Beach and the hotel del coronado...from the surf.

Flamingos!

Randomly spotted outside a hotel in Coronado.

Epic bridge.

The beast we drove over.

San diego skyline.

..From Coronado Island.

Part 5: San Diego.

The alarm went off at 8.00am the next morning. We figured that it would be best if we set off reasonably early, in order to fill in the day with as many activities as possible. The plan was simple really – to follow the rather questionable directions blurted out by the GPS, amongst visiting a few places we thought might be worth a look - of which we had googled the night before. The skies were gray and unusually miserable-looking. Patches of fog covered much of the ocean, and although there seemed to be no rain yet, you could feel the dampness of the air encompassing, like a burden weighing down upon your shoulders. We took the gamble, though, and set off down the 5-freeway.

We figured we’d make the initial stop in San Clemente. I had heard a lot of good things about this town from the guests I had talked to at work, so figured that we best stop in for a bit, grab some coffee, and snap up some quick photos if the weather was willing. Following the GPS down to the beach access, we parked up and started walking down a dirt pathway parallel to the shore and a railway track. There was already plenty of activity on the path, sporting a bunch of joggers, dog-walkers and new-mum’s pushing their infants in strollers. There were squirrels everywhere too, which was a real novelty for the fresh New Zealand folk, who had never seen such a strange, fidgety animal. We stopped off at the San Clemente pier, grabbed a couple coffees, and just hung out for a bit. I could already tell that I would love it here. The town itself is built on some fairly steep and hilly terrain, which towers above the ocean shore like a fortress. It has a very Spanish-Mediterranean feel to it, and the overall vibe and atmosphere of the place is very relaxed and chill when compared to the ever-hustle and bustle of Huntington Beach. The skies were still overcast, but a considerably lighter shade of grey. We snapped up some photos, jumped in the car and continued our journey of epicness.

Again, we followed the shady logistics of the GPS, this time locking in La Jolla Beach. Not knowing exactly what would greet us there, we were pleasantly surprised by a long and narrow beach littered with beachfolk (and their colourful umbrellas), and a grassy patch that looked decidedly viable for a game of cricket. For the second time of the trip, we pulled out the bright yellow cricket equipment and ensued to have a bit of a hit around amidst a backdrop of houses on hills, and the growing glow of the sun as it began to peek its head through the weakening clouds. After about an hour, we figured we’d call it quits, grab a bite to eat and continue on our mighty mission to the very core of San Diego. So we did.

I had heard a fair number of good things about Coronado, so figured it may as well be the next stop on the trip. I just loved the freedom of being on the road again. A sense of true euphoria crept into my inner being as I briefly conceived the awesomeness of it all. No agenda – just figuring it out as we rolled along, finally ‘travelling’ in a tourist-sense after much hard work during the past few months. Addittionally, I was enjoying it all with my family who were just as pumped to be a part of the journey. As we assailed a rise in the 5 freeway, the downtown San Diego skyline shot into view. The scale of it was impressive, in full-view as the freeway veered around the city and headed toward the bridge connecting downtown with the Cornado Island. The bridge! We all gasped in awe at the sheer size of the beast. Tall and uncompromising, we had never seen anything like it. Indeed, it was one of those structures that makes you appreciate and marvel at the extent of human achievement. However, that sense of awestruck-wonder was shortlived – at least in my mind anyway - as I realized that I was about to drive over it. To some, this may seem no mean feat, but coming from smalltown-New Zealand-drive-on-the-left-side-of-the-road, the experience was exhilarating, and every bit significant in the adventure thus far. With my eyes firmly on the road and everyone else’s looking wildly about, we successfully crossed that bridge, and headed for the next destination that we thought may be worth a look. Yes.

That destination turned out to be the Hotel Del Coronado and its adjacent beach. The beach itself was pristine, dotted with a bunch of people along a long coastline, with the odd plane fresh from the U.S military base flying straight overhead at fairly regular intervals. It was a real gem of a place, somewhere where I really could see myself living in the future – however distant that may be. We figured we’d better soak up the serenity of it all, so we all chilled out on the beach for an hour or so before leaping into the fresh ocean in order to best stave off the California sun, at least for the time being. When we were satisfied with our stay, we hopped into the trusty rental car and set off back over the bridge and into the depths of downtown San Diego in search of an altogether different experience. Here, the relative peace of the beach setting in Coronado was replaced with a sky immersed in tall impressive infrastructure, and a throng of folk with business suits and busy schedules. We eventually navigated our way to a shopping mall before grabbing a bite to eat at an awesome organic burger joint, and made our way back to Orange County for some well-deserved shuteye.

This day was especially epic. Going somewhere new always makes me appreciate how stoked I am with this adventure so far. God is continuing to hook us up, so we in turn can bless others, I think. So thank You for that.

Next episode: In betweens and Goodbyes….coming soon.

A few shots from the day.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Shantytown.

Just one of the shops along the famed Venice strip.

On the pier in Santa Monica.

The almighty 'Pacific Park' in the foreground, looking south towards Venice.

Malibu line-up.

Part 4: Santa Monica, Malibu and Venice.

With the initial thought of heading to San Diego, we eventually decided that we would rather make less of an intense day of it, and travel up north and see what we could find. Frankly, we were all shattered after the last couple of days’ activities and festivities. With Paul and I having only a limited number of days off work, there was always a sense to do something while we were available. Additionally, the idea of going somewhere new and foreign was enticing, especially after being unable to travel for the past couple of months. So we were heading north up the 405-freeway by mid morning, having locked in Santa Monica on the GPS system - and reveling at the thought of a new destination to visit.

The traffic was reasonably light, so we made it to the Santa Monica exit in good time. However, somehow he managed to miss the city itself, so figured we’d continue driving up north and see what we could find. The highway follows right along the coast for miles, so it was great to just cruise and take the odd tourist snapshot out of the car window. We drove as far north as the famed town of Malibu before stopping to check it out. The beach here was long and narrow, with waves lapping up on the shore gracefully and dancing beneath the pier as they exploded up its pillars. Looking inland, the entire coastal span of the town is shrouded by steep and rocky hill country, dotted with precariously placed mansions for members of society fortunate enough to afford them. We hung out on the pier for a while, and watched the renowned Malibu surf-lineup as the longboarders battled for supremacy amidst a fairly meagre swell.

We headed back to Santa Monica after our little Malibu expedition. I had heard much good about the place, and was excited at the thought of being in the area that virtually birthed modern skateboarding with the rise of Santa Monica’s own ‘Z-boys’. Again, we headed straight to the legendary pier with the idea of checking out the town district after for a shop and a bite to eat. The pier here was insane, and completely different than anything we had seen thus far. It was huge and wide, full of people and littered with trashy little booths attempting to sell the most obscure souvenirs to the nearest unsuspecting, naive tourist. To the left was an actual theme park built on the pier – fit with ferris wheels and even its very own roller coaster. My bare feet were burning terribly on the wooden boardwalk as I observed the terrific mayhem of it all, so I initiated an escape plan and had us all heading to the beach to lie out and chill out. When we got there however, it just didn’t seem all that appealing. Spots anywhere near the ocean were a prized real estate, and the water itself was filthy – plagued by t-shirts, band-aids, fishing lines and a bunch of other underwater nasties. It really made me appreciate my home in Orange County, and just how blessed and lucky we were to be living in such a place. We decided we’d seen about enough of Santa Monica, and ditched the plan of seeing the township altogether before heading for Venice.

Driving through Venice was an altogether different experience and, just like Santa Monica, seemed like a world away from our home in Huntington Beach. The place had a vibe oozing with seediness and shadiness at every street corner, complete with plenty of crazies occupying the sidewalks and any plausible back-alleys. The infrastructure was tired and jaded-looking, and really rustic and run-down amidst a sky of blue. However, there was something about the place that charmed me a little inside. Maybe it was the uniqueness and the spectacle of it all. I think the word that best describes it is interesting – a place that you have to visit if you make it to Southern California, even if you may not want to go back after you see it. Anyway, we parked up and started strolling along that famous beach walk. In my head, I hoped that it would somehow resemble my childhood memories of ‘California Games’ on the Sega, with fluorescent bikini-clad women graciously roller-blading along the path and uber-buff dudes walking around, proudly content at their almost alien-like physique, freshly painted with a bottle of tanning-lotion. Instead, it was more of a tattooed up, neo-punk scene that predominantly graced us, although there were a couple of steroid-fiends out and about as we passed by ‘Muscle’ beach. After watching some basketball at those Venice Beach courts, having a look at a few sunglasses stands and being barraged by some inept ‘musicians’ on the street, we figured we’d better get going soon if we were to have any chance of beating the deathly L.A five O’clock traffic.

We arrived home a little tired, but altogether stoked that we had proverbially ‘ticked’ off another destination, and accomplished something new. We treated our weary bodies to a hot spa that night at the hotel in preparation for the next day and the activities that undoubtedly lay ahead.

***Next episode: San Diego!*** Will be up in a couple days. So keep checking!

Three months earlier.

Disneyland: take two.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Part 3: Disneyland – take two.

We left for Disneyland the following morning. Not so early, but early enough for the eyes to show at least some symptoms of weariness from the epicness of the day before. As we headed for the park, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of excitement and apprehension of the day ahead. Sure, I had been here a few months ago, but the draw of the ‘happiest place on earth’ had kept me keen to come back. Plus, my family was here – so I figured that the combination of the two should result in a pretty good time for all.

I’m not gonna dwell on words in this post. If you want to read about our first experience of Disney madness, click here. If not, then please kick back, enjoy the photos and check out the vid of our first trip here. ‘Nuff said.