"I wouldn't stay an extra night in Anaheim if you don't have to"

...and sunset 7:30 to 9:15 would be a good time for the drive up to Santa Barbara to avoid traffic.

Thanks! Shoot, I knew there was a reason I wanted to do Huntington earlier originally.

Pick my friend up at LAX Saturday.

Stay Sunday and Monday. night in Santa Monica. Sunday: labrea/page and lacma during the day. La farmer market. Santa Monica area that evening.

Monday: Huntington in the morning.
Santa Monica/Getty villa/beaches that afternoon (Getty villa is only if we have time, which I kind of suspect we won't with the traffic).
Tuesday: Maybe japanese museum. Is there anything other than disney to do in the anaheim environs? When I went several years ago, I don't remember even stepping foot off the disney properties! Drive to anaheim
Tuesday, Wednesday night, Thursday nights in Anaheim. Wednesdayand Thursday are for Disney/CA adventure

Friend flies out FRIDAY. Although it might be nice for her to fly out Thursday evening. How late does rush hour last? I know we will send most of the day at Disney and I don't want to drive to Santa Barbara too late so the traffic is the unknown variable...

to clarify: if I could drop my friend off by 7 and I wouldn't be spending hours fighting the traffic, I could do it. I don't like driving into unfamiliar cities in the dark, though, because my night vision just isn't that great. Google maps says it's about 2 1/2 hours from LAX: is that what it's likely to be in the evening or is that a very low estimate?

It occurs to me I should also ask about the quality of pch between la and Santa barbara. If it's an easy road/has lights I would have a problem. If it's simlilar to 101 in northern oregon (twisty, one lane, with idiots who go way too fast, with frequent fog) I definitely do not want to be driving there in the dark.

And that's wouldn't not would have, sorry!

No that's not a good road at night if you have iffy night vision. Though 7pm it would still be light. That's the stretch where Bruce jenner had his smashup recently and I think there have been 2 more major ones in the same vicinity since then.

Traffic leaving LAX won't lighten up til after 7:30 anyway, so probably not a good idea for you to do it that night. You could leave LAX around 7:45 and make it to Oxnard/Ventura before dark if you wanted to get morning L.A. traffic behind you, however.

That's pretty much what I suspected, thanks.

"You could leave LAX around 7:45 and make it to Oxnard/Ventura before dark if you wanted to get morning L.A. traffic behind you, however."

According to charts, sunset in Oxnard/Ventura in July will be at about 8:12. If you can make it from LAX to Oxnard in half an hour taking any roads, please tell me what you're driving. I think you'd be better off sucking up the usually awful traffic on the 405 north to the 101 north, especially if you have poor nighttime vision. The good news is the freeways will be illuminated by thousands of red brakelights.

((H))

Just reporting in to say that Venice Beach was no crazier than it's ever been, in my experience since the 70s (in fact, it's tamer than it was then).

I was concerned after reading statements that it has become overrun with the homeless; and that is simply not the case. It's always been wild and crazy, which is what makes it unique.

I stayed 4 nights at the Inn at Venice Beach, which is a wonderful little place. Spotlessly clean, newly renovated, good-sized rooms, self-parking is $14/night, continental breakfast served in cute inner courtyard area, everyone is helpful, price is good.

No problems whatsoever. I walked alone at night down to Venice Beach. And, I parked my car outside overnight, sometimes right on the alley.

So glad to hear that! Decided to stay at Santa Monica hostel and I'm looking forward to checking out Venice beach:)

If you fancy pretty decent Italian food at a good price, try C&O Trattoria, on Washington Blvd, a block or two in from the Venice pier. Eat on their outdoor patio. Enjoy their sinfully delish garlic knots. There's another location, further down the road, but this is the one we've always taken the college kids to because we like the outdoor patio.

I take back my recommendation for Coast brunch. I had lunch there with two friends. Three salads and three glasses of wine came to $105 plus tip. Whew. We had amazing seats with a direct view of the beach, with awesome service, and we could afford it, so no regrets, but it's steep in $$$$.

Have fun! (I just posted recommendations on your SF thread, too.)

I like the Mission San Juan Capistrano in Orange County.

http://www.missionsjc.com/

I agree with nanabee. Beautiful spot.


<B>http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/mission-san-juan-capistrano/</B>


((H))

I agree about that mission, but is the OP wanting to drive that far south?

If they get "Disneyed-out" it's only 30 miles south of it.

((H))

Hmmmm. Ok.

Or another mission that's on his path? Like Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara is beautiful as are these other two north of there. So many missions…so little time….

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/old-...santa-barbara/

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/old-mission-santa-ines/

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/la-purisima-concepcion/

((H))

Thanks, maitaitom. We love the missions, too.

The Jesuit campuses have either a mission or an historic Spanish-style church. Like LMU.

marvelousmouse, in case you missed this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...5-to-52016.cfm

Thanks for the links, maitaitom! Great pics!

I'm definitely planning to go to the missions in Santa Barbara, Carmel, San Luis Obispo. San Jose if I feel like a detour from the coast. I was raised Catholic and the missions were the initial attraction of the California coast because I happened to visit the cataldo mission in Idaho last summer- found it fascinating, even though I'm lapsed. So any input on what missions to visit is definitely welcome.

Is getting caught in the traffic a danger if I go from anaheim to San Juan Capistrano to Santa Barbara? If that mission is worth the visit, I don't really want to miss it, but I don't want to battle traffic snarls both ways. Additionally, I'm probably cutting disney down to one day, because there's so much I want to see in LA!

For that matter, if anyone knows of any more obscure cool historic sites or monuments in my path, please tell me! The road trip is all about pulling over and exploring that sort of thing, which I can't do with my usual passengers. Luckily, I started talking about the missions fairly early on and they all suddenly developed urgent plans for this summer that do not involve interpretive centers or history markers��.

Anyway, my route goes something like this: southeast oregon, a day at lava beds nat. Monument, Sacramento, columbia historic park, Yosemite, LA, Santa Barbara, Monterey/Carmel, pt. montara, San Francisco, ft. Bragg, Trinidad and the redwoods, then back to OR. I leave July 5 and need to be in Eugene OR August 2. So I figure I have enough time for a few brief detours:)

I especially like local museums and maritime history/ lighthouses. Any suggestions? Are any of the lighthouses on the ca coast open to the public? I haven't ran across anything like that yet.