California
Road Trip July 2015
We flew into San Diego on Tuesday morning, met Zach’s
sister Julie and her husband Doug at the airport, picked-up a rental car and
headed to Balboa Park. While Julie and Doug headed for the Zoo, we went
exploring around the other parts of the 100-year old park.
We went to the Timken Museum of Art, Botanical Building,
We went to the Timken Museum of Art, Botanical Building,
then went to the Rose and Desert Gardens.
We stayed the night at Cathy’s brother Mike’s house and the next morning headed up the coast Pacific Highway Coast to LA. Our first stop was Coronado.
Our next stop was Mission San Juan Capistrano. No swallows now.
We spent the night in Long Beach. The next morning we went to the Hollywood Walk of Fame
and took a tour bus through Hollywood and Beverly
Hills. It was supposed to be a 2-hour tour, but turned into three hours, because
our driver decided to drive up Mulholland Dr.
Our favorite stop was the Greystone Mansion, where
many movies have been filmed, in part.
From there we drove to Malibu, where we enjoyed a
nice dinner on the pier.
We spent that night in Ventura. The next morning we
drove to one of our favorite CA places, Santa Barbara.
From there we went to Solvang, CA little Denmark.
Then onto San Luis Obispo. Had a excellent Sourdough bowl clam chowder.
Our day was not over until our stops at Morro Rock and to collect
Moonstones on Moonstone Beach in Cambria.
After a night in a not very nice hotel in San Simeon,
we enjoyed several hours strolling around Hearst Castle. The indoor Roman Pool was very impressive!
From there we went to Gorda Overlook, and McWay Waterfall.
We were disappointed by Carmel-by-the Sea.
We ended the day on the delightful 17-Mile Drive in Pebble
Beach. Along with all the mega-million dollar houses, there were many nice
views like the Lone Cypress.
We spent that night in San Jose. The next morning
Julie and Doug flew back home to Charlotte and we drove to Mariposa to meet
Cathy’s brother Mike and his wife Gloria. That afternoon we went to the CA State Mining and
Mineral museum where we were not allowed to take any pictures of the almost 14-pound
Fricot Gold Nugget or anything else.
The next day we drove to Yosemite Valley. We hiked to Yosemite Falls
and the surprisingly difficult Vernal Falls Overlook Trail.
That night we stayed in Kingsburg and couldn’t find an open restaurant at 830 pm and ended up eating at a Taco Bell. (Jamie the Taco Bell was good and we were very impressed!) The next morning we drove back to San Diego. Since we had to drive through LA, we stopped for a few hours at the Getty Museum. Enjoyed the art, views, and gardens.
We spent the night at Mike and Gloria’s. The next day we flew home.
