CA Road Trip Day 1 - San Diego

Yesterday, I posted here about the planning of our California road trip.  Today’s post is about the first day of our trip….San Diego!

California Road Trip Day ONE Itinerary

In preparation for day one, I had in a folder the following: printed version of our flight tickets, car rental and hotel info/reservations, an itinerary of our day, printed directions (in case our phones failed us) and menus from the websites of the restaurants we reserved.

3:00 a.m. - wake up

4:00 a.m. - leave house

4:30 a.m. - arrive at Indianapolis airport, check bags and go through security

6:55 a.m. - flight leaves Indy

7:32 a.m. - flight connects in Denver (CO time)
8:20 a.m. - flight leaves Denver

9:43 a.m. - flight arrives in San Diego (CA time)

10:00 a.m. - pick up luggage and take shuttle to Dollar Rent-A-Car

10:30 a.m. - pick up rental car and drive to La Jolla

11:00 a.m. - park in parking garage at by restaurant for lunch and walk La Jolla shops

12:00 p.m. - lunch reservations at Brockton Villa

1:00 p.m. - walk around La Jolla Cove

2:00 p.m. - drive five minutes to La Jolla Shores for an afternoon swim

4:00 p.m. - 30 minute drive back to San Diego and check into Sheritan San Diego Hotel and Marina

4:20 p.m. - clean up and get ready for dinner

5:40 - drive 10 minutes and find street parking by restaurant for dinner

6:00 p.m. - dinner reservations at Café 21

7:00 p.m. - enjoy the evening in the young, urban Gaslamp district of San Diego

8:00 p.m. - drive back to hotel and enjoy pool and hot tub

10:00 p.m. - try to get a good night’s sleep

A few pics of our day…..

My biggest worry for day one was that our flights would be delayed.  Thank goodness that didn't happen, and we made it to San Diego right on schedule.  Getting our rental car took a little longer than expected though.  Catching a shuttle from the airport was a little stressful, and once we arrived to pick up our car we found long lines and well.....well, let's just say that there were few glitches with this part of our day.  It's a long story, and I'll explain it in a different post at the end of this series about how things don't always go as planned.  Other than rental car issue, the rest of the day went pretty smooth. 

As soon as we got our rental car, we drove thirty minutes to the coastal town of LaJolla and ate lunch at Brockton Villa.  We had no problem finding a parking garage right next to the restaraunt, which made me very happy. 

The food at Brockton Villa was delicious…..

….and moderately priced at only $10-15 a plate….

….and the view of La Jolla Cove from the veranda where we ate our lunch was gorgeous!

The cliffs in La Jolla made for scenic views....

….as we walked along the coast….

….and took in all of the beauty around us. 

La Jolla was quite possibly one my favorite stops on our trip!

The seals were everywhere, making La Jolla a very memorable place to visit:)

La Jolla Cove is a great place to snorkel…

…or to just dip your feet in the pristine water.

A five minute drive from La Jolla Cove is La Jolla Shores, where the waves make for a great place to give surfing a try.  Prepare yourself though...becasue parking was a nightmare in La Jolla Shores!  It took us forever to find a parking spot, and we had to walk a long way to get to the beach.  I didn't plan for that, and it cut into some of our beach time.  I suggest getting here early if you want good parking.

Overall, La Jolla was one of my favorite stops on our vacation and it’s definitely someplace that I would revisit again!

After leaving La Jolla we drove back to San Diego and checked into our hotel.  We stayed at the Sheritan San Diego Hotel and Marina.  Using Priceline Negotiator, we were able to get this four star hotel for half the cost.  We've always gotten great rooms when we've negotiated with Priceline in the past, but I was a little disappointed with our room in San Diego.  For one, it had two double beds instead of one queen bed.....that's never happened to us before!  Second, it was on the bottom floor, so we didn't get a view.....that's also never happened to us before!  Lastly, it was right next to the pool, so it was loud while we were trying to sleep!  That was a huge negative, because the first day of our trip we were awake for 23 hour day due to the time change.  Not to mention we only had three hours of sleep the night before.  What can I say, priceline is a gamble.  Sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn't.  In this case, I don't think it paid off.  Overall, the hotel was great, but the room was not so great:( 

The hotel did have an awesome pool area though....

....and the fact that it was right on the marina was pretty cool too:)

After checking into our hotel and cleaning up, we drove five minutes to the young, urban Gaslamp district of San Diego....

......and had dinner at Cafe 21. 

I really loved the historic, urban details in the design of the restaurant....

.....and the food was really good too!

Street parking was inexpensive and easy to find. Afterwards we walked around the outdoor mall, before heading back to the hotel for an evening swim and a good night's rest. Day one of our trip was a long one, but I wouldn't have it any other way! 

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The Planning Process of Our California Road Trip

I mentioned in this post, that we were going on a California road trip for our summer vacation this year.  We've been back from our trip for a couple weeks now, and we had a blast!  I didn’t take any time to blog while we were on our trip, but I will how fill you in on all of our fun as I take the next several days to share with you the details of our travels.   Today, I will share with you the planning process of the trip.  I spent hours planning for this trip (I’m talkin’ 50+ hours total) researching, mapping, and reviewing all sorts of stuff just to make sure that this trip was one of our best!  Without further ado, this series of blog posts about our California road trip shall begin……

PREPARING FOR OUR TRIP

Step 1:  The first thing we had to figure out was when we wanted to go on vacation.  Due to cooler temps in California, we figured the best time to take our road trip was going to be in the summer.  We decided to schedule our vacation around the 4^th of July, lengthening our trip by adding one paid holiday to five vacation days.

Step 2:  Once we had the time of our vacation figured out, we needed to make sure we could get the necessary days off of work before any further preparation could continue.

Step 3:  Arranging a house and pet sitter was a must for us!  We ussually pay a friend or relative to stay at our house why we are gone, because putting our pets in the kennel can be really expensive and traumatic for our pets.  We had to make sure that we had someone committed to watching our house and pets before we officially booked any part of our trip.

Step 4.  Purchasing our airfare took much thought.  Naturally, I compared prices at all of the major travel websites, but there was more for me to think about than just prices.  I knew that we were going to fly into San Diego and fly out of San Francisco, and the timing of those flights was very important to me.  To be most efficient with my time, I needed an early flight into San Diego in order to take advantage of the three hour time difference.  This would allow us to arrive in San Diego between 9 and 10 in the morning (CA time), giving us a full day of sightseeing.  I also knew that I didn’t want to fly out of San Francisco too late in the day, because we were losing three hours on the way back.  I had to keep in mind that a friend was picking us up at the Indy airport, and I needed to be somewhat courteous of that fact.  In the end, we booked with Expedia. 

Step 5:  Although booking our flight came before booking our rental car, researching rental cars actually came before we booked our flight.   Before purchasing airfare, I needed an idea of how much this was going to cost and if it was even possible to pick a car up in one city and drop a car off in another city.  In the end, there was only one car rental company that met all of our needs.  Dollar Rent-A-Car was by far the cheapest company I found.  Unlike other companies, they allowed pick up and drop off of rental cars in different cities.  Even better, the company had locations at both the San Diego and San Francisco airports, and they offered shuttle service to and from the airport.

Step 6: Where to go on our trip and what to do while we were there needed to be figured out before we booked hotels. I had to come up with a basic itinerary, so I knew where we were going each day and what we were going to do throughout the day in order to know where to book hotels and where to search for the best restraunts.To do this, I compiled a list of things I knew we wanted to do, and then I worked around that.

Step 7: Experiencing California cuisine was a must for this trip. I did A LOT of research and read a ton of reviews before choosing the restaurants we went to on our trip. Some of the places we went too required reservations, so it was important that I started researching this part of the trip fairly early into the planning process. I started the research process with good ol’ Google, but Yelp also came in very handy once I had a few restraunts to choose from. I actually did this before I looked up hotels. Because dinner was at the end of the day, I needed to know where we were eating dinner in order to find a hotel in appropriate proximity to our restaurant.

Step 8:  Choosing the hotels.  Priceline Negotiator has always come in handy for our travels.  There were a few nights we used that particular website for our trip, but it was not the most efficient choice every night.  When I write a blog post for each day, I’ll further explain why we chose the sleeping arrangements that did.

Step 9: Organization is key when planning a trip like this.  Once everything important was booked and a basic itinerary was put together, I bought a large folder with several pockets.  Each day of our trip had its own pocket, and in each pocket I had the following: an itenerary for each day, printed version of any reservations (flights, cars, hotels, restaurants, etc.),  Mapquest directions for each day (in case our phones failed us) and menus and basic info from the websites of the restaurants and places we were going on our trip.

Step 10: Packing….ok, I know you’re thinking I’m crazy, but Matt and I both pre-packed for this trip a few weeks in advance.  One reason we did this was so we would know the weight of our luggage.  We wanted to avoid paying any extra baggage fees. It’s a good thing we did that too, because my suitcase was borderline the weight limit.  Another reason for pre-packing was so we would know what else we needed to buy for our trip, We knew the weather would be cooler in CA, and we wanted to make sure we had plenty of layers for each day.  Pre-packing gave us plenty of time to buy those extra things without the stress of too many last minute errands the day before our trip.

And that’s pretty much  it.  That’s how I planned and prepared for this road trip:)  Tomorrow the fun begins, as I share with you stories and photos from each day of our journey:) 

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Shakespeare on the Canal

            I like living in Indy for several reasons.  One reason is because there is always something to do in or around the city for people living on a budget.  For example, last night the hubs and I went on our weekly date and saw a Shakespeare play at White River State Park.  The event was free.  We only had to pay $6 for parking and the cost of the food that we packed in our picnic.  As most of our dates do, the entire night cost us less than $20. 

            Shakespeare on the Canal is an annual, free even put on by the talented people of HART’s.   Matt and I usually enjoy this annual event by going downtown a few hours early, parking at White River Park, walking the canal, then going back to the car to get our picnic and taking it out to the lawn about an hour before the play starts, so we get good seating.   

            This year, Othello was performed.  Now, my husband is not a fine arts fan, the same way that I am not a sports fan, but the overall experience of this event is always fun for us to go to.  It’s just fun to get out of the house and enjoy the different things that the city has to offer. 

            If you decide to go to this event in the future, you should not expect a huge theatrical performance, or you will surely be disappointed.  After all, it is a free event.  In past years they’ve had a small stage but few props.  This year, there wasn’t a stage at all.  The back drop was simply the canal and the old Washington Street bridge.  There are lights, costumes and a sound system, but that’s pretty much it.  If you’re a fine arts fan, this is more than enough to keep you entertained.  The event is really about enjoying theatre in a beautiful setting with good company and good food of your choice.  If you’re ever in the Indy area in the summer time, I would recommend that you see if you happen to be in town on one of the three nights that Shakespeare on the Canal is being performed.

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Staying in & Spinach, Mushroom and Tortellini Soup

          

         Ever have one of those weekends where you just want stay in?  This past weekend was like that for me.  I’m not sure if it was the rainy looking weather that never actually rained on us or the fact that we were still recouping from vacation.  Either way, we ended up having a lazy weekend.  In the process of trying to figure out where we were going to go for our date night, I told my husband that I was just too tired to go out, so we decided to have date night at home. 

            The decision was made, andI found myself in need of an easy yet casually romantic dinner to make with ingredients I already had on hand and could preferably be made in thirty minutes or less.  Where else to turn for such a dilemma than Pinterest?  After running a few morning errands on Friday, I looked through some recipes on my Pinterest pin board and decided that this recipe was going to be dinner.  The problem was that I didn’t have all of the ingredients for the recipe, and I didn’t have time to make a crock pot meal.  Since I did have most of the ingredients, I chose to fumble my way through the recipe and do my own cheaters version of it on the stove. 

            Prepare yourself, because there were no measurable ingredients as I threw this recipe together.  I’m gonna tell you how I made it the way my momma would….that is, a pinch of this and a dash of that;)  If you think it looks appealing, you can try my cheaters version or the original Pinterest inspiration, which I’m sure taste much better than mine.

            The first thing I did was make a caprese salad (Matt’s favorite) by mixing the following ingredients together:  a container of cherry tomatoes (halved), a bunch of fresh basil (coarsely chopped), fresh mozzarella (drained and chopped) and a few splashes of balsamic vinaigrette to taste.  I set it in the fridge for the flavors to merry, and the salad was done:)

            Then, I boiled and drained a bag of cheese tortellini, and added the following:  a jar of alfredo sauce, a couple splashes of equal parts milk and vegetable stock to thin out sauce, a container of sliced mushrooms, a few sprigs of fresh basil, ¾ a bag of fresh spinach, a generous amount of grated parmesan cheese, one clove crushed garlic, a pinch of oregano, a pinch of dried basil, black pepper to taste and a dash of fresh grated nutmeg.  I gave it a stir, and soup was done! 

            Next, I rolled out a container of crescent dough and assembled on top of the dough the following:  sliced provolone, the remaining fresh spinach and tomatoe slices.  I rolled the dough back up and sliced it before putting it in the oven.  A few minutes later, the rolls were done:)

            Lastly, I set the table, poured two glasses of sparkling pomegranate juice, just as the hubs was coming home from work.  And so there it was, our casually-romantic date night – eating dinner at home and going to bed early…..we’re so old!!!  I wish I could say the rest of our weekend picked up the pace a little, but it didn’t.  It was just a lazy weekend where we stayed in.  What can I say…..sometimes, you just need weekends like that;)

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Bone Dry......

          As of last night, Indianapolis has had .009 inches of rain in 47 days….that’s it….not a drop more.  Every time we’ve had a chance of rain in the forecast, the rain either goes north or south of us, taunting us on its way.  For example, this weekend was the first time in a while that the potential of rain looked promising.  The grey sky even looked like it was going to pour all day, but no rain fell from the sky at my house today.  Here it is, the end of the night, and our lawn is still bone dry.

            They say that this is the driest it’s been in nearly a hundred years.  It’s bad folks…it’s really bad.  Farmers are losing crops, and their way of life is being tested.  Several counties banned fireworks this year due to the fire risk.  Lawns that are usually green and lush have turned dry and brittle.  The few lawns that still look good, due to sprinklers or expensive irrigations systems, will soon look like the rest of our lawns due to the recent water ban.  And the heat….well the heat has been intense this year.  I am glad to say that we were on vacation for the hottest days of the summer.  We had a heat wave of several 100+ degree days!  Thank goodness we were gone for that!  We are used to hot and humid summers here, but we’re certainly not used to southwest dessert-like temps during the summer months. 

            At the beginning of the summer, our lawn started to look brown and pathetic resembling hay.  Matt refuses to invest in sprinklers, because it makes the water bill go up as well as the number of times he’ll have to mow this year, a chore that he absolutely despises.   Someday, I hope to change his mind about such an investment.  As for the flowers that we planted this year, they are more or less for me and my enjoyment. They survived the summer with lots of TLC….well they survived until we went on vacation.  I’m uncertain if it was the heat wave that killed them or the fact that we didn’t clarify with our house sitter how much to water the plants while we were gone.  I think it may have been a little of both, but either way this is what we came home to after vacation. 

            Following the discovery that my flowers now matched my lawn, I called my mother who has a green thumb and explained to her my findings.  She pretty much said there was no hope for my potted beauties, seen here when I first planted them in the spring. 

         This is the first weekend we’ve been home since we got back from vacation, and along with a few other things we needed to get done this weekend, replacing all of my potted flowers was at the top of the list. The good thing about buying flowers this late in the year is that plants cost less.  The bad thing about buying plants this late in the year is that the quality of the plant is also less than when buying them at the beginning of the year.  I think that with a lot of TLC, the new flowers are gonna survive the second half of the summer just fine.  We may still have a bone dry and brittle lawn, but so help me the flowers will look good if I have any say in it;)  Here's to keeping my flowers alive in the drought of 2012.

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Untitled.....

            There are people in life who know no strangers.  They are the kind of people who have a knack for meeting others and instantly becoming friends with just about anyone.  You know, the kind of people who are comfortable conversing with anyone about anything.  I am often envious of people with these kinds of abilities, for I know that I am far too guarded and standoffish with people I don’t know.  It is very difficult for me to converse with someone I have just met. I say all of this, because I once knew someone with such envious characteristics.  This morning, I said goodbye to that someone as I attended the funeral of a very dear man, who with his wife, has been a great encouragement in my life over the past few years.  He was a kind, loving, faithful, warm, friendly soul who knew no stranger.  He loved people, and he truly cared about the individual wellbeing of those he came in contact with.                

            I struggled with sharing any of these thoughts on my blog tonight, but my blog is about more than DIY projects, house updates and fun outings with my husband.  I started this blog to journal different events, both small and great, that occur in my life….every aspect of my life. Tonight I briefly wanted to write this entry, not so much for my readers but for my own consolation, reflecting on the life a man who showed me Christ-like love at a time in my life, where if I’m honest with myself, I was a little bit lonely and needed that love. 

            I first met this dear man and his wife at my church when I moved out on my own and started teaching.   It’s no secret to those who know me that I don’t always give the best first impressions.  I am very much an introvert and don’t always enjoy being social with others.  When people try to converse with me, I am polite and converse back, but it’s not always with ease.  Upon meeting this man who I speak of tonight, he and his wife decided that they were determined to get to know me more, so they started inviting me over to their home for Sunday lunches in between morning and evening church services.  These lunches nearly became a weekly event for a couple of years while I was living in an apartment that came with a lengthy drive to our church.  Before I knew it, the man who talked my ear off on Sunday afternoons, and eventually I his, had wiggled his way into my life and heart. 

            As time passed and marriage, a new home and the busyness of life no longer called for weekly lunches, this sweet couple still remained grandparent-like figures in my life. Any news in my life that I shared with my parents, I also made a point to share with them.  When I met my husband, I went to them for wisdom.  When I married my husband, they were one of the few non-family members invited to the ceremony. When we bought our new home, they were one of the first to celebrate with us.  Any job transition that Matt and I were going through, they were one of the first to know and pray with us.  If the Lord sees fit for Matt and I to grow a family, they would be one of the first to know and celebrate with us.  As a result of their persistent effort to get to know me as an individual, they became two of my very favorite people to be around. 

            While I'm taking time to reflect on my memories of a man who had a lasting impact on my life, let it be known that I'm not seeking sympathy as I write tonight.  Furthemore, as I conclude this blog entry I must say that I don’t really feel sad for him or the loss of him.  He was very sick, and I know that he was ready for the death of this life.  I do, however, feel great empathy for his wife of over fifty years.  I can’t image what it must be like to share a life with someone for that long, and then to one day wake up to a life where that someone no longer physically exists.  I am filled with great sorrow when I think of this, but I am reassured that God’s grace is sufficient to those who love Him.  The few tears that I have shed over his loss are for his family, not for him, for I know he is in a far better place tonight.  To love his wife and family the way he did, I know leaves them with a great void in this present time.  He will greatly be missed by those he loved, but at the same time my faith assures me that I will see him again someday.  Someday, when my life on earth has passed, I look forward to being in his presence once again.  Until then, the memories I hold of him bring a warm smile to my face and will always have a special place in my heart. 

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California Bound

            I’ve mentioned before that making time to get away from our everyday life is important to my husband and me.  Whether it’s a date night, a one day getaway, a romantic weekend getaway or a planned vacation, we really put forth effort to budget and plan for such occasions. 

            When we first got married, we talked about all of the places that we wanted to see some day.  Big, expensive trips were discussed like touring Europe,  cruising the Mediterranean, sightseeing Asia,  taking in the history of Israel, Egypt and India, visiting the Nile and the Amazon, and exploring South Africa were all on those lists!  The reality is that we can’t afford any of those trips right now.  Those are our “some day” trips....or maybe "not in this lifetime" trips if we want to get really honest about it.   We also had more realistic trips like Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, the Gulf shores, NYC, Washington DC, Seattle, Philadelphia, the Rockies, the Smokies, the Carolina coast, Yellowstone, and Las Vegas. These trips are much more realistic, and we’ve even been able to knock out a few of them in our three years of marriage.  Even more realistic, are well-planned day trips to neighboring cities like Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Lake Michigan.  We also had a list of trips that were kind of in between the “some day” trips and the “realistic” trips.  You know….the kind of trips that require lots of saving and planning.....trips like Caribbean cruises, an all inclusive trip to Cancun, an Alaskan cruise, a week in Hawaii, a road trip up the Northeast coast in the fall, and a California road trip in the summer.  We’ve been to the Caribbean a couple of times, and it's beautiful there!.  Soon the California road trip can be crossed off of our list too, because this year we are taking our entire vacation budget and putting into one trip….one big road trip…..yes, I have spent countless hours researching and planning a road trip up the CALIFORNIA COAST! 

            I’m really excited about that trip, and I’m even more excited now that it’s right upon us!  My husband and I have talked about taking this trip for awhile, and this year we just decided to go for it!  In the past, the hubs either couldn’t get enough consecutive time off of work for a lengthy trip….or it wasn’t in the budget…..or we didn’t have enough time to plan it…or excuses, excuses!  No more excuses though, soon my toes will be in the sand of the Pacific!  I can’t wait!  I’ve put a lot of work into planning every detail of this nine day trip.  I'm hoping to post about it each day….but we’ll see how that goes.  I might just be enjoying myself too much to write about it;)

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