Hi all,
For the December Holiday break, we decided to get some sunshine in LA. We drove off in the morning from near Seattle and headed South. Made it to Redding, but ended up staying over night in Red Bluffs. We were in a rush since snow storm was coming to Mt. Shasta area. We made it fine and next morning made it to L.A. via Bakersfield.
On the way, we visited Reagan Library and enjoyed the history. Stopped at a fruit stand and had local fresh teeny tiny oranges.
After some excellent BBQ dinner at Quarters and some shaved snow(ice) at Snow LA, we headed to Huntington Beach. We figured we would be safe boon docking near the pier since it was Christmas. The RV park there was full anyways. As soon as we fell asleep around 10 PM, a loud blast from the police came: "please pack up and leave the parking lot is closed". Then he knocked on the van and we had a chat. We drove around a bit and found a spot near the mall and a construction site.
Next few days we had fun around L.A. including Venice Beach, Santa Monica Pier and Universal Studios. Universal Studios has a great parking lot for RVs & oversized vehicles. Good thing about riding the van is we were able to pack long board, scooters for the kids to ride around the beaches.
Instead of boring I-5, we decided to head up the coast via Big Sur. We stopped at Pismo Beach for breakfast, Mexican dinner in Santa Barbara, then Moonstone Beach (lovely with small pebbles), Elephant Seal beach, Big Sur (big traffic jam), Monterey, then back to I-5.
This was the longest road trip we took, and checked out spots where we want to come back to (Central Coast). We made it back before the flash flood and rain storms. We got the mobile wi fi from T-Mobile for the trip and it came in very handy. Was glad we were headed North by Big Sur, scary cliffs. Nothing like CA sunshine and palm trees for a break.
Some cities may be out of order since my memory is poor.
The van will need to go to the shop for brake issues, but hope to hit local spots soon when the weather warms up.