first time CA trip

[dalmatian7]

Here is a loose itinerary for our upcoming trip. The trip will be me, DH and DD11. Let me know what you think.

Day 1 Arrive – Eta into Fresno is 4pm. Planning on driving to Visalia to our Air Bnb and grabbing take out to each there and relax in the hot tub. DD has requested mini golf or another activity.

Day 2 – Sequoia National Park

Day 3 – Drive to LA in the morning, looking to arrive at the Griffiths Observatory by noon. Lunch on the way in, or purchased in Visalia to picnic at the Observatory and then check out the Observatory. Drive to GCH. Maybe grab supper on the way or at DTD

Day 4 – DCA/DL day (I know one day only is killer but DH is not a Disney fan)

Day 5 – check out of GCH and head to the Peterson Car Museum and La Brea with afternoon time at the beach (probably Venice or Santa Monica). Checking into a hotel in old Town Pasadena for the remainder of the trip.

Day 6 – WB Studios morning Heritage Square Museum in the afternoon.

Questions – Would you do the beach in the morning and then museums in the afternoon? I don’t like the thought of backtracking across LA. For reference it will be on a Saturday and at the time of year that it will be too cold to really swim. I was thinking of maybe renting bikes and touring?

If anyone has done the Peterson or WB Studios, did you do the vault at Peterson and the upgraded tour at WB? Thoughts?

Does anyone have any recommendations for restaurants in Old Town, near the Peterson or out at the beach? I am planning on eating at WB studios to save time between there and Heritage Square. When we are at the Peterson/LaBrea I was thinking of going to the Farmers Market. I have also seen Great Mex on the Balboa Pier mentioned quite a bit so that would change beaches.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Sounds like a fun and busy itinerary!

Visalia to Sequoia - leave early and you’ll take the 198 all the way to the park. I imagine you’ll be spending your day at Giant Forest, so be sure to go to Moro Rock, Crescent Meadow, and General Sherman. If the shuttles are going, then park near the museum and take the shuttle to Moro Rock - when you’re done there - go to Crescent Meadow - hike/walk to Tharpe’s Log, and then hike to General Sherman tree…. You can take the shuttle back to the museum or wherever your car is parked. Along the way to Sequoia, stop at Hospital Rock, and just a few yards off the road you’ll be able to see some Native American petroglyphs. Also, note Mineral Springs turn off as you go up to Giant Forest. At one time, Walt Disney was trying to buy it and put a ski resort there, but the Sierra Club put a stop to that.

Visalia is a good 3-hour drive to Los Angeles, so be prepared for that. The Griffith Park Observatory parking lot gets really crowded, so you may have to park down the hill and walk up to it. I love visiting there, though, and so it’s a good choice. Not sure which day is Day 3, so check and make sure that the observatory is open that day. (For the heck of it - check out Tam O’Shanter for dinner before leaving to GCH. It was Walt’s favorite restaurant for lunch (table 31 has a little plaque with his name on it), and John Wayne and Bella Lugosi also went there often.

I can’t really talk about the Peterson Museum - haven’t visited it yet, but it’s across the street from La Brea Tarpits (check out the Page Museum there) and LACMA (LA County? Museum of Arts). Just up the street on Fairfax is the Grove and Farmers Market. I recommend eating there. We love Farmers Market, but if the Grove is more your vibe, you can eat at a little side walk cafe and people watch. They also have a huge Cheesecake Factory there. Farmers Market is an LA icon, built in the 1920’s, I believe.

I would do museums in the morning and beach in the afternoon and hopefully catch an awesome sunset.

I’ve also done the WB studios tour, and really enjoyed it.

If you’re talking about the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach, I believe that is too far, and you’re talking about a 2-hour drive just to get there due to our traffic. If you’ll be on that side of town, then concentrate on Newport and Huntington Beaches, but if you’re going to be around Santa Monica/LA area, then stick to Santa Monica, Venice, and research Malibu for experiences that interest you.

 

[dalmatian7]

Sounds like a fun and busy itinerary!



If you’re talking about the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach, I believe that is too far, and you’re talking about a 2-hour drive just to get there due to our traffic. If you’ll be on that side of town, then concentrate on Newport and Huntington Beaches, but if you’re going to be around Santa Monica/LA area, then stick to Santa Monica, Venice, and research Malibu for experiences that interest you.

Thanks for the info, I have been using your maps of Disney history spots in LA.
Thanks for the Sequoia itinerary. I am still trying to orient myself with the park, and what order to try to see things in. I will have more questions on that soon.
I know the drive in from Visalia is long, that is why Griffith Park is our only stop that day. I actually planned on hiking up to the observatory to get the Hollywood sign views on the way.
I thought Newport looked really far south. You don't think it will be too bad to drive from Santa Monica/Venice back to Pasadena on a Saturday afternoon/early evening? My only thought with doing the beach in the morning was we wouldn't have a set time we needed to be somewhere until afternoon so it would give us a looser schedule for checking out of GCH and getting somewhere. Also, the docent led tours at the Peterson Vault, I just realized are only in the afternoon. I am leaning towards splurging on that tour for myself and just doing a standard tour at WB to save some money unless someone sees more value in the upgraded tour at WB besides food included.

Booked DL tickets today. Shed a little tear (and my wallet caught on fire) as this is the first time I have purchased DD a disney adult ticket. That day is going to be long, also another thought for pushing the museums off until the afternoon the next day.

There are just so many things in LA.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Based in the docent led tours, then morning at the beach might be a good idea. Traffic is pretty congested so expect the worst when going from Sta Monica to the Hancock Park area and enjoy if you get there earlier. Also, for the beaches, depending on the time of year we get a marine layer so it might be cloudy.

 

[China Expat]

I live in Pasadena! There are hundreds of fabulous restaurants here in Old Town. Without knowing your food preferences, just google "Italian food Pasadena" for example, and read the reviews. Be sure to visit the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena! Stunning!

 

[dalmatian7]

I live in Pasadena! There are hundreds of fabulous restaurants here in Old Town. Without knowing your food preferences, just google "Italian food Pasadena" for example, and read the reviews. Be sure to visit the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena! Stunning!

Thanks! that was my reason for choosing Pasadena for our home base. Other then fish (my issue), we pretty much like everything. We really want to try cuisine that we don't see at home like Korean or really good Mexican. But Italian works too!

 

[vacationaward]

Day 3 - you should make time to do the smaller hike to the Hollywood sign since you're going to be in at Griffith anyways.

Try and squeeze some time into Malibu if you can. It's a little more private, less busy, and nicer than Santa Monica and Venice IMO.

 

[bcla]

Does anyone have any recommendations for restaurants in Old Town, near the Peterson or out at the beach? I am planning on eating at WB studios to save time between there and Heritage Square. When we are at the Peterson/LaBrea I was thinking of going to the Farmers Market. I have also seen Great Mex on the Balboa Pier mentioned quite a bit so that would change beaches.

Not really all that familiar with any of that other than around the Petersen Museum. We went there and didn't do The Vault. We also went past the pond at the La Brea Tar Pits. Not really worth it without visiting the Tar Pits museum. It smells like someone laid fresh asphalt.

We went through the Original Farmers Market but didn't dine there. Some seems pretty interesting, but it's probably something where you might see what you like rather than just plan for any specific place. We went to Maggiano's Little Italy at The Grove. It's a chain, but a pretty good one. We didn't go into The Grove, but they have restaurants in The Grove proper inside the mall area.

https://thegrovela.com/dining/

That's right there next to CBS Television City where they record a bunch of shows including The Price Is Right, The Late Late Show, etc. The place my kid wanted to go to was Wanderlust Creamery. There's one in Pasadena and several in LA, including one right there in Fairfax almost on the opposite corner of The Original Farmers Market.

It's not that close to Pasadena, but there is Porto's Bakery & Cafe. It's a chain with several locations (they plan on their latest at Downtown Disney) but closest to Pasadena there's one in Glendale and another in Burbank. It's a little bit intimidating at first because of typical long lines, but they have a lot of employees to make it easier. I think it's worth a trip.

https://www.portosbakery.com/locations/?exp68=v2

 

[DonnerB]

The Vault tour at the Petersen is worth it. You are only a few miles from Koreatown when you’re there (although that can be a 30+ minute drive), where there are endless Korean BBQ and shabu shabu places. If you want something closer to the museum, Pho Saigon Pearl on Fairfax has really tasty pho (especially on a cool day!).

 

[dalmatian7]

It's not that close to Pasadena, but there is Porto's Bakery & Cafe. It's a chain with several locations (they plan on their latest at Downtown Disney) but closest to Pasadena there's one in Glendale and another in Burbank. It's a little bit intimidating at first because of typical long lines, but they have a lot of employees to make it easier. I think it's worth a trip.

https://www.portosbakery.com/locations/?exp68=v2

I have seen Porto's mentioned in a few trip reports now. I will have to investigate more.

For all of you locals or regular visitors, what app for finding restaurants do you use? We typically use Yelp, but I didn't know if there was something better for the area.

 

[bcla]

I have seen Porto's mentioned in a few trip reports now. I will have to investigate more.

For all of you locals or regular visitors, what app for finding restaurants do you use? We typically use Yelp, but I didn't know if there was something better for the area.

I forgot to mention the Anaheim Packing House. It’s a former Sunkist Growers citrus packing plant that’s been converted to mostly a food hall. But there’s also some retail like Kiehl’s.

 

[LisaL]

We went to Sequoia in May. It's so beautiful. If DD is interested, check out the Junior Ranger program. It's a fun and easy to learn booklet. When done, kiddo gets to take a fun and unique oath to protect the park and earns a NPS Jr. Ranger badge.

 

[dalmatian7]

We went to Sequoia in May. It's so beautiful. If DD is interested, check out the Junior Ranger program. It's a fun and easy to learn booklet. When done, kiddo gets to take a fun and unique oath to protect the park and earns a NPS Jr. Ranger badge.

Did you work on the jr Ranger before hand? I have a note to print it before we leave, I'll have to take a look at it again. She would definitely be into that. She loves the Wilderness Explorer book at AK.

 

[LisaL]

If you go to NPS Sequoia, there's a drop down for Things to Do, then Kids. I hope this link will work: https://www.nps.gov/seki/learn/kidsyouth/beajuniorranger.htm

Every park is a little different, but looks like you can download the Sequoia Jr Ranger Book, complete it, and bring it in with you to the visitor center.

We also love the Passport books. You can get dated stamps for the places you visit. If you don't have the book, you can stamp a little paper and then put that in your keepsake/memory book. The have these cool "stamp" stickers, too, and we get those to go with his stamp. I wish I knew how to take a picture and put here so it would make more sense.

Just a note: you may want to open Google maps on your phone long before you enter the park because you will not have cell reception. As long as you don't close the app, you will remain connected and can navigate the park. It's pretty amazing really.

 

[bcla]

I guess one thing that hasn't been mentioned is the time of year. Sequoia NP has snow during winter and possible chain conditions.

https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/road-conditions.htm
https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/winter_driving.htm

 

[dalmatian7]

I guess one thing that hasn't been mentioned is the time of year. Sequoia NP has snow during winter and possible chain conditions.

https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/road-conditions.htm
https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/winter_driving.htm

I don't mention our exact dates because, well, this is the internet. I believe that historically we should be okay. Warm clothes are on our radar though.

If you go to NPS Sequoia, there's a drop down for Things to Do, then Kids. I hope this link will work: https://www.nps.gov/seki/learn/kidsyouth/beajuniorranger.htm

Every park is a little different, but looks like you can download the Sequoia Jr Ranger Book, complete it, and bring it in with you to the visitor center.

We also love the Passport books. You can get dated stamps for the places you visit. If you don't have the book, you can stamp a little paper and then put that in your keepsake/memory book. The have these cool "stamp" stickers, too, and we get those to go with his stamp. I wish I knew how to take a picture and put here so it would make more sense.

Just a note: you may want to open Google maps on your phone long before you enter the park because you will not have cell reception. As long as you don't close the app, you will remain connected and can navigate the park. It's pretty amazing really.

I actually have a passport book I bought 20 years ago. I will have to dig to see if I can find it. I only had a few stamps. Thanks for all the info. I should have some time this weekend to really narrow down things and get itineraries set up, things printed, etc.

 

[bcla]

I don't mention our exact dates because, well, this is the internet. I believe that historically we should be okay. Warm clothes are on our radar though.

You'll need warm clothes even during the summer. I was there one June and the cabin at Grant Grove was cold as heck. At high altitude there will be large temperature swings.

 

[LisaL]

You'll need warm clothes even during the summer. I was there one June and the cabin at Grant Grove was cold as heck. At high altitude there will be large temperature swings.

We stayed at the cabins at Grant Grove in May. It was sooo much fun. Old, quirky, original. Loved it much more than John Muir Lodge. We did one night at each location.

 

[bcla]

We stayed at the cabins at Grant Grove in May. It was sooo much fun. Old, quirky, original. Loved it much more than John Muir Lodge. We did one night at each location.

Stayed in one of the camp cabins about 15 years ago. The main issue we had was that the heater didn't work. I believe they're propane powered, but I don't know if it was out of propane or some other issue. But we were prepared for camping later in the trip so we pulled out our camping gear. Outside was about 40ºF in the middle of the night.

They don't have a photo of the inside of a camp cabin, but it was pretty similar to the rustic cabin.

https://www.visitsequoia.com/lodging/grant-grove-cabins

 

[LisaL]

This was the best picture I could find of what ours looked like. We were there in May and loved opening the casement windows. We were in Cabin 7 and fondly called it the slant shanty. There were so many Sequoias outside our windows. Looking at the pics of Kings Canyon, I really want to go back when there's snow!