California

February 27, 2020

California

In February of 2020 our family did a two week cost trip. The kids were 10, 9, and 5.

Friday -
We flew into Phoenix around 6:30. We went to Goodwill and bought an electric skillet to cook with. Mike took the kids swimming and I went grocery shopping. I got enough food to last about a week and headed back to the hotel. We settled in and got some good sleep.

Saturday-
We drove from Phoenix to Joshua tree. We drove through the Sonoran Desert on the way which was super cool to see. Our kids were familiar with the Sonoran Desert from watching Wild Kratts. We then went to Joshua Tree National Park. It took us about 3 hours to get there. We took US10 and came in through the south entrance. We stopped at the Cottonwood Visitor Center and listened to a ranger talk and picked up our junior ranger books. Next we went to the cactus gardens. It was fun to walk around and see the different types of cacti. A short drive down the road and we were exploring Arch Rock. The kids loved exploring in this part of the park. They loved climbing the boulders. From there we drove about 15 minutes and we were in the skull rock area. This was another great place for climbing and exploring. We then drove to the Oasis Visitor Center and the kids turned in their books and earned another Junior Ranger Badge. We spent about 5 hours and the park and I was really happy with the amount of hiking and sites that we were able to see in that amount of time. From the visitor center we drove about 25 minutes and stayed at the Super 8 Yucca Valley hotel. It was about $85 a night and had a pool and free breakfast. When we got settled in the hotel the kids did their vacation reading, writing, and math projects while Mike and I cooked dinner. We were all pretty tired after a full day of exploring.

In the Sonoran Desert

Standing with a Joshua Tree

Skull Rock

Arch Rock

Cactus Garden

Earning another Junior Ranger Badge

Hotel School

Sunday-
We got up had breakfast and hit the road. We drove 2 1/2 hours into LA and went to the California Science Center. They had the Space Shuttle Endeavor there. The museum was free but we did have to pay for parking and tickets to see the Space Shuttle. We managed to see all 3 space shuttle in 1 year. We were all super excited.

Our 3rd Space shuttle in a year

touching an Endeavor Space shuttle wheel

touch tank

Monday-
After flying, driving, adjusting to the time zone, hiking around a national park, and hitting up a museum we were ready for a chill day. We spent the majority of the day pool side at our airBNB. We wanted to have lots of energy for our Universal Studio day. Scheduling a few down days on a big trip like this is really important for our family.

Tuesday -
Universal Studio day! We got to the park before the gates opened. We took the subway to the park we we didn't have to pay for parking and mess with downtown traffic. We also wore back packs and packed a lunch and dinner in them. We are BIG Harry Potter fans in this house so the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was a big part of the day for us. The kids brought costumes and wands from home. It was really fun to be in the park. It felt like we were in the Harry Potter Movie. The only thing I spent money on all day was 1 butterbeer. We all shared it and it was delicious. The kids brought their own money and enjoyed buying things in the shops.

Wizzarding World of Harry Potter

Butterbeer

The Hogwarts Express

The Flight of the Hippogriff

Wednesday-
I took the kids to the pool one last time and Mike packed up the Airbnb. We then drove to the L.A. observatory. Its free and there's free parking at the bottom of the hill. Our original goal was to hike up to the Hollywood sign but we were pretty tired from Univeral the day before. So we explored around the Observatory. They had a working seismograph that was fun to see. They also had a meteorite you could hold and you can climb on the rough and it gives an amazing view. We then drove 2 hours to the San Diego area. We actually stayed in Carlsbad. We could walk to the beach from our hotel so as soon as we were checked in we wanted to check out the beach. Our hotel also offered free drinks and appetizers Monday- Thursday so that was a huge bonus.

From the observatory roof

Caiden holding a meteor

Caiden watching the seismograph

Playing at the beach near San Diego

Welcome to our San Diego leg of the trip

building rock piles on the beach

Thursday-
We one a whale watching tour today. We bought a Groupon for San Diego Whale Watch. We paid $96.60 for all 5 of us to go on a 2 1/2 hour tour. We saw so many amazing things. We saw over 100 dolphins and several whales along with several varieties of birds. The kids loved seeing the dolphins jump.

Whale sighting

Dolphins!

Dolphins swimming close to the boat.

Friday
Today we spent the morning on the beach. We ate lunch at our hotel then we headed for a hike at Slot Canyon. From there we drove to La Jolla Cove.

Saturday-
The USS Midway is American's longest serving air craft carrier. It's located in down town San Diego. We utilized the February library program and got 50% off our tickets. We all really enjoyed the ship. Their are alot of interactive experiences. The kids liked doing the scavenger hunt on board and earning their wings. We all liked listing to the hand held recorded guides. The kids also liked getting to sit in the planes on deck.