24Hours in California
It's officially 4 weeks (yesterday) til our Vegas Vacation and the stress dreams have started. I am not a lay by the pool kind of holiday maker, I like to get out and see things and have at least a vague itinerary if we're going somewhere for the first time of with new people. This visit we've decided to make the most of our jet lag and 5am wakeup on the first day and drive out to California. It's a trek and I did it once before but it was so long ago and Lee wasn't with me so I've always wanted to try it again. Ideally we would love to dedicate a couple of weeks one Summer to a Californian road trip with the kids so this will be a bit of a test run to see 1. if we are up for it and 2. how comfortable Lee is driving long distances in a foreign country, on the other side of the road.It all started when I heard Natasha Beddingfield's 'Unwritten' and explained to my colleague that Lee and I had bonded over a mutual love for The Hills, Lauren, Heidi, the whole gang. I wonder how far Laguna Beach is? I wonder how far LA is from there? That was about 2 weeks ago and we've since booked a car. Is that what they call the law of attraction?We're not sure whether we will stay over, I suggested yes but Lee thinks he can power through so here's my plan of attack so far..Monday Morning (Easter Monday - I'm told this is a regular work day in the US?)5am - Drive down to the Welcome To Las Vegas Sign that I have still never seen - 4th time's a charm?5.30am - Drive from Vegas to Laguna Beach - around 4 hours according to Google Maps9.30am - Spend an hour here, maybe get breakfast (if we didn't stop on the way)10.30am - Drive to LA, first stop TCL Chinese Theatre (around 1hr 30)I'm going to factor in a few of couple of hours here for lunch, wandering around, parking etc but we don't want to stay long2pm - Drive to a view of the Hollywood Sign (approx 30mins)3pm - Drive to Venice Beach (1hr 30m)I've seen Venice Beach before but never the canals so I want to wander around there and to the beach6pm - Drive to Santa Monica (20m)Hoping to get to the pier around sunset, have dinner and hang out til we're ready for home8.30pm - Drive back to Las VegasSeems like the later we leave the shorter the drive time so depending on how Lee is holding up we plan to set off after 8.30pm or stop over and set off super early again. I've rounded up all of the estimatated travel times a fair bit but obviously I can't predict traffic. If need be we may cut out the Chinese Theatre to fit in what else we have on the list. It really is a whirlwind visit but we want to see as much as we can. We may even edit out Laguna Beach since it's off the beaten track compared to the rest of what we want to see but this is a first draft.I'm posting my ideas well in advance in the hope that those of you who have spent more time on the West Coast or have done something similar may be able to nudge me in a better direction or make suggestions as to where we can stop on the way/eat at the stops we have planned. Any input welcome!