Travel Diary: California

Six years. That’s how long it had been since our last family summer vacation.   This was one of the reasons why when a California trip was brought up, we jumped on the opportunity immediately. We had originally planned on making a road trip out of it to catch a few all-american sights, but we ended up flying for the sake of spending a couple of more days in sunny California.

San Diego here we come!

We began our trip on a Saturday at 4am, and after just a few hours (and some flight delays) we were ready to get our first official day started in San Diego California. Our first stop was Old Town San Diego where savory Mexican food was the only thing on our minds. Once we indulged that little craving we decided to take in the sights that Old Town had to offer. Because honestly wandering around aimlessly is all our sleep deprived minds allowed us to do.

Vibrant views at Old town San Diego

Bailables in Old Town

After a full nights rest (and large breakfast), we began day 2 with a mini road trip to the small town of Perris California to catch up with family members we hadn’t seen in several years.

On day 3 we discovered we all had different priorities (surprisingly.) and split up. Half of us were off to Legoland and the rest, including us, were off to explore San Diego’s famous Balboa Park. We began with the Spanish Village Arts Center where we loaded up on postcards and plenty of artsy shots. Afterwards, we headed to a few historical sights including Casa del Prado and Plaza de Panama architectural house. We ended our walk at the gorgeous and lush Japanese Friendship Garden. We think it’s safe to say that we more than fulfilled our instagram picture quota as well as our pedometer goal for the day!

Spanish Village Arts Center

Japanese friendship garden at Balboa Park

It only took us four days, but we finally made it to the beach. The fourth day might have been the most productive for us because not only did we spend time hiking at the beautiful Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, but we also had the chance to do a little shopping. And by little we mean we may have left some of our favorite stores just a little barer around the shelves.

Torrey Pines State Park

One of the highlights of the trip was definitely the trip to Universal Studios. We’ll admit there was some initial disappointment over the lack of Harry Potter World at Universal Studios, but there was more than plenty to do and see at the amusement park. The rides were a blast and we also had a chance to take the Universal Studios tour where we saw where the Mindy Project, Parenthood, How I Met Your Mother, and various other shows and movies were filmed.

A little piece of the L.A. skyline

Universal Studios

Moulin Rouge at Universal Studios

The rest of the trip was filled with lots of pool time, shopping, food and beach trips. On the last day we tired to fit in as much as possible. This included a trip to downtown San Diego where we may or may not have lost our car. We also fit in one more visit to the beach by way of Coronado Beach!

Coronado Beach

For a further look into our California adventures follow us on instagram at https://instagram.com/imelda_please/ and https://instagram.com/hildago30/ Hope you enjoyed this entry and let us know what your summer plans are!