Official Trip!

So it's official! I finally have a trip planned! It's not a big one but I am soooo excited about it. Where am I going, you ask??

Washington, DC!!! I am so excited because I have never been. Neither has my roommate which is who I'm going with.

This is the same roommate that I went to Nashville with last year. Last year we went for Labor Day and that is what we are doing again this year. Since we work together, we are not usually allowed to take any time off together. However, since it is a holiday weekend, we are able to leave a little early on Friday and then fly out. Stay for 3 nights and back on Monday which is the holiday. So it works out perfect!

Here is the price breakdown:

Roundtrip Flight (Orange County to Washington)- $220.40 (taxes included!)
Baggage Fee- $30 ($15 per flight)

Hotel- $133.96 (That is total for all 3 nights plus taxes and will be divided by 2!)

TOTAL- $317.38 (my share)

AWESOME, right?!! FYI, hotel is so cheap because of my hotel discount. Can you see why I don't want to leave Marriott?? :-)

We won't have to rent a car since we will be so close to their metro system. This will save us rental car fee and a parking fee at the hotel. The hotel's website also states that a taxi from the airport to their hotel is only about $15. Or you can try to metro it for only $3! Either way, it's a deal.

***Here's a helpful travel tip. If anyone ever asks you what you would like for a gift (birthday, Christmas, etc), tell them a gift card for a specific hotel chain or airline you use. That's what I did for my birthday and now I won't have to pay for my hotel!

Well, I just wanted to share the exciting news with you! And what a perfect time to tell you about this trip. Almost 4th of July!

Happy Travels my little World Travelers and have a safe and wonderful holiday weekend.

btw....any suggestions on things I can't miss in DC??

San Diego Zoo

Working at a hotel has it's perks. Sometimes you get free stuff. In this case... tickets to the San Diego Zoo!

San Diego is about 1 1/2 hours south of Orange County. I loved this zoo. I haven't been in years so it was great to visit. There were lots of babies and most of the animals put on a show for us.

Things I Learned At The Zoo:

1. Hippopotamas' are ginormous!

2. Baby monkeys get in trouble by their mama's too.

3. Gorillas are amazingly human like. Especially when they interact with their babies.

4. Big cats like to sleep alot.

5. Baby Bears and Koalas are hilarious when they try to get comfortable in a tree.

6. Polar Bears like carrots.

7. The San Diego Zoo is very hilly.

***A GREEN TIP- The San Diego Zoo does it's part to Recycle. They have tons of recycle bins for cans and plastic containers. You can also recycle your old cell phones there.

Here are a few pics from the day.

This is the most action we saw out of all the big cats.

Look at the way he is sitting. So human like...it's scary!

You see a lot of reflection from the window but how cute is this little guy playing with his mom or dad. His face is priceless. You may need to click on this one to see his face up close. Adorable.

This guy is in charge.

These guys were swimming all over.

About to take a swim.

This is a cool pic.

This position didn't work too well. His paw is soooo cute! ha ha.

Maybe this position is better.

Now it's the Koala's turn to get comfy.

Focused.



Ciao Travel Peeps!

Hiking- Laguna Coast Wilderness

Laguna Coast Wilderness
http://www.ocparks.com/LagunaCoast/
Laguna Coast Wilderness Park
18751 Laguna Canyon Road
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
(949)923-2235

So, my friend and I decided to play tennis a few weekends ago. I met her at her apartment in Irvine, Ca at about 9:30am. We went to play tennis at some courts near-by and they were all full with people waiting. We then tried 2 other courts that we could find and all of them were full. She had remembered a co-worker mentioning hiking near the hotel that we work for. Since we were near our hotel, she called her to get directions. We ended up at Laguna Coast Wilderness.

Since we were only planning on going to play tennis, I only had 1 bottle of water. She had her water in a to-go coffee mug. We just thought we would be going for a little "walk". That was mistake #1. Armed with 1 bottle of water between the two of us (remember, she had the mug so she couldn't bring it on the walk), car keys and my camera, we headed out on the trail. We left our phones in the car because again, this was just supposed to be a little walk.

5 hours later-Dehydrated, dirty and hungry.....we got back to my car. I've never been so happy to see my beautiful air conditioned Nissan. We had been so excited that we found this jewel in Orange County. It was so beautiful. Lots of fun plants to look at, bugs, caves, etc. Also, it was an easy hike. Until we decided to go back in the direction of our car. It was all up hill from there. Literally. It was really steep. Plus, we were out of water. I started to see black spots and was dizzy. After resting for a few minutes, I felt much better and we went along. An older man and his daughter and grandson were hiking and asked us if we had anymore water. Which of course we didn't. He was decked out in a "camelback" full of water and bags full of food. He told us to take some of his water from his flask. We felt bad and politely declined. He insisted. God bless him because we needed that water soooo bad.

So clearly we were not prepared for this 5 hour hike. We were not very smart. We should have stopped somewhere to pick up some sort of food and more water. We didn't realize how long we'd be out there. The older man pretty much saved us. He told us if we didn't drink the water, we would become coyote bait. Ek! We must have looked dehydrated. ha ha.

Well, even though I almost died....it was an amazing place to go hiking and I can't wait to go back. Next time I will print out a map from their web-site, pack a back pack with snacks and extra water, maybe bring a cell phone and enjoy the view. I really loved the cave we found and I heard there are more of them! It was really overcast and drizzelly when we went (which was kind of nice actually), but I hear on a clear day you can see the ocean from some of the spots.

So if you are in Orange County and like to hike (or mountain bike), you should definitely check it out! Here are some pictures that we took. Yes...we brought a camera but not a cell phone. We're lame.

***A hint. There are paid parking areas which you will see on their web site. However there is an entrance in Newport Beach that is free! From Newport Coast Drive and Ridge Park Road. Take Ridge Park Road all the way up to the top. Park where it ends and there is an entrance right there. You can't miss it.

Amazing views.


Can you see the huge spider web??




Um not sure what this paw print belongs to. EK!




Our cave.


The entrance to our cave.


Wow.


These butterflies were everywhere. They're blue!





Don't look too close at this one. No make-up and very dehydrated!


This was funny. Had to take a pic.


A hawk!


Cactus!

Have a great summer Travel Peeps!!

Travel Dilema

Ok kids. I have a dilema and I need help!

So my friend and I have been going back and forth about a trip this summer. I'm not used to traveling with a real "traveler". Usually, I plan everything and one or more of my friends just tags along. But this friend is well traveled and has ideas of her own. Her original idea was to go to Croatia. I told her to send me an itinerary. Meaning, I wanted a detailed document of hotels, flights and all travel costs. So I can get a ballpark figure. That's how I work! I need to see exactly how much everything is. So she sent it to me. Well.....it all looked great but I just couldn't bear to spend the money. Especially since I've been working so hard to eliminate my dept. Then the flights went up drastically and that trip fizzled out for her too.

Then I came up with a very cost effective trip where we would both be seeing places we've never been. So she asked me for an itinerary. Paybacks' a bitch! ha ha.. So below is my plan:

LA to Atlanta
Rent a car
2 nights in Savannah, Georgia
2 nights in Wilmington, North Carolina
2 nights in NYC, New York
1 night in Washington, DC
1 night in Charlotte, North Carolina
1 night in Atlanta, Georgia
Fly home

**The reason for the round trip was because dropping off a rental car at a different place than where you picked it up from added about $400 to the cost of the rental!! Originally I had planned to continue up to Boston and fly home from there. I just couldn't justify spending the extra $400!

Here are the costs:
Flight: $314 (taxes included)
Hotels: $612.29 (taxes included)($306.15 each)
Rental Car for all days: $290 ($145 each)
Parking fees at hotels: $127 (63.50 each)(FYI: $110 of this is for the 2 nights in NYC! wtf!)
Total: $828.65 each

Not bad, huh?? Helps when you work for Marriott and can get some of the rooms for $39 per night! Holler!!

Well my friend was really excited about this trip too. She loves Savannah and has never been to NYC. But then she got bored and still had Europe on the mind so she kept searching flights. She then decided she would go to Europe no matter what. Even if it's by herself. (Boo for my trip!! I really like my itinerary!)

She came up with a pretty good trip and the cost is actually not bad for Europe. However, it was still a bit more than my trip would have costed and I just hate to rack up a credit card again. She bought her ticket yesterday. She will be going to Berlin, Prague and Vienna. She got a good deal on a flight. I believe it ended up to be about $630. She sent me an updated itinerary and I've been looking it over. Her Berlin hotel was kind of expensive so I looked it up again and found a cheaper Marriott to stay in for all 3 nights. This will be a savings of approximately $180!! I also found a cheaper flight! So here is her itinerary after my modifications:

LA to Berlin
3 nights in Berlin
3 nights in Prague
3 nights in Vienna
Vienna to LA

Flight: $567.90
Hotels: $380.85 ($190.43 each)
Trains: $197 (Berlin to Prague and Prague to Vienna)
Total: $955.33 each

Wow! Great prices right? So other than the fact that this one would cost me more money, the only other problem with this one is the dates of this trip will take me out of work for 2 weeks! (because of when the cheaper flights were) No bueno! I do have plenty of paid time off available so I will be getting full pay. But all of the catch up work would not be cute!

So there it is. My travel dilema. Do I spend the extra money and take the Europe trip? Or do I be more reasonable and take my East Coast trip with another friend?

I just can not decide. Hmmmmmm......

Wish I was Here....

Dear Travel Peeps,

Wish I was here!




Sincerely,
TravelGirl!

Lake Mission Viejo: South Orange County

A few pics from the lake by my house. Lake Mission Viejo. (located in South Orange County) This is a great place to take a walk. It's a little over 3 miles to walk around the whole thing. It is located on Alicia Parkway in between Marguerite and Olympiad. I usually park on Marguerite in a shopping center. Then walk towards Olympiad. Right on Olympiad. Right on Alicia and then Right back onto Marguerite. Basically it's like a big triangle. Nice views though!

The Fruits of my Labor!

Hi Travel Peeps!

No travel news today but I just had to show you my tomatos. Some of them are ripe and ready to eat! So exciting! I made some yummy dinner using one of the ripe tomatos and some basil from my plant. Yummmmmm!!!

Orange County: Beaches, Beach Cruisers & Balboa Bars

Orange County: Beaches, Beach Cruisers & Balboa Bars!

So on Friday, I was so excited that I was going to have 4 days off of work. 4 days!! Monday being Memorial Day and Tuesday being an extra day off to "save money" for the company. I have plenty of paid time off so I was happy to take the extra day off. However....friday at work all of a sudden I got a sore throat. No way! Seriously, I just got over a 3 week cold. This cannot be. Well I woke up Saturday morning and it was definitely a cold. Not cute. So I spent all weekend (and most of Monday) sleeping off this rude cold.

Today (Tuesday), I decided I'd had enough of my house and bed so I decided to venture out on a drive. I live in Orange County. Besides the hiking posts, I don't think I've done anything on Orange County yet.

Being that it was such a beautiful day, I decided to do some of the beaches. I started at the nearest beach to where I live which is Laguna Beach. It was still a little cloudy but still nice.

Heading North on Pacific Coast Highway, the next stop is Crystal Cove State Park.

A must stop is the Shake Shack! Located on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It's on the left (if you are driving north on PCH) right before Crystal Cove State Park.

This is the historic district of Crystal Cove. They are currently renovating some of the cottages within this district. You can rent one of the updated cottages per night. Right on the water. Amazing views and some movie history as you'll see a few pictures down. http://www.crystalcovebeachcottages.org/

Does this view look familiar? Check out the cottage on the left.

Up close. Well, it may not look like much now. But this was the cottage used in the movie Beaches! Seriously! I know, it's not so cute now but still pretty cool. And who knew it was located in Orange County! I believe this is one of the areas that will be restored once more funds are available. Hopefully they restore it to it's old movie star days!

**They also filmed scenes for the movie at the Balboa Fun Zone! Balboa Fun Zone is a waterfront amusement park located on Balboa Peninsula.

Next stop is Corona Del Mar. Located in between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. Mainly residential with amazing houses and amazing views. From PCH, take a left on Poppy Ave. This dead ends at a beutiful view. Make a right at the dead end onto Ocean Blvd. State Beach is on the left. Tons of celebrities live in this area. I didn't want to be a stalker so I didn't take pictures of the amazing houses around this view. But stop by and you will see. :-)

Wow!

Check out the top floor of this house! I wonder what it looks like from the water!

Last stop of the day was Balboa Island. Continue going North on PCH. Make a left on Jamboree Road which turns into Marine Ave. Marine Ave. is the main street of Balboa Island. Very cute little beach town. Quaint restaurants and beachy shops surrounded by cute (million dollar) houses. Lots of people drive golf carts around since parking can be tight and not plentiful.

A MUST have while on Balboa Island: A Frozen Banana or a Balboa Bar! Yummo!


This path surrounds Balboa Island making a really nice walk!

From Balboa Island, you can take the ferry (by car or walk on) over to Balboa Peninsula where you can access Balboa Pier/Beach and Newport Pier/Beach. Also on Balboa Peninsula is the Balboa Fun Zone which is a boardwalk/waterfront amusement area.

There is also another way to get to Balboa Peninsula without taking the ferry. From PCH continue going north and make a left on Newport Blvd and merge onto Balboa Blvd.

Normally, I would continue driving North to Huntington Beach which is a few miles north of Newport Beach but I didn't have time since I got a late start. Most people would probably start in Huntington Beach and go south to Laguna. But since I live south, I went backwards! Huntington Beach is a fun busy beach. If you make a right on Main Street, that is the central hub. Tons of restaurants, bars and beachy shops. On the beach you can rent beach cruiser bikes. When I lived in Huntington, I used to ride my beach cruiser from Huntington to Newport. It's a nice fairly flat ride. My favorite part of living in HB was utilizing my beach cruiser! If you live in HB you must own one! :-) Huntington is great for people watching too. Crazies!!

So if you are in Orange County, you must check out the beaches. Even if you just do a drive by. Have a nice casual Southern California day!

**Check out Newport Harbor Tours to see where your favorite celebrities live and hang out. Some celebrities you will hear about are: John Wayne, Dennis Rodman, Dean Koontz, Jean Claude Van Damme, Michelle Pfeiffer, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Shirley Temple, Bette Midler and more! Check out their website! www.seeing-stars.com/live/newportbeach.shtml

Movies to See:

Beaches of course!!! ha ha.