California Adventure: Overview

We love traveling with Jason's parents, whether it's a big trip to Disney or a week at the lakes. Naturally, we were very excited when they suggested taking another big trip together and after looking into a few options, we chose California. Benita's sister Marcie lives out on the coast, along with many of her children and grandchildren. It had been years since we'd seen much of her family and the kids were excited to get to know some of their second cousins. And California in January, well, sounded heavenly.

We worked through a few options for flying out there and Jason finally suggested flying into San Diego and working our way up the coast, flying out of San Francisco. We could see major sites in both of the big cities and spend a few days with family in the middle. With a rented mini van, lots of stop options and a bag of road trip goodies to entertain the kids, we would be ready for what I started calling the "California Adventure."

And adventure it was. An amazing adventure. We spent the week of Jan. 23-Jan. 30 soaking up temps near 70, beautiful ocean and mountain views, wonderful time with family and exciting sites. Everything from the flights and van travel, to hotel stays, and hikes through downtown San Francisco and Sea World went about as smoothly as we could have hoped for. Everyone got to see what was important to them while having a great time. I snapped hundreds of photos, trying to document this special trip together.

In upcoming posts, I'll share some of the highlights from our trip.

Here are some of my favorite photos in the meantime:

Within 15 minutes of checking into our hotel in San Diego, the kids were in the pool. The night before, temps at home were about -40 F. San Diego's weather felt like a heatwave, so CANNONBALL! They had the pool to themselves and swam until they shivered. 

On day two, we visited the San Diego Zoo. The kids were a bit overtired from our previous day of flights, so they were a little crabby, but we hauled them around anyway. We saw many wonderful animals and made a day out of it. Jason may have given a few piggy back rides on the long walks.

At the end of our first day, we stopped at Sunset Cliff beach to watch the waves roll in. There were larger waves than normal, so dozens of surfers were out there trying to catch a big one. In fact, several surfers ran past us on their way to the beach, not wanting to miss out on this special occasion.

Day three, we headed to Sea World for all things dolphins. We ran to the pool first thing for a dolphin education presentation and a chance to get up close to these beautiful mammals. Natalie and Gavin pet a dolphin for the first time.

I love this shot of Nattie and Grandma. They snuggled together for a pet show at Sea World.

I also love this shot of Natalie, petting a sea star. She has such a look of awe and curiosity, eager to get to know these little creatures.

On the long drive from San Diego to San Luis Obispo, to visit family, we wound our way through a Hollywood hillside neighborhood (with tight curves and steep inclines that I honestly didn't think our minivan could navigate.) I really wanted photos by the Hollywood sign and the directions I found online didn't disappoint. Welcome to Hollywood!

We had a great few days visiting family, who showed us around the area, including this pier near Avila. We drove onto the pier (another first), watched sealions below us and looked out at the ocean. Guess who wasn't happy that Gavin had the camera?

Avila Beach. We loved it! Small beach town, delicious restaurants and a gorgeous beach. We watched the sunset, the kids playing in the waves and chasing each other across the beach. Can I go back now?

Oh. My. Gosh. A pedicab! I love unusual rides around cities when I'm traveling and as soon as I saw this pedicab at the piers in San Francisco I asked him to stop. My original thought was to hop on - but then I realized how much fun it would be to send Grandparents with the Grandkids. They piled in and headed down the piers to Fisherman's Warf. Jason and I enjoyed a stroll just the two of us, taking our time to enjoy the sites. Wonderful.

I love her smile. This monkey is riding the historic Cable Car in San Francisco, excited to stand up and hold on like the locals...assuming locals even ride it anymore.

And then they slept. Jason found them curled up tight against each other on our last night. All week it never took them more than two minutes to fall asleep and this night was no exception. Sweet dreams.