow, with the dexterity of a Cuban cigar roller, I managed to pull this complex scenario off and we once again hit the road.

The trip through the Los Angeles city limits was painstaking. The delay in our schedule had placed us in the middle of peak hour traffic and it was stop, stop, start, stop for almost half of our 3 and ¼ hour trip. Ken, our freshly acquired Aussie mate, imprisoned inside of our Tom Tom, gave me the occasional late instruction that had me close to taking the wrong exit, unlike the ever succinct Kate, but my crew suggested that I was partly to blame so I was forced to persist with “Cobber Ken” all the way to La Jolla. I eventually pulled into the impressive looking Travelodge, was very efficiently booked in, and we loaded all of our luggage, new and old, into our generously proportioned suite.

As soon as we were unpacked, we took a stroll down to the beach, a few hundred meters away, and were met by an impressive rocky shoreline combined with the view of a few dozen surfers bobbing in the mid size swell. Unfortunately the overcast conditions had followed us down south, so there would be no sunset tonight, but that was no more than a mild imperfection in an otherwise flawless scene.

We strolled back up the hill to the Su Casa Mexican restaurant, immediately opposite our new home base and dined on fine Fajitas washed down with a pitcher of blended Margaritas. This was an excellent way to introduce ourselves to La Jolla, apparently pronounced La Hoy-Yah I discovered, and we ended the day with a walk up to the nearby 7/11 for some ice cream.

shanek

Hi rtw0910,

It is nice to know that there someone from Australia that is following my reports, who I am not related to.

Gas, commonly known as petrol at home, has been suprisingly cheap. I have paid as little as $2.95 a gallon to as much as $4 in Yosemite. The average has been about the $3.20 mark for what we recognise as standard fuel, well under $1 a litre.

Food has also been cheaper than at home, even after a tip and tax has been included. What I have generally found to be expensive is accomodation but what needs to be considered is that we are travelling in a peak season.

giveitago

It never ceases to amaze me when my overseas friends visit me in California and always comment on how cheap our gas/petrol is. Us Californians beg to differ! I guess we're spoiled after doing my own overseas traveling in Europe and seeing the prices there. Not only two to three times more expensive than in California, but for LITERS as well!

In any case, want to point out that California has some of the most expensive gas prices in the U.S. Check out this website for the lowdown: http://gasbuddy.com/gb_gastemperaturemap.aspx

Happy travels, Shanek. I'm a Californian through and through and I've enjoyed seeing my home state through your wonderfully fresh and eloquent eyes - lived in Los Angeles for almost 16 years, will be moving to San Francisco in about one month, and now... you're finally writing about the beloved city where I grew up: San Diego. Enjoy her as she is always in my heart.

annesherrod

Still loving your report!! What fabulous memories you have made for your family!!

GYPSYPARENTS

SHANEK

Glad we found our daughter and her boys in good company.Enjoyed your travel blog.Love to joel and Caleb plus Kerry and your good self. See you in OZ.

Love

EF & PETER.

SOCALOC

The trip through the Los Angeles city limits was painstaking. The delay in our schedule had placed us in the middle of peak hour traffic and it was stop, stop, start, stop for almost half of our 3 and ¼ hour trip.
__________________________________________________ ___________
You have no idea what painstaking is. LOL That was a warm up.
PCH would have saved you some grief. Then again, from Camarillo it's easy to get lost on the back roads en route. Glad you guys enjoyed the Outlet. Have spent many of $$$ there myself. So, have you hit Carlsbad outlets yet? Thanks for the update Shanek. Cheers!

Jean

shanek, did you know that with four people in the car you can drive in the (usually) less congested lane at the far left side of many freeways? Look for the posted signs and pavement markings indicating the Car Pool or HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lane. You can only enter and exit the lane at the noted openings, but you are given a reasonable distance to cross all the lanes before major exits.

Look for the diamond symbol:

/\
\/

You may find signals on some freeway on-ramps regulating the flow of traffic entering the freeway. If you see a second lane marked with the diamond, you can take that lane and bypass the signal.

shanek

WEDNESDAY 7th JULY.

We start slowly today. Most of the last 2 days have been consumed in travel, so we are keen for a lazy morning. There is a basic breakfast supplied at the Travelodge, but no room is provided to consume it in, so we fill our plates with bagels and muffins, and our bowls with cereal and take it back to our suite which is directly above the reception area. Our large sitting room has a round table with 4 comfortable chairs and our kitchenette includes a toaster, so this proves to be a convenient way to enjoy our morning meal.

The one thing that I do want to do today is to visit the Midway museum. This long serving aircraft carrier, that was involved in several campaigns, most recently the Gulf conflict early last decade, has been retired in San Diego harbor and been converted into a tourist attraction. Ken, our aussie electronic guide, doesn’t recognize the Midway as a point of interest in his memory banks, so I plot the address that I find on the brochure provided to me at reception, and off we go at about 10am.

The freeway system in San Diego is extremely efficient. Even though it is past the morning peak we expect it to be slow going, but our 20 minute trip is swift and effortless, and before we know it we have been dispatched off the motorway and into the city. San Diego streets are laid out mostly in grids. It is the complete antithesis of Santa Cruz in that it is extremely easy to navigate oneself through. Or so you would expect, until I receive a command from Ken to turn left into a one way street. Fortunately, I chose to ignore this command as the rest of the traffic was traveling in the opposite direction to which Ken was requesting me to journey. Once again, Kerry and Joel are quick to jump to Ken’s defense, apportioning some of the blame back onto me, suggesting, quite incorrectly, that I had misconstrued the timing of his suggested route. This is doubtlessly a plot conceived by them so that I have no reason to re-employ the services of impeccably practical Kate.

Ken fumbles his way through a series of prompts that eventually finds us along the San Diego waterfront. There are several large ships, including some naval vessels here, but when we spot the one that we have come to see I are left in no doubt that we are in right place as the Midway dwarfs all others around her. Instead of trying to find a street park, we pull into the lot designated for Midway visitors and pay the requested $7 flat rate. The car park is nearing capacity and there is about 25 people queued at the 4 window, ticket booth, underlining the popularity of this exhibit.

They have done a fantastic job of converting this decommissioned legend of the sea into an informative and entertaining portal into the life of all its occupants during its 50 years of active service. There is a self guided audio tour that can be tailored to a much or as little as you wish to see and also includes commentary specifically designed for younger children at many of the 60, numbered points along the way. We follow along numerically, firstly delving deep into the bowels of the ship to explore the incredibly cramped quarters of the enlisted men and the massive engine rooms that lie deep below the ships waterline. To compliment the audio tour, there are several stations set up with video presentations, as well as information plaques along the way. The greatest part of the museum is when you come across one of the many ex-servicemen that volunteer their time to talk about this floating city that they once called home. Over a quarter of a million men and women served on the Midway with 4000-5000 being housed on her at anyone time, and to hear from some of them first hand is priceless. Charlie, one of the head cooks over a 10 year period, provides us with fascinating insight on how you feed 5000 active sailors, 3 meals a day, from a kitchen smaller than you find at the average McDonalds‘.

After a few hours below the surface, we re- emerge into the hanger deck and then up onto the flight deck. We hear from the pilots, LSO’s (Landing signal officers) and other retired flight deck crew, how they launched and landed many different types of aircraft on this very deck. By now, we are using the audio tour sparingly as it has become apparent that to do every station, as well as listen to all the live guides would take us all day and the smallest member of our touring party is getting restless. Caleb can become more dangerous than landing a FA-18 on a stormy night when his blood sugar is low, so to avoid adding to the list of conflicts that the Midway has been involved in, we quickly look over the Captains and Admirals quarters but skip the 30 minute tour of the control tower.
We decide to head back to La Jolla for a very late lunch and after a long search for a parking spot in the main Village area, we find a quaint and quirky little café called the Living Room. The décor here directly reflects its name, it is designed to have a homely feel and it draws its clientele from the trendy young professionals and more financially secure students of this very affluent area. We are served well presented and prepared, Mediterranean influenced dishes, excellent coffee and chai, and as we are about to pay the bill, become hypnotized by the colorful treats on display in cake cabinet. We order two generous servings, one of a succulent lemon tart and the other a rich torte, to share, get refills on our beverages and settle in for another 15 minutes of decadent consumption.

We walk the streets of La Jolla Village. It is far more upscale than we expected with high-end boutiques and several galleries offering contemporary art. I am astounded to see separate showrooms for Lamborghini, Ferrari and Maserati, as well as a dealer that offers Rollers, Bentley’s and Bugatti’s all on one suburban corner. There are more prestige super cars on display here than your average auto show. As if to punctuate the wealth in this area, I see several being driven along the streets as well.

Caleb is now refueled, but fatigue is starting to set in as it is now close to 6pm. We find the car and search through the GPS index for a supermarket as there doesn’t seem to one that we can find in the La Jolla Village area. I ask Ken to locate a Safeway, as we are now club members and he comes up with several locations, the closest being 400 km away. How can this be so? We then note that we cant recall seeing one in SoCal. Maybe they are a NoCal institution? I next select my favored Trader Joe’s. I have been impressed by the selection of wines available in 2 of his stores that I have patronized but something about Joe’s stores left Kerry under whelmed. We find one about 6 km’s away and set our course.

We arrive at a large mall that has many large variety stores and locate Joe’s. Right next door is a very glitzy store called Ralph’s that Kerry convinces me to enter. Something about this layout reminds me of a more up market version of Safeway and I swipe my loyalty card through the self serve check out to find to my delight that it is accepted. I am visually welcomed as a returning loyal customer and a further $10 is deducted from my bill made up of treats and assorted alcoholic products. I am quite chuffed about a bottle of premixed Margarita that I have found that comes with a bonus plastic shot glass screwed onto the bottle top.

We return back to the Travelodge with a plan to just watch some TV and enjoy an early night in. It is now about 7pm, but lunch only finished under 3 hours ago, so our evening meal will be a light snack for Kerry and the kids and predominately a liquid one for me. I detour briefly to have a quick look at the famous Torrey Pines Golf club, a public course but the scene of a few US Opens, as well as regular Tour events. It is extremely picturesque and I make a note to include my golf clubs on our upcoming Yellow Mustang trip.

After settling back into the room, I get some ice to have with my Margarita mix. I twist the bonus shot glass, but it doesn’t seem to want to release itself from the top of my bottle. I grab a towel to assist my grip, push down, pull up, do everything that normally works with the child proof contraptions that have become so popular, but to no avail. Closer inspection reveals that my “bonus” is not a shot glass at all. It would appear to be some strange security seal to deter unlawful removal of this bottle from the premises that I had purchased it from. As we had used the self serve check out, no one had alerted me to the fact this this had to be removed by the store before the bottle could be opened. I will be returning, quite sheepishly to Ralph’s tomorrow and drinking Californian Merlot tonight.

paula1470

shanek-If you made it from Camarillo to La Jolla in 3 and 1/4 hours during rush hour you made great time. It usually takes me 3 hours to go from Santa Monica to the north part of San Diego (which is still about 40 minutes from downtown La Jolla).

Love your description of fitting all the suitcases in your crowded car.

Safeway stores are located across the US but there are none in Southern California. Here is SoCal you will find Von's Grocery which is owned by Safeway. Surprised the Safeway card worked in Ralph's. Never tried it but glad it worked for you.

Looking forward to the next report.

krgystn

shanek, there is a Safeway not too far from the Midway.

paula1470

krgystn-Where is there a Safeway in San Diego? Safeway owns the Vons Stores and if you go to Safeway's website to locate a store, the only ones that come up in San Diego are Vons. Just curious.

krgystn

Paula, Four years ago I stayed at the Marriott next to the convention center and it was walking distance, a few blocks away. But I may have been mistaken, maybe it was a Vons? or maybe they changed it out.

krgystn

p.s. The market was really nice, with underground parking and a wide selection of goods as well as a sandwich bar.

paula1470

I think the store you are talking about is a Ralph's.

Barbara

I've just got caught up. I was with my daughter for the last week in UCSD's Thornton Hospital in La Jolla. She was having extended tests and is not ill. We didn't take a computer, though the hospital does have WiFi. And room service, which was rather nice.

The whole time I was thinking how I promised you lovely, perfect weather in San Diego and it's NOT! Sorry.It's been chilly and damp close to the coast, and even inland on a couple of days.

Paula, I think you're right that the supermarket downtown is Ralph's. I'm going to try my Vons' card there now!

Shanek, I'm still enjoying your posts so much. One day when you have more time, a LOT more time, try a search here for Trader Joe's! We all have our favorite items, well, several favorite items! Sorry you missed Costco, you need a membership there too and it's not free.

I also loved your suitcase adventure, especially this part, " In the midst of decided which child would catch the bus to San Diego,". LOL!

Looking forward to more installments. I can't believe this will end soon.

giveitago

Oh my god, you went to The Living Room! Growing up in SD my high school friends and I would find ourselves during many a "ditch day" (sneaking out of school) heading over to The Living Room for coffee and pastries after a morning of shenanigans.

There used to be two: One located in Hillcrest (a great neighborhood that is best known as the hub of SD's gay community) and the other is the one in La Jolla. They've since closed down the one in Hillcrest (SOB) but so glad to hear that the one in La Jolla is still around.

Interesting that Kerry would be underwhelmed by Trader Joe's. Most people I know live and breathe by "TJ's" as we call it. Perhaps it's partly the uniqueness of it after decades of supermarkets (like Safeway, and Vons, and Ralph's...), perhaps also the great deals on lovely and tasty things both local and imported... and yes, I'm sure part of it is their infamous "2 Buck Chuck" i.e. Charles Shaw wine, a brand owned and limited only to Trader Joe's. Most of my friends would choose TJ's over Ralph's any day (or just buy their staples at Ralph's and everything else at TJ's.)

Torrey Pines ... I don't play golf, but I hike, so my attraction is the Torrey Pines State Park that the golf course is connected to. Five great walking/hiking trails with beautiful ocean views. http://www.torreypine.org/activities/hiking-trails.html

The Midway museum is fantastic - I'm glad you made it there. Just down the road from the Midway is the Maritime Museum - a collection of 8 historic ships - including the Star of India - and 2 submarines - one a Soviet-era B-39 electric sub. Maybe when you come back on your "Yellow Mustang" trip, check it out! http://www.sdmaritime.org/