Convince me California

[UCFALUM]

We had a fabulous holiday in Ireland and can't wait to go back! It convinced DH to name all of our kiddies after Irish saints-lol.
If you can spend some time before SF in Monterey County-it is awesome! The beaches are not bathing beaches but stunning and the hiking is incredible (see the post on Pt. Lobos State Park on here. Not mine but we love it there) Big Sur is incredible and the whole area is fun!

 

[rpbert1]

Hi , and thanks for the tips, seems our cousins are taking us out and about when there. We apparently are going camping for a while after Las Vegas, so not sure yet exactly where we are going, so will just have to go to where they would like us to see.I have a book on California and will lokk upinfo given here and say to her, and if we can fit some in i am sure it would not be a problem for them to take us.

 

[shelemm]

Carpinteria Beach, south of Santa Barbara, has a colony of sea lions living there. A long and famously safe beach. State park land, very quiet. Very quick to drive to Santa Barbara (beautiful, historic Mission city), access to Channel Islands National Park from Ventura. Lots of great vacation opportunities.

 

[carj]

We went to California this past summer and spent 8 days there. We had such a wonderful time!
Coming from Texas, we were so in LOVE with the weather. It was in the 60's in the morning and 80's in the afternoon. This was later June, early July. (IT was 100 at home that week!)

We visited Newport beach and yes, the Pacific Ocean is COLD!! The water temperature did not matter to my kids. They thought it was awesome! We did find some shells. They weren't fine specimens but my kids were impressed anyway.

We also went to DLR, Lego Land and The Aquarium of the Pacific. We really enjoyed the aquarium. It was very interactive with lots of up close action with the animals. We were able to touch sting rays, starfish and anemones (sp?). It was an amazing experience!

I had been to California before as a child and a teenager but taking my own children was really special.

 

[OurDogCisco]

Hi , and thanks for the tips, seems our cousins are taking us out and about when there. We apparently are going camping for a while after Las Vegas, so not sure yet exactly where we are going, so will just have to go to where they would like us to see.I have a book on California and will lokk upinfo given here and say to her, and if we can fit some in i am sure it would not be a problem for them to take us.

YOu should definitely visit Yosemite or even Sequoia National Park. I love the beaches in CA but they are different than like Hawaii or the gulf side of Florida. They are beautiful but not the tropical kind of beauty but I'd visit more than just beaches in CA when you come as there is a lot to do here.

 

[rpbert1]

Ok, so flights booked to vegas from Tampa. Staying Vegas for 3 days, then after a few days relaxing in Palm Springs, we are heading up to the mountains , for a week camping and exploring, what happens after that will need to wait probably till we get, there as this is all that is planned at this time.
Thanks for all the sugestions, will need another trip to get everything fitted in

 

[Beckypooh1972]

Don't overlook all the classic California tourist spots like Hollywood! We took a side trip to CA. from Las Vegas one year and had a blast checking out Mann's Chinese theater and all the other Hollywood landmarks. We also got tickets to see Jay Leno on the Tonight Show and that was a highlight of our trip; we met so many nice people -- Californians are really nice! I wish we'd had more time to see more, take studio tours, etc. It was really fun and interesting. Of course we took a day at the DCA park while we were in town. We were going to go to Disneyland but it had a lot of refurbs at the time. There will definitely be a next time for us in CA. Just waiting for our kids to get a little older so they can manage the longer plane ride.