I'm from California, looking for new places to see here...
 

I'm a southern california native. I cancelled my summer trip to the east coast because of all of the rising prices for EVERYTHING!

I have chosen to stay back here on the West Coast. And drive out to do a few fun things within a week's span. I am not planning to be in a certain area for more than one day.

Since I am from California, I am NOT interested in doing the usual tourist California things. I just need ideas of the off-beat path kinda things.

I might be heading to:
San Diego Area
Santa Barbara Area
San Luis Obispo
and maybe do things closer to home (Los Angeles County...)

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance...

For San Diego, there's a terrific website: http://www.localwally.com/

Is this a solo trip? Do you plan to stick to the southern half of the state?

I'm sorry, I should have cleared all of my bases... I will be going with my boyfriend. We just want to come home every night. We want to spend money on what we're doing that day instead of spending nights at hotels. I know that sounds kind of lame, but we'll both be on vacation, and driving to a new destination everyday will be fun for us. We plan to go as far as central california, but we will not be going any further north than that.

woulnd't it be cheaper to get a cheaper hotel and doing a route (perhaps a loop) so that you're not wasting gasoline going home everynight? There's some really cheap hotels out there...but in any case, my suggestion is to do a route. First going north then into the national parks maybe, then cirling back down to the south (san diego/la jolla) then back home. What do you guys like to do? Do you like to hike? Kayak? or are you more into museums, night life?

Not sure if you're into hiking, but checkout Moon Handbooks for Moon California Hiking... There are several other versions as well. This would fall into your "day" activities and you could be home in time for dinner.

Go to Big Bear Lake. Take bikes if you have them, or rent bikes to ride around the lake. It's relatively flat and lots of fun.

With the price of gas, I ditto the above suggestion of doing a short loop and staying in cheapish motels.

That said... state parks and the missions could keep you busy for a week.

When are you doing this? With the heat we're experiencing, close to the ocean is a good idea.

If the weather cools down a bit, how about Solvang? Visit wineries in Temecula or near Santa Barbara.

Big Bear or Lake Arrowhead?

Let us know if you're into hiking, theater, shopping, etc.

I think some of the Terra Cotta soldiers are at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana.

How about a matinee performance at the O. C. Performing Arts Center?

We've taken day trips to the Kernville area and hiked a little in the Southern Sierras, also some interesting dining options - we ate at a roadside inn on the Kern river a few years back. I wish I could remember the name - it was a spur of the moment drive when we just needed to get out of town.

Drive up Angeles Crest Highway for great hiking, scenery (we saw a bear amble across the road and into a restaurant parking lot on one drive)

Spend the day in Pasadena (Huntington Library, art gallery, gardens; Norton Simon Museum, shopping, dining);

Obviously any of the coastal towns north and south of LA are fun and cool.

A couple of local LA area neighborhoods worth exploring: Eagle Rock, SilverLake, Montrose (you could probably hit all three in a day)

Go to Idllywild or Wrightwood for a trip to a small mountain based town.

Drive up 395 as far as you feel like going in a day - maybe Lone Pine, Bishop, Whitney Portal, Alabama Hills (where they filmed a lot of classic westerns).

Drive to Temecula, do a little wine tasting, explore the area, hotair balloons

You can go antiquing - we used to go to Ventura and I think there are some good antiques and funky shops on the main road in Riverside (near Mission Inn) and there is a small section of Anaheim or near Anaheim that has some antique shops, tea rooms and funky shops.

I also recommend the overnight suggestion for some of the longer drives, even if it is a cheap motel.

Okay, it's touristy but a different experience: Catalina Island. The "city" Avalon is stuck in the 50's/ 60's, like what a CA beach town used to be. Old style mini golf course, and they use golf carts to get around.

Whitewater rafting on the Kern River: http://www.kernrafting.com/

The renovated Library and new Chinese gardens at the Huntington in Pasadena: www.huntington.org/

Guided trail ride on the Palos Verdes Peninsula: http://trailrides.homestead.com/index.html

..interrupted.

Hike the Pacific Crest Trail near Lake Arrowhead: www.fs.fed.us/pct/

Hang glide at the beach: http://caladventures.com/Windsports.htm

Bike the Strand from Santa Monica to Torrance: www.labikepaths.com/SoBay.html

Shakespeare by the Sea in San Pedro:
www.shakespearebythesea.org/

Thanks for all of the great replies. My bf has a home in Port Hueneme (Oxnard area). I have an apartment in Long Beach. We can stay at either location, depending on where we're going. We're open to staying at motels/hotels if the need arises. We like to shop and go to shows.. however, we want to stay away from that this time around. I think biking would be nice. Or... does anyone have a great beach the suggest with other activites around? We have the malibu beaches by his home... they get very crowded though...

since you want to go to san diego area, i particularly like La jolla and go kayaking by the caves.

The rafting on the kern river sounds really fun too. would you be up for something like that?

I'm going to look into the kayaking into caves... that seems really fun and interesting! Would you recommend kayaking in san diego or santa barbara? I think we're just going to do the zoo, balboa and gaslamp? I actually do not know what to do over in Santa Barbara, but I'm sure you can kayak there too. That sounds great... thank you

Try this link for the la jolla sea caves. It was really alot of fun and very safe. http://www.hikebikekayak.com/Kayak_Sea_Caves.html

Not sure about santa barbara although I'm sure they have one there too. Gaslamp area is fun too. If you want a great place for dinner with outside seating and views of the ocean, try George's at the Cove. They make their own infused vodkas there too - yummy!

Here's a 2 of my favorite suggestions for San Diego:

Humphreys Concerts By Bay
humphreysconcerts.com

Del Mar Horse racing Season starts 7/16

San Diego restaurant week 6/22-27

Believe it or not San Diego Convention Ctr reports alot of people come to San Deigo to go to the Casinos.
Viejas is fun..not far from downtown and has a nice outlet ctr with it.

thank you all SO much! I have a week to go for my vacation... and there have been so many suggestions! I will make sure to type a trip report as soon as our week is done. I am still deciding on what to do based on all of the suggestions here. Thanks again...