A summary of our trip to California.

[tocpe321]

This is a summary of our recent trip to California. It’s kind of a mini trip report with some highs and lows. Not many of the latter, but just want to give some balance. I have put it in the trip planning forum as it’s more of a general overview than a full-blown daily account. I hope it’s of some use to people planning their trips to the West coast.

The idea
My DS who has a better recollection of this, reminded me a couple of days ago as we watched the Last Night of the Proms that on the same night last year we booked our BA fly drive. A kind Dibber, Edie Ray, had put on a thread regarding fantastic deals to LAX for August 2017. The price was 4 of us with a smaller SUV for 21 nights was about £2,100. As it was a fly drive you could pay just the deposit. Up to that point I had been interested in California, but it had been a non-starter on price. I spoke to the DW and we booked it! A day or two later I changed the car to a standard SUV Group W. The price was now about £2,200. A week or so later the price had more than doubled! Thanks again to Edie Ray.

The planning
Most of the help and ideas I have received for this holiday have been through other Dibbers. I read trip reports, the trip planning section and asked away. Just want to say that the Dibb is a fantastic, helpful and friendly site.


I also used travel guides, especially the DK Eyewitness Book and searched on the internet. I recommend the Visit California site as it has lots of ideas and is well laid out.
After much thought, I decided that the best route for us would be North up the PCH to San Francisco, over to Yosemite and then down through the desert area to San Diego. I wanted San Diego to be our last and longest stop as I thought it would be relaxing and sunny…….and it was. We had done a driving holiday around New England and I wanted to get a good balance of plenty of time in each place, whilst minimising drive times.
For the accommodation, I began searching through Trip Advisor to give me the overview and prices. I found this useful as it gave differing prices from different websites such as Hotels.com or TA itself. The pricing varied between full up-front payment and deposit only, with balance in resort. This helped to spread the cost across the year. One good feature of TA is the ability to search for certain criteria. I had heard through the Dibb that parking costs in San Francisco were expensive, so I searched for free parking and narrowed my selection down.
Yosemite accommodation was a key decision. I wanted to stay in the Park rather than on the outskirts, but I also wanted to keep the cost as low as possible. This is a relative thing as any accommodation in Yosemite is expensive. I decided that Half Dome Village was the best for us and I was all for booking the tent cabins. However, they were basic and had communal facilities. We ended up booking a log cabin with bath. On balance, I’m glad we did. We enjoy nature, but like our comforts too! I know a lot of families love the tent cabins, so whatever suits each family.

Cost
I think when I booked the fantastic deal for the fly drive I was intending to have a relatively inexpensive holiday. As others have said the cost of accommodation on the West coast is more expensive and places like San Francisco weren’t cheap for food. This coupled with the low exchange rate made for a much more expensive holiday than I initially thought. Not sure how much we spent overall. Don’t regret it, but just letting people know.

Pre-holiday
Our family favourite for pre-holiday accommodation is the Premier Inn Bath Road. It’s a great place to stay, with really nice service. My eldest DS loves planes and we always ask for an airport-facing room as you can see planes landing just beyond the car park. We ate at the Thyme restaurant on site.
Our airport parking had been upgraded to drop and collect from Terminal 5 and this was really helpful.

Flights
We flew World Traveller and we had pre-booked seats. We were looking forward to flying on the A380 for the first time. We sat upstairs and in the very back 2 pairs. This gave us an extra storage bin below the window, seats in pairs, (rather than threes), a smaller cabin of about 5 rows and I could recline without someone sitting behind me. Bear in mind that these are the last seats to be fed and to get off the plane. The upper deck also has smaller overhead storage capacity.
The service and food on the plane were good and I would have no hesitation flying with them again. I am tall and found that WT pitch was OK for me. I would prefer more space, but for the deal we got no complaints.


Car
We had the Group W booked with Avis Preferred linked. This was our second time of using them and by all accounts we could go straight to the assigned bay. Thanks to daytonababe for letting us know that the Avis Preferred bus stop was before the main one. I had written a list of my preferred (see what I did there) cars in different groups including W. This was based on cubic feet capacity and reviews on the US News site. We had 4 large cases plus hand luggage. A blip on arrival as our details weren’t on the screen and I got that sinking feeling. Thankfully the nice guy found our reservation, but the car and a few others he mentioned weren’t on my list of choices. I also looked at the upgrade area, but there was only about 7 cars and none of them were suitable. I asked the man if they had any Ford Edges, as this was high up my list and the standard model for that Group. He went and got one. It was brilliant. It had less than 10,000 miles and was very comfortable and had good storage. It also had a working Sat Nav and a great entertainment system that included Bluetooth connectivity for playing your own music and hands-free phone calls. In terms of making sure no extras were added I double checked the printout, which showed a balance of $0.01. The man confirmed that there were no extras and he ticked the balance.

LA Area
Our first stay was in Redondo Beach. It’s actually a couple of miles from the Beach and called the Seaside Motel. It was a budget option, but we thought it was great and was very comfortable.
We had pre-booked a few things to do on holiday and our first one was Knotts Berry Farm. I signed up to the Viator newsletter and got a discount. We wanted a nice typical American theme park to visit and as we expected to get up very early on the first morning we thought this would be a good way to beat the LA traffic. As it was we weren’t up very early but still made good time. Our first port of call was Denny’s, which is a family favourite. We had a great breakfast there and then made our way to Knotts Berry Farm. Had an enjoyable day, with lots of nice attractions and that “our holiday had just started” feeling.
Our next day we went to Hermosa Beach and hired cycles, after having a great breakfast at the nearby café. We had a fantastic time cycling along the strand. We rode to Manhattan Beach and locked our bikes. Each resort along the coast has its own pier and we explored Manhattan Pier. There was a small aquarium at the end, which was nice to have a look around. We then had ice cream and drinks on the pier. To be honest it was expensive. We then went for a swim in the Pacific! It had been my intention to swim in the Pacific. I had always thought that it would be nice and warm, but posts on the Dibb and elsewhere spoke of how cold it is. The water temperature was showing as low 70s. We found the water comfortable and enjoyed our swim. After that we got on the bikes and rode further north before going back to Hermosa Beach and returning them. We then had a nice walk along the strand area to Redondo and ate at the Cheesecake Factory.

PCH
Due to the landslides along the PCH parts of the route were inaccessible. Our plan was to visit parts of the South and North.
In terms of recommendations:
Cayucos Beach. Relaxing, family beach. Ate clam chowder in a bread bowl at Duckie’s. Had fantastic cookies at Brown Butter Cookie Company. My favourite were the lemon sugar.
Avila Beach. Another relaxing, family beach and recommended as an alternative to Pismo Beach.
Elephant Seal Beach. Its called the Rookery and is at San Simeon. Plenty of viewing areas to see them arguing with each other.
We didn’t get to see Bixby Creek Bridge, which I had been looking forward to, but you only have so much time. Maybe if we revisit California.

San Francisco
As mentioned I wanted a stay with free parking and the Cow Hollow Motor Inn came out well on TA. Dibbers also seemed to like it there. San Francisco was a nice place to explore. We had been pre-warned about the potential for cold, fog and rain, so we had our hoodies with us. To be fair we had some nice weather, but there we still experienced some classic weather too. In researching for the holiday I had decided to get the City Pass with Alcatraz option. In short, I phoned Alcatraz Cruises, booked our slot for the cruise and purchased my City Pass tickets. We then collected them at the Alcatraz Cruise ticket booth prior to our tour. The pass also included 3 days on the Muni public transport system, California Academy of Sciences, Aquarium of the Bay and Exploratorium/ or De Young Museum. We used the Muni passes quite a bit on the buses, but didn’t go on a cable car in the end as the queues were long. The Aquarium was good and the Academy of Sciences was excellent. It also had an aquarium, as well as a planetarium and a rain forest exhibit. We didn’t make it to the Exploratorium in the end, which was a shame as it sounds really good.
The highlight of our stay in San Francisco was the Dylan’s Tour. I got a discount code, which knocked 15% off the cost. In short, we did a city tour on a mini bus with a very informative, friendly and humorous guide. They showed us all the notable parts of San Francisco, gave us plenty of time to get off the bus and have a look around. We then went over the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito where we wandered and bought lunch, before heading to Muir Woods. We had an hour or so to wander around here. It was beautiful. If we retuned I would like to spend longer.

One tip for people heading to USA and visiting National Parks etc. We bought an America the Beautiful 12 month pass for $80 at Muir Woods. It allows either occupants of car or holder and three persons 16 and older to gain access. Under 16s are admitted anyway. We used this to gain entry to Muir Woods and at other places like Joshua Tree.

We had some great meals in San Francisco. I recommend Bubba Gumps at Fisherman’s Wharf and the Italian Homemade Company. The latter is a busy little café, with fairly-quick customer turnover. The main theme is you choose your pasta and a sauce. It was fantastic especially with the flatbreads.

Yosemite
Yosemite was beautiful and we enjoyed it there. As above, we stayed in a log cabin in Half Dome Village. It was OK, but not great. Despite being a budget option it was expensive. The housekeeping could have been better and the cabin could have been maintained a bit better. Having said that you were only sleeping there and outside it is one of the most scenic places in the world. There was a great on-site pool and plenty of food options. Our favourite was the pizza place. I also enjoyed the Lagunitas beer, that I know Jocat’s DH tried on their recent holiday. Another thumbs down for a set meal with salad, entrée and a dessert. It wasn’t great.
We did the Valley Floor Tour, which we enjoyed and various hopping on and off free buses and walking. I would say hiking, but that’s over egging it for what we did.


Desert area
We made our way down towards San Diego making stops in Lone Pine and then 29 Palms. Both were nice areas to stay, although we had limited time there.
We were planning on going through Death Valley and Mojave National Preserve on the way to 29 Palms, but the family had, had enough time in the car by that stage of the holiday. We shortened the journey from about 6 to about 4 hours, which met with approval!
Again, maybe we will see those places if we return.

We did, however, visit Joshua Tree National Park and it was amazing! Really beautiful area and very helpful guides who gave us a good route to drive and explore.

San Diego
Our final stay was in San Diego and we were really looking forward to this part of our holiday. We had read lots of amazing reviews of the area by Dibbers.
At this point I would especially like to thank Aims (Amy). She is a San Diego resident and is also very keen to share the love of her home city. I recommend her sticky thread at the top of the West Coast planning forum. She is always happy to answer questions on that and other threads, and encourage Dibbers in their planning.


We stayed at the Best Western Plus Palm Island Hotel on Shelter Island and had a great stay. It’s a lovely place to walk around and enjoy the views across the bay and the marina.
In terms of attractions I had pre-booked a build your own Go San Diego Pass. Once you have 2 or more attractions you save 20%. You can also combine it with other cities. We visited the Zoo and USS Midway.
The Zoo was fantastic and is probably one of the best in the world. It’s very big, but there are plenty of ways to get around. A very diverse and well-landscaped attraction.
We enjoyed the Midway, which is an aircraft carrier turned into a giant Museum. Lots of interesting information and views from the flight deck across San Diego were brilliant.
We drove around quite a bit in San Diego and I recommend La Jolla which is a relaxing beach area with rocks where you can see the seals swimming and coming close to the beach. We also drove across Coronado Bridge to explore Coronado. Beautiful sandy beach and relaxing atmosphere.
There are lots of good restaurants in San Diego. Memorable were Café Coyote a great Mexican restaurant in Old Town. We had the giant Margaritas! We also had a nice meal at a Red Lobster, with the great Cheddar Biscuits; and enjoyed the Old Spaghetti Factory.

Heading home
The drive to LAX from San Diego went well and we arrived in good time at Avis. I had refuelled the car a couple of miles down the road. By the way someone recommended Arco petrol for price and generally they seemed cheaper in California. Avis printed out my receipt and I checked that it had $0 as a balance.
One thing we liked at LAX was that they had a reasonably priced food court, which included KFC etc.
The flight home went well and again the food was good.

Highs
Hiring cycles.
Days in and around beaches like Cayucos, Avila and La Jolla.
Bubba Gumps in San Francisco.
Café Coyote in San Diego
Dylan’s tour.
Great hire car.
Joshua Tree National Park


Lows
Nothing too much, thankfully.
Immigration queue at LAX. Seemed to last for hours.
We loved the hire car, but an “oil needs changing soon” warning kept showing on starting the ignition. I went to 2 different Avis’ to try to swap but they didn’t have anything decent and reassured me that I needn’t worry. When the warning light changed to “change oil now” I went to the 3rd Avis, told the lady and she checked the on-line maintenance record and it had been changed not long before we hired it. She also told me how to reset the warning. Just a bit frustrating that I wasted holiday time, when the first Avis could have checked.

In conclusion
We had a great holiday with mainly positives and few negatives.

Thanks for reading.

Where to next?

[Aims]

Wow, that was a great write-up of your trip! I really enjoyed getting all the details- been waiting for this one

Your trip sounded amazing, filled with a lot of wonderful places. It was interesting to read how you came up with the idea of visiting the west coast, too. I'm always curious about that and hope people will put that story into their trip reports.

I'll have to visit Muir Woods someday, based on your great recommendation of it. I'm glad you enjoyed Knotts Berry Farm, it's a favorite of mine and I think you did well choosing that as your first day activity. Everything you did sounded great I'm so glad you had so many positives on your first west coast visit...as you can guess, I am especially happy that you enjoyed San Diego! (and the margaritas...lol)

Thank you for sharing all those fantastic details of your visit, and all the good tips- and thanks for the very kind mention of me It was a real pleasure helping you prepare for your San Diego visit, and getting to know you as well.

[tocpe321]

Originally Posted by Aims

Wow, that was a great write-up of your trip! I really enjoyed getting all the details- been waiting for this one

Your trip sounded amazing, filled with a lot of wonderful places. It was interesting to read how you came up with the idea of visiting the west coast, too. I'm always curious about that and hope people will put that story into their trip reports.

I'll have to visit Muir Woods someday, based on your great recommendation of it. I'm glad you enjoyed Knotts Berry Farm, it's a favorite of mine and I think you did well choosing that as your first day activity. Everything you did sounded great I'm so glad you had so many positives on your first west coast visit...as you can guess, I am especially happy that you enjoyed San Diego! (and the margaritas...lol)

Thank you for sharing all those fantastic details of your visit, and all the good tips- and thanks for the very kind mention of me It was a real pleasure helping you prepare for your San Diego visit, and getting to know you as well.

See more...

Thanks for your kind words, Amy.

Hopefully we'll return some day.

[jocat]

Yay, you've posted it!

It sounds like you had a great time with so many positives in your summary. There's lots of tips there for people planning future trips too.

Yes, we uttered those very same words as you - 'we'll have a cheap holiday to the West Coast with those bargain flights' We obviously hadn't looked at hotel costs at all at that point!

I loved reading about your time in San Diego. We really must get there one day. The Joshua Tree national park sounds like my kind of place too.

[tocpe321]

Originally Posted by jocat

Yay, you've posted it!

It sounds like you had a great time with so many positives in your summary. There's lots of tips there for people planning future trips too.

Yes, we uttered those very same words as you - 'we'll have a cheap holiday to the West Coast with those bargain flights' We obviously hadn't looked at hotel costs at all at that point!

I loved reading about your time in San Diego. We really must get there one day. The Joshua Tree national park sounds like my kind of place too.

See more...

Thanks for your comments, Jo. Glad it made you think about future trips.

[Disney Wishing]

Woohoo you posted and it's great! Well Done for braving the sea. It felt freezing when we went for a paddle in Santa Monica.

You can tell we both read Aims wonderful thread as we did very similar to you in San Deigo. Great City.

[tocpe321]

Originally Posted by Disney Wishing

Woohoo you posted and it's great! Well Done for braving the sea. It felt freezing when we went for a paddle in Santa Monica.

You can tell we both read Aims wonderful thread as we did very similar to you in San Deigo. Great City.

See more...

Thanks Disney Wishing. Looking forward to reading your Trip Report. I enjoyed the last one.

[daytonababe]

Sounds a fab trip

[tocpe321]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

Sounds a fab trip

See more...

Thanks daytonababe. Yes it was very good.

[janewah]

Sounds like an amazing trip! Thank you for sharing