SoCal July 2019, hopefully live

[Mortimer Mouse]

I've just discovered your report and am really enjoying it. A shame about your ankle, although at least it wasn't broken. Who were you insured with, as they seemed nice and straight forward to deal with?

I'm going to make a note of alot of the places you've mentioned for a future trip of my own. All your info on things like where to park, are just the kind of tips that I like ! So Thanks for posting.

Apparently there was an earthquake in Southern California last night. Did you feel it?

[liz-paul]

Thanks for all the comments everyone 😁

1. Insurance is with leisure guard lite. Found them through money saving expert a few years back. This is the first time we've had to claim and yes it was pretty straight forward. Husband was on the phone to them for about 5-10mins and they said to go to any clinic or hospital and that they wanted a copy of the xrays, CD and report. Our insurance cost roughly £160 for a family four, annual, worldwide policy no pre existing. I recently paid an extra £75ish to add on OHs elbow that he broke in January.

Yes we were in Warner bros during the earthquake but were in cart so didn't notice it, but apparently someone noticed a streetlight swinging and that was it. Felt the aftershock a few mins later. But it was only about a 1.5 where we were apparently.

Meant to say yesterday that the glendale Galleria has plenty of free parking. And my sister in law said last night that the Americana mall which is very close to it is better.

[liz-paul]

Day 5. Universal studios - the good, the bad and the ugly.

I'm gonna describe our day warts and all 😬

The day got off to a slightly fraught start as everyone was tired after our latish night, and I was unable to hurry everyone along in time to arrive for our early opening access at 8.30am. I tried to bite my tongue and pretend it was fine but honestly I was a bit cheesed off (I do of course realise this was silly and we are supposed to be enjoying ourselves, but when it comes to theme parks I tend to get frustrated that I can't get everyone in sync with my plans!). Anyway, we arrived about 8.30 (approx 15 minutes from the hotel), paid our $25 to park and entered jurassic parking. By the time we parked, shuffled along city walk and did security it was after 9 when we got in. I went to guest services to ask if they recommended I rent a wheelchair to minimise my time standing and walking or stick with the crutches to make manoeuvring around the park easier. The guy there gave me an access card which I was to take to the express pass queue at the rides and I would either be allowed immediate access to the express queue or given a return time. At every single ride we were just ushered straight in. This brought our queue times down to about 10-30 mins. I decided to stick with walking with crutches and leave the wheel chair as I am able to put weight on my foot today and simply using the crutches for extra support. Given how busy the park was I think this worked better than trying to get through crowds with a wheelchair.

My thoughts on the guest access pass: it made the day possible for me. Without it I'm really not sure how much we could have managed to do as I found everything so exhausting and I was so slow walking around. Especially as the first ride we did was the forbidden journey and it made OH ill so he didn't do any more rides all day! I did feel guilty skipping massive long lines though 🙄 and I'm sure the system is open to abuse.

The rides: almost everything is a simulator which was fine for me and the kids but OH got motion sickness or something on the first one and didn't do any more. The only coaster was flight of the hippogriff which lasted about 30 secs 😱 we had fun on the rides but I probably wouldn't rush back. I think we did all the rides except the mummy and jurassic world which was having a soft opening but the express queue was 1 hour and we just couldn't manage 😭😭😭

Other attractions: the studio tour is great! Mine and OHs favourite thing. We also saw the water world and stunt shows which were very good. Hogmeade is very cool but realistically it is just a large shopping area. Both the boys did wand pairing in Ollivanders which was actually really cool.

The not so good: it was soooo busy! Far busier than I remember Disney world being, although OH disagrees. At lunch time food options all seemed to be counter service with massive queues and limited seating. We got 2 kids meals, 2 adults meals and 2 drinks in mels diner and it cost around $56! Staff members were a real mixed bag too, some were great and some were totally clueless.

We stayed in the park until about 6.30 and then we decided to get dinner in margeritaville in city walk as I read online they had a lot of gf choices. They didn't. And the staff weren't knowledgable. But eventually ordered an enormous bowl of nachos on someone's recommendation. If I had realised the size of it I would have ordered a salad instead. Food was fine, cost about $103 Inc tip for 4 meals and a margarita. There was another earthquake while we were in there, definitely felt that one.

Back at the hotel about 9, another quake or aftershock soon after. Everyone is asleep now and I am almost asleep. A good day today, although tiredness etc is catching up and a few frayed tempers were evident today!

Well done if you're still with me!

[joanna23]

Hope your ankle is continuing to improve. You poor thing! It’s lovely to read about the west coast. Have an amazing time.

[liz-paul]

Review of hotel in Glendale.

We stayed at the embassy suites in glendale for 5 nights. I chose this hotel because if its proximity to burbank (for visiting my brother, Warner bros and universal) and because it had a sofa bed as well as 2 doubles. It was also a 2 room suite which gave us more room. It came with complimentary breakfast which was pretty good: a small hot buffet with bacon, eggs, sausage, potatoes and either pancakes or French toast. A few cereals and porridge, fruit and a few pastry items, coffee, teas, sodas and fruits juices. They also had cooked to order station where you could get an omelette or fried eggs.

In the evening there was a complimentary manager's reception with free drinks and snacks. We didn't get to use this as we were either eating with my brother or at the medical center in the evenings! It looked pretty good though. And I tell a lie we went in for about 20 mins one evening and had a glass of wine and some crab dip with crudite and cookies. I'm sure we would have had something every day in a different area.

The room was spacious which was great but it was a bit tired. It didn't bother us but I'm sure it would bother some people. It was also kind of dark as the windows looked into the atrium not outside so there wasn't much natural light. The double beds were quite narrow as well.

Staff were all pleasant and friendly and when our a/c stopped working someone came up and sorted it right away.

It was only a couple hundred yards to the 134 which took us directly to burbank in about 10-15 minutes. There were 2 restaurants across the street but we didn't go in either. The hotel had a restaurant which we ate in one night and the food was fine. Actually quite nice. There were more restaurants a couple minutes drive away and as ai said before, 2 malls less than a mile away.

It suited us down the ground and was a price I was happy to pay. We paid around £800 for 5 nights, will check exactly how much when I'm home again. Parking was extra, about $20 per night. Wifi was supposed to be about $10 per night but they gave us the code for free 😁

[liz-paul]

Day 5. 'hurry up family, there's a schedule here. Or, the day I bit my tongue'.

Everyone was knackered so no alarms were set and no hurrying was allowed. As a result it was around 11.30 before we were pulling away from the hotel! We were going to raging Waters in San Dimas on our way to Joshua Tree (fun fact geeks, this is the water park that napoleon goes to in bill and Teds excellent adventure. This may or may not have been why I wanted to go...). It was only about 30 mins from glendale and an easy drive. Except the sat nab takes you to the wrong place (unless you're there when it opens and can park at the entrance). There is a sign that directs you a different way. This sign is correct and you should keep going that way until the next sign, which feels like ages. You should not go that way for a few mins, worry, turn around, go back the way the sat nav is guiding you only to be told you went the wrong way, you have to keep going the wrong way until you can turn around and start again! Oh the fun we had!

We finally get to the water park entrance about 1pm. Because after we parked we had to take a bus from the car park to the entrance 🙄

Anyway, long story short we're all pretty hot and tired and strangely enough there are no sunbeds, seats or anything left. The lockers are tiny (large locker which would hold a backpack was $15 and a small one which would hold valuables was $12) and my foot was sore! I was walking without crutches (because they were rubbing on my arms and my hands, wrists and shoulders were sore from using them) and I hardly mentioned the fact that if we'd been there at opening we could have found loungers 🤨

Eventually we all got changed (there are no changing rooms, only toilets. Most people arrived in there gear with cover ups over swimwear). And I sat at the food court area with all the bags and a bucket of diet Pepsi.

Due to my ankle I never set foot in the water 😔 but the others did and enjoyed themselves. It was super busy and we only had about 3 hours there which was disappointing for ds2, who would have loved to spend the day there. We had already purchased our tickets from Groupon and it was the only day we could go, otherwise we probably wouldnt have gone given how tired and slow we all were. If you're in the area and looking for a water park I think it was good. As with everything g though, get there early and be prepared to spend $30 on a pizza!

Afterwards we mad the drive over to Joshua Tree with no problems, stopping Walmart in yucca valley and spending $111 on a few bits and pieces 😱😱😱

Dinner was pizza, salad and Prawns. And wine for the parents.

The Airbnb is great and I'll share pictures and a review when we leave.

Today is Sunday and we're all still knackered, so not sure what we'll be doing today...

[liz-paul]

It seems we've had day 5 twice!

Day 7. Chilling out in the hot desert!

Lazy start, chilled out around the house. OH and I used the pool out the back (the pool is kind of like a metal paddling pool), it was so nice sitting out there in the cool water surrpu ded by hot dry desert! It's really beautiful here!

Apologies but I hardly took any pics on the phone today..

The boys made use of the WiFi for a few hours and then we had lunch. We've totally self catered since we arrived yesterday and we will probably continue to do so. Not sure how much cheaper it ends up being but it's nice to just chill out. We've spent over $200 in Walmart just for 3 days 😱 although that includes drinks and snacks that we'll take on to San Diego. It also includes a box of wine which would obviously cost a lot more in a bar or hotel. And obviously we're buying also sorts of stuff we wouldn't normally. But I do think groceries over here are expensive.

After lunch we bought our pass for 7 days use in Joshua Tree National park ($30) and took a drive through the park. We went from the west entrance to the north entrance without stopping and it took about an hour. We were all too tired for a proper visit but the views are amazing. Such a different landscape from anything in the UK.

We followed up with a second visit to Walmart to pick up dinner supplies.

Back to the house, bbq for dinner and then the males splashed around in the pool, I took pictures and we had a proper laugh together outside! It was so much fun and really relaxing. This evening we made smores, I even found gluten Free graham crackers, and they were super yum! And chilled out with some Netflix and more wine 😁

[liz-paul]

Day 8.

We managed an early ish start today and were driving into Joshua Tree National Park at 9am. We had got a map the day before and the man in the shop had marked several points of interest that he recommended. There are areas to pull into at regular points along for photos, hiking or looking around. My understanding is that July is not a recommended hiking time due to the extreme heat.

The park is pretty amazing and such a different landscape from anything we've seen before. Wes spent 3 hours driving through the park, stopping for pictures and a little walk at skull Rock as we walked right past it and started following a trail instead 🤦

Couple of photos

Most pictures were taken on my camera not my phone, sorry again!

The highlight for me was keys point lookout. The panorama was breathtaking and impossible t do justice to with a camera!

After the park it was back to the house for lunch and a brief rest before heading to pioneertown. Except that OH had quite a long nap after lunch and the kids didn't want to go out anyway so we spent the whole afternoon and evening at the Airbnb and had a great time splashing about in the pool, chilling out, sunbathing (after 5pm as its so hot!) and using the WiFi (kids 🙄 ). Dinner was another bbq.

After dinner we spent the evening sitting outside watching the sunset, chatting, listening to music and honestly feeling like we were in a movie or a music video or something 😂 it's stunning here, and it was so nice sitting outside in the warm evening and just chilling out.
My photos really can't do the place justice

We're sad to be leaving here tomorrow as we've all enjoyed the extra space of an Airbnb and the slower pace of the last couple of days. We head to la jolla tomorrow for 2 nights and with hindsight I think a better option may have been to have another night here and an extra one in San Diego. But we will see 😁

We had planned to do more here than we've done (possibly the theme of the holiday? Lol), we will go to pioneertown tomorrow on our way and maybe the palm springs aerial Tramway.

We've actually really enjoyed the desert and today we have seen buzzards, birds of prey, small mammals that may have been ground squirrels, rabbits and a bat this evening. Not bad for a place that appears so arid and barren!

In case anyone is wondering: my ankle is improving but it's still not quite there. I'm walking on it without crutches since Saturday but I probably should have given it a bit longer really...

[Mrs Red C]

Joshua Tree NP is an amzing place, landscape is extraordinary. We've been twice, both times in April. Still v hot but the spring flowers were a beautiful surprise. Glad your ankles improving

[Mortimer Mouse]

A lovely relaxing couple of days, which sounds like just what you needed.