Where to visit on California vacation?

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PaulinPa

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My wife,myself and my 20 year old son are planning a trip to California in mid August.We are flying into San Diego renting a car and meandering around southern Cali.until we depart San Francisco a week later.I know thats not nearly enough time but it's all we have.I would like my son to see some geography not available here in Pa. like deserts and mountains and beaches.Any suggestions for places to see and moderately priced motels to stay in would be appreciated.
 
It would be a big miss not to hit Carmel, Monterey and the like. I personally love Santa Barbara although it can be sort of expensive to stay in town.

As far as deserts, driving out to Palm Springs could be nice.
 
If you can hijack the vacation for automotive purposes, swing through Monterey August 17 - 19th. Not a lot of "moderately priced motels" there at that time, however! http://legendsoftheautobahn.org/Home.html

Or stop by Cars&Coffee in Irvine early early on a Saturday morning. There are always several e9's there. Did I mention that you need to get there early? http://irvine.carsandcoffee.info/directions.php

If you want to see "geography not available here in Pa." go to Yosemite. It's pretty amazing. Unfortunately, by August the waterfalls have slowed considerably, and it's the crowded season.
 
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Could add Carmel and of course San Francisco itself.
As for beaches you can start right in San Diego (La Jolla for sure, Coronado Island, Mission Beach), Cambria close to Hearst Castle, and up here Aptos where the Seascape resort is.

A neat historic motel on the way would be:
http://www.deetjens.com/
(I had breakfast there but were sold out for rooms).
 
And stop to say hi to Carl Nelson and Eric Sliskovich

Make a pilgrimage to Murray, check out HBChris's undercarriage

Have tapas with Arde
 
You can make the trip north along the beaches and stay in the San Luis Obispo area. Nice, inexpensive. From there you can take Hiway 1 north through Big Sir, Carmel and Santa Cruz with time to stop at a few places. August on the coast might be cold.

The only interesting drives north and south are either on the coast or on the eastern border through the dessert and then the Sierras, Mono Lake, etc. Not convenient at all from San Diego though.

Dan
 
I like it from Hearst Castle North on 1. meander, spend time with Redwoods.
 
Hey Stan,

You're already a legend for your cross country drive from Coupeking!! The question is, would you do it again after a brand new paint refresh? Hope to see you and the coupe in Saratoga...

Chuck
 
iconoclast6 said:
Hey Stan,

You're already a legend for your cross country drive from Coupeking!! The question is, would you do it again after a brand new paint refresh? Hope to see you and the coupe in Saratoga...

Chuck
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I would do it agin if I had about 2 weeks to really enjoy it and my wife with me to see all the sights!
 
PaulinPa said:
My wife,myself and my 20 year old son are planning a trip to California in mid August.We are flying into San Diego renting a car and meandering around southern Cali.until we depart San Francisco a week later.I know thats not nearly enough time but it's all we have.I would like my son to see some geography not available here in Pa. like deserts and mountains and beaches.Any suggestions for places to see and moderately priced motels to stay in would be appreciated.
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Hi Paul - here is your itinerary:
- Day 1: beaches in SD - Coronado (Hotel Del, Silver Strand), Mission Beach, La Jolla, Del Mar. After visiting La Jolla Independent, drive to top of Mount Soledad for 360 view of SD county and ocean.
- Day 2: drive to Palm Desert - I15 North to Temecula and from there mountain/high desert road to Palm Desert. Beautiful road, very little traffic. Stop for ice cream at DQ in Anza.
- Day 3: Joshua Tree - the southern entrance of the park is a 30 min drive East from Palm Desert. The park ranger station there can advise what's going on that day, any mountain goat sighting, etc.. Worth the drive.
- Day 4: drive to LA - from Palm Desert take I10 west until you hit the ocean in Santa Monica. Checkout the lunies in Venice Beach.
- Day 5: Drive up the coast - take highway 101 to San Luis Obispo, quick stop in Santa Barbara to refuel,
- Day 6: To Monterey - continue up the coast to Monterey, have to stop on the way to see Hearst Castle (likely with another 2 million tourists, but hey, it's the season)
- Day 7: Drive to SFO - if enough time, take the mountain road from Santa Cruz through the Redwood forest.
For moderately priced hotels, I always use priceline.
Have a great trip!
 
Well that looks like a pretty good plan!Thank you for the suggestions. Do you have any recommendations for motels in Ocean Beach?I read in the AAA guide that it's the most laid back town in California and the embodiment of the Beach Boys songs.Sounds like my kind of place!
 
Palm Dessert is great but it's going to be hot, regularly +100F in Aug.

The World Famous San Diego Zoo is amazing and is a pretty affordable day if I recall, certainly more so than Disneyland.

It would be a shame to miss the drive from La Jolla, Torrey Pines, Del Mar etc up to Laguna and Surf City ( that's the real Beach Boys town). Plus a drive up the coast let's you stop by Carl's to pick up a "souvenir" or two. And of all the places I've ever been, the views from Rancho Palos Verdes are still top 10 for me.

Take the coast up, but not the freeway. Every curve will yield a postcard view. Stop when you get tired or hungry. If you plan too much you'll miss the point.

.
 
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David said:
Palm Dessert is great but it's going to be hot, regularly +100F in Aug.
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Yes, the deserts are absurdly hot in August-September. Come out again in March-April to do the inland trip.

The World Famous San Diego Zoo is amazing and is a pretty affordable day if I recall, certainly more so than Disneyland.
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Send the wife & kids to the zoo, and stop in at the S.D. Auto Museum - both are located in Balboa Park. The auto museum is kind of funky, but fun. Close by the car museum is the much larger Air and Space museum, which is pretty impressive.
 
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PaulinPa said:
Do you have any recommendations for motels in Ocean Beach?I read in the AAA guide that it's the most laid back town in California and the embodiment of the Beach Boys songs.
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Sorry, no recommendations for motels in OB. However, there are many affordable motels along side I8, just a 10 min drive from OB. Also, note that most beach cities in So Cal claim a link to the Beach Boys....:wink:
 
Stan said:
And stop to say hi to Carl Nelson and Eric Sliskovich

Make a pilgrimage to Murray, check out HBChris's undercarriage

Have tapas with Arde
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Yes, tapas in Menlo then Paella in San Francisco.

Not sure what your son is into but I can arrange a visit to a tech startup to see other youngsters packed in an open space coding and playing board games for 20 hours a day.

They may use him to QA some user interface and send him a check later. It is not true that they sleep at their desks. That would be civil servants, startups have couches.
 
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