Santa Cruz Island Kayaking with Channel Islands Outfitters

Living in California, it's easy to take for granted all of the amazing scenery and activities there are locally. Off of the coast of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties are a series of channel islands that make up the California Channel Islands National Park. We look at them every time we drive up the coast, and we'd toured near them on some whale watching trips, but we'd never been out to visit them!

SD came to visit California for work a few weeks ago, and we decided to do something we've been wanting to do for a long time - take a ferry out to the Channel Islands and have an adventure!

Heading out for our adventure!

Travel Photo Tuesday: Huntington Library, Pasadena CA

Another one of my favorite Los Angeles spots is the Huntington Library and Gardens in Pasadena, CA. The grounds are really magnificent! They have gardens structured from around the world - the photo above is from the Japanese garden, which is probably my favorite one. They have many different halls of artwork, a tea room as well as a few more casual places to grab a bite to eat, and a lovely museum shop as well!

Travel Photo Tuesday: Angel's Flight in Downtown Los Angeles

Angel's Flight is a unique piece of Los Angeles history! It originally opened in 1901 as a way for the wealthy residents of Bunker Hill to make it down into downtown Los Angeles, and then it was refurbished and reopened from 2010 to 2013, then was closed to investigate safety issues, which are still ongoing. It's unfortunately not running today, but you can check in and see if it's up and running again by following the Angel's Flight Railway page!

Someday, I'll catch up.

Wow. So things have been absolutely insane over the last few years. We've been doing our fair share of traveling, and I've been very neglectful of writing about it!

What have we been up to the last couple years?

2013:
I made a New Year's resolution to do at minimum a small trip every month, and I did pretty well! Not only did we do some really fun weekend trips, including a road trip to Arizona, and a quick overnight trip to Savannah while I was in Atlanta for work, but we also snuck Europe in there in October when I went to a business conference in Cannes. Hubby and I tacked on London, Bruges, and Paris to Cannes, and it was really fun.

Bruges, Belguim, October 2013

Travel blog fail.

Well, it seems that I've done an absolutely terrible job in the last year and a half with blogging about my travels!

It started with a sort of lackluster trip to London in October 2012, and then I just, well, I don't know, I guess we just got busy with life. In addition to being crazy busy at work, I also got engaged and married! Meaning that from here on, "BF" will now be called "Hubby... :-) 

But! I'm back to make a renewed effort to bring this travel blog up to date.

Here's a quick rundown of what we've been up to in the last 20 months or so:

October 2012: Trip to London

February 2013: Monterey weekend
March 2013: Long weekend in New York
April 2013: Work trip to Las Vegas
June 2013: Road trip to Arizona
September 2013: Work trip to Atlanta, paired with an overnight in Savannah thrown in
October 2013: Work trip to Cannes, paired with a week in London, Bruges and Paris

February 2014: Work trip to New York
March 2014: Bachelorette weekend in Palm Springs
April 2014: Work trip to Las Vegas
May 2014: HONEYMOON in the Cook Islands
June 2014: Work trip to Miami, then a quick weekend in Arizona
July 2014: Work trip to New York

Whew! Seems like I've been up to much more travel than I thought! I also have a couple of additional trips coming up this year, which I'm pretty excited about.

August 2014: Quick two night trip to Portland for a baby shower, plus an additional work trip to New York
October 2014: Work trip to Cannes with a few nights in London on the way over
November 2014: Work trip to Atlanta

I'll come back to this post and link some things once I've blogged about them! Here's hoping I can get up to speed soon....

Monterey getaway!

BF's birthday is coming up, and I knew back in December that I wanted to do a quick but awesome getaway with him for it. It's been a while since we've been to Monterey, CA, so I thought that'd be the perfect place! 

*Image from Google Maps*

And now the trip is coming up later this month, and I've finally booked a hotel! We'll be staying at the Best Western Plus Beach Resort Monterey. (Yeah. It's quite the mouthful, right?) A friend of mine stayed there with her hubby and pup over the holidays, and she said it was great. And since it's a Best Western, the prices are some of the most reasonable I've ever seen in the area. It's a little outside of Monterey, but I think we'll survive. I mean, we'll be ON THE BEACH! AND it's dog friendly? I may have found my new favorite hotel! 

I'll be back towards the end of the month with a review of it, but to say I'm excited is a bit of an understatement. Now, to find some dog parks we can stop at on the drive up...

What weekend getaways are you planning for this year?

New Year's Resolution

It's a little late, but I finally came up with a New Year's resolution... drumroll, please...

Make 2013 the year of day/weekend trips!

There are a ton of places that I want to go that are close by or fairly local. And I've been severely neglecting taking advantage of the awesome travel available in the US!

Here's my plan so far:

1) January: Day trip to Santa Barbara and Solvang with X while she was visiting from NY. - DONE!

2) February: Two night getaway to Monterey, CA with BF for his birthday. - BOOKED

3) March: Three night trip to NY with M! (She's going again for work, I'm going again for fun!) - BOOKED
     March: Overnight to Indio for a concert with Shorty and DK. - BOOKED

4) April: Two night trip to Vegas for a work conference. (I'm trying to get BF or M to come with!) - BOOKED

5) May: Potential return to NY for work. - PLANNED

6) June: Overnight in San Diego to visit BF's family.  - PLANNED

And right there, we're halfway through the year! Here's hoping it all works out!  

The First 70

I'm back from our amazing road trip to Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore! It was a great trip which I'll go all sorts of into soon, but at the moment, I wanted to bring up another topic.

The state of California is in a budget crisis, as many are, but on the list of cuts are the closing of 70 state parks across the state. A group of filmmakers went on a 120 day tour of these parks and created The First 70, a documentary to highlight the beauty of the parks scheduled to close. 

   

As a California native, this topic bums me out - there is so much to see and do in our state and it breaks my heart to know that these parks are closing! In addition, one of my favorite parks, Limekiln State Park, has already closed. Limekiln is a simply stunning park - it's on the Big Sur coast and has a campground with spaces in the redwoods and on the beach, and miles and miles of amazing hiking trails and historic sites. There are waterfalls, lime kilns  where mined limestone was quarried for many buildings in San Francisco to be built. It's also a favorite vacation spot for my mom and me, and it's going to be sorely missed by us.

Check out the documentary, make a donation if you're so inclined, and check out images from the incredible parks that are scheduled to close. Visit the Save Our State Parks website for more action items, or check out the list of closures to see if your favorite state park is in danger. And for more information on each park, check out State Park Closure Trip blog, a blog run by another woman visiting all of the parks slated for closure.

In the works...

I've been feeling the travel bug lately - like crazy.

And, I'm happy to say that I've got not one but TWO trips in the works now!

The first is a super quick, overnight trip to San Diego for our anniversary next week. We're going to spend to go down, see BF's aunt and uncle, check out the museum where BF's uncle has some items on display, and spend the night in my favorite part of San Diego - the Gaslamp District!

I booked our hotel today, and it was awesome because I used my Hotels.com Welcome Rewards credit towards our hotel - so we'll be paying less than $100 for a night! The Welcome Rewards program is pretty cool - you book 10 nights in a hotel through them, and you get 1 night free (based on the average you spend on the other nights)! We decided to splurge a bit and booked a more "luxury" hotel, so the credit went towards the total, then we paid the balance. Works for me!

The second trip is one I've been daydreaming about for years - New York City! I've been traveling for years, have been to four continents and lord knows how many countries, heck, I've even lived abroad... but I've never been to New York. The closest I've come was our East Coast Road Trip from a few years back when we drove on the outskirts of New York on our way from Boston to Virginia. And now, my opportunity has finally arrived!

M is going to be in New York for work, and I found a round trip flight for $240 (American Airlines, JetBlue and Virgin America ALL had this fare) - so I immediately booked it. I'll be there for 5 nights, and the best part is we won't have to pay for hotels! The first three nights are covered through her work, and then we'll stay with my friend for the last two nights! I can't think of a better way to see NY - a great mix between visiting friends and working.

What trips do you have coming up that you're excited for?

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

A few weekends ago, BF and I were bumming around the house and randomly decided to drive up to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks.

I know, so spontaneous!


It was already 4:30pm on a Saturday, so we hurriedly packed overnight bags, grabbed Emma's bed, and got on the road. We were on the road by 5pm, and on the way up we found & booked a dog friendly motel by the entrance of Sequoia National Park (Buckeye Tree Lodge Trip Advisor review) - and we had such a nice stay!

Travel Photo Tuesday: Central CA

I took this photo on a road trip to San Francisco. It reminds me of what Central CA drives can mean: lots of open space and greenery, and me feeling happy.

DiscoverAmerica.com

The LA Times Travel blog announced the launch of a new website today: DiscoverAmerica.com.

I, for one, am extremely excited about this blog, as there are so many parts of our awesome country that I've never seen. The site gathers information from all sorts of sources - travel guides, Google, etc and puts them all in one place. Then, each page has information on attractions & activities, hotels, itineraries, brochures, articles, and even where to shop and eat, too.

There's also my favorite feature - an interactive map that tells you all sorts of things. You can measure distances between different locations, randomly pick a spot to check into, and even has links to book your trip. Also, it includes all the US territories as well!

Such an amazing resource for anyone who wants to travel around America, I am SO glad that this site exists.

Travel Photo Tuesday: Malibu, CA

Ok, ok, so it's sort of a cop out to post a photo from Malibu, since we live so close to it. But it's been a busy week, already, and I am barely sneaking this one in as it is!

I took this on Sunday, when we were enjoying a gorgeous, but chilly, day. Summer is on its way!

Travel Photo Tuesday: Santa Monica Mountains, CA

I went on a weekend drive on Sunday and snapped some photos at one of my favorite spots. I was driving between Las Virgenes Rd. and Topanga Blvd. on Mulholland Drive, and stopped to check out the amazing view. I love this entire area and am so glad to live here... and it's an amazing area to check out if you're looking for a more "green" or nature filled trip to Los Angeles.

LA Times Travel & Adventure Show!

The LA Times Travel & Adventure Show is coming soon! This has just come to my attention, and I am suddenly VERY excited!

If you love travel and/or adventure and happen to be in the Los Angeles area February 14 & 15, this is definitely worth checking out. Maybe you'll see me there!

Some details:
Admission is $10.
Parking is $12. (Carpooling advised!)
Doors open @ 10am.

LA Times Travel and Adventure Show

It's a Travel & Adventure Convention. Free activities include scuba diving, rock climbing, zip lines, etc. There are a whole bunch of interesting Destination Workshops including Traveling on a Budget, Wine & Cheese, Home Exchanges, Humanitarian trips, River Cruises, Explore Australia, Alaska, New Zealand, Turkey, Hawaii, Tahiti, etc. They have practical information - the latest on passports, visas, etc.

Meet Travel Editors and Reporters from LA Times Staff. They have a Global Beat Stage with music from around the world. They have a "World Culinary Stage"!!!!! Various Speakers including Samantha Brown, Aurther & Pauline Frommer, Rick Steves, etc. And they have various giveaways, prizes, and raffles.

Travel Photo Tuesday: Highway 1, Northern CA

Just another picturesque view off of Highway 1 in Northern CA. We were driving to San Francisco and decided to take the scenic (long) way! It was well worth the extra time in the car with views like that!

Travel Photo Tuesday: San Francisco, CA

Driving over the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. I love this bridge and can't say exactly why! It's just a great piece of architecture and landmark of California... definitely something to see while you're in San Francisco.

California Road Trip: Monterey Bay & Santa Cruz

Hmmm... where did I leave off? Oh yes, it was still Saturday and we were still driving. We drove for a LONG TIME on Saturday. After Cambria, we drove all through Big Sur on Highway 1, enjoying the spectacular views and the windy roads until we got to Monterey. Our main goal? The Monterey Bay Aquarium! We love the Monterey Bay Aquarium. And Monterey is a super cute place. Too many tourists in spring and summer, but what can you do?

Outer Bay exhibit - do you see the size of that tuna???

California Road Trip: Morro Bay

Our road trip to San Francisco had lots of little stops and side trips - so I'm going to break up the blog about it a little into smaller, easier to digest blogs. Cause I love you people, and don't want your eyes to start to bleed!

We left our place super early - 6:40am early - and headed up the 101. None of this "5 freeway" deal for us - what's the point of taking a road trip if you're going to be bored out of your mind and see nothing but cows the entire drive? You can see cows on the 101, too, and horses, and sheep, and even ostriches!

We stopped in Santa Maria for breakfast around 8am and then called our buddy in Morro Bay - we hadn't seen him since Christmas, so we couldn't pass up an opportunity to hang out with him! Got to Morro Bay around 10am and he took us to Montana de Oro State Park for a very awesome nature walk.

I love eucalyptus trees.

CA 101 Road Trip to San Francisco

BF and I recently went on a trip to San Francisco, and it was awesome. We had such a nice time, and it was so great to hang out, spend time together, and be super goofy. We left on Thursday night, stayed in Pismo Beach, then leisurely finished the drive on Friday. Here are some of the highlights to our trip!

- The GIANT artichoke in Castroville, CA. It's the world's largest, and I had no idea it even existed prior to this trip, so it was awesome to stumble upon! I wanted to eat at the Giant Artichoke Restaurant, but we'd just had breakfast. Next time, maybe.
- Stopping at Pizza My Heart and the Pacific Cookie Company in Santa Cruz! The PCC had a lemon drop sugar cookie that was soooooo good.

This was the chocolate dipped chocolate chip macadamia nut cookie! Delicious!