What an amazing day in San Diego!  Love this place – can’t wait to come back post B-rock to see some more.  Today we went to the San Diego Zoo. Honestly. I think you could spend 2-3 days here and still not see it all.  Off on a red-eye tonight to Brockville for some fun with our family! See you soon!

Santa Monica – San Diego

Distance: 200 kms

Actual Drive Time: 2.5 hours

We made it! We had so much fun last night with The Barker’s…we were a little slow going this morning. After a quick stop and In-N-Out Burger …we hit the road for San Diego. We have a no fast food rule this trip…In-N-Out Burger is the exception to the rule because we don’t get to have it at home…and it is so delish! We had thought we would drive the coastal road today…but it was so slow going, and we couldn’t see the coast anyway, so we opted for the freeway to get us their faster.  What a wonderful surprise when we pulled up to our Hotwire hotel. It was AMAZING. The stars really aligned today…we had such a great evening here at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe.  Our room had a big private deck with lots of room to play…wonderful pool…beautiful lawns where we played (or tried to play) croquet…and a delicious, grown-up, dinner, where the kids were good the entire time.  Thank you stars 😉

Santa Monica

Distance: None!

What a great day today! We met up with The Barker’s, just in from Brazil, for some fun in Santa Monica. We watched the world cup, hit up the promenade, took a spin on the ferris wheel on the pier, and splashed around the pool. Really cool how the next generation made instant friendships.  Until next year, Barker’s!

From my boy! I’m one lucky momma!

San Simeon, CA – Santa Monica, CA

Distance:  400 kms

Actual Drive Time:  5.25 hours

Well…we hadn’t anticipated driving all the way to Santa Monica today, but it was such a beautiful, sunny, day…all the beach hotels en route were booked solid.  So, we drove all the way to Santa Monica to stay at the hotel we had planned to meet The Barker’s at tomorrow. The warm chocolate chip cookies and dip in the pool were welcome rewards to our star mini-travelers.

Tonight we’re going to hit up the Third Street Promenade for some dinner.  Tomorrow The Barker’s arrive mid-morning from Brazil and we can’t wait to see them for a day of fun!

*the below pic of Tal giving her best pose is for a video she is making for her friend Charlotte. Our little poser…we are in so much trouble in (hopefully) 10 years 😉

San Francisco, CA – San Simeon, CA

Distance: 345 kms

Actual Drive Time: 5 hours

Today was another mostly drive day…it was so beautiful! We did do a little shopping in SF.  Tal & Will helped Dad pick out some new kicks  (not the ones in the pic;)) for Stu’s wedding 😉 We drove HWY 1 from SF to San Simeon.  The drive was so amazing…can’t wait until our trip back when we can take our time and make stops along the way.  We have a list going of all the places we want to see.  The drive between Big Sur and San Simeon was fairly long…and not much in terms of towns to go through. We were pretty happy to find a hotel and food when we hit San Simeon 😉  Tal and Will even turned down snacks they were so hungry and sick of the choices in the snack bag 😉 Next stop…we’ll have to wait and see 😉

Santa Rosa, CA – San Francisco, CA

Distance: 100 kms

Actual Drive Time: 1 hour

Highlights:

• Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge
• New stuffed dogs and a book from the hotel, dogs named Francis after the Westin St. Francis
• Cable Car ride
• Fisherman’s Wharf – Carousel ride…ice cream!
• A new toy cable car to go with Will’s car collection (slash obsession ;))
• Sea Lions sun bathing at Pier 39

We put a big drive in yesterday so we could have a fun day today in San Fran.  What a great choice…it was an amazing day! The kids have both been so great… it was really fun to just have an easy day out of the car.  We’re staying at the Westin St. Francis in Union Square.  Back in my High Road days I used to stay here all the time…really great hotel. We got a steal of a deal on Priceline for a great room. The service was so fantastic…they gave us a room with a view of the square, a late check-out tomorrow and have more than pampered our kiddos. Once we got settled they sent them up stuffed animals and a bedtime story to read tonight. Really, really amazing.

Today was just one of those days…you want to pinch yourself for being able to have such a great life. We are so lucky to be so happy and making such great memories.

He’s going for it…0 km left of fuel…and finally exclaims ‘must get off highway at next exit’

Eureka, CA – Santa Rosa, CA

Distance: 350 kms

Actual Drive Time: 3.5 hours

No pictures today (sorry)! we’ve been on a bit of a mission to make our way to San Fran for a day of fun and break up the driving a little bit. Kids=ultimate champs in the car. A bit of a surprise…we were planning for it to be a little more of a challenge. Big win is the activity bag…every hour (if they ask) they can reach in to the activity bag and pull out a surprise. (We’re averaging about $8 a day on surprise activities ;))

Today we left Eureka around 1030 am after a little work and exercise for the grown-ups. We stopped for lunch in Laytonville – amazing how hot the temperature was just an hour south of Eureka. We landed in Santa Rosa…couldn’t resist a sweet hotwire deal for a 4 star hotel with a nice pool (only $15 more than Motel 6’s on the way down…steal!). Great night at the Fountaingrove Inn…awesome pool…lots of fun all around.

Tomorrow we head into San Fran. Another great Priceline deal…landed the Westin St. Francis in Union Square.  Only 1 hour of driving tomorrow…going to have fun with the kiddos in one of my favourite cities.

Love to all! xo