San Diego on a dime!

My sweet family at Tamarak Beach in Carlsbad, California.

Ahh... the salty sea mist, wind blowing through my hair, sand between my toes; This is what I call absolute bliss.  We just returned from our 2nd annual (Yes, I need sand between my toes at least once a year) trip to Southern California.  We drove again this year, Ryan is ALWAYS thrilled to drive (said using heavy sarcasm).  After I did the math, it was simply less expensive then flying, by more then half, AND if I wanted to hit a yard sale (or 12) that I would have room to bring home my treasures.  So we took his truck, my Kia is not dependable according to him.  HA, I say!

I usually refer to this vacation our "San Diego" trip, although I don't think I will anymore. 

 We never even make it there.  

So we drove to Vegas the first night, stayed at the Silverton Casino, first because it's actually pretty affordable ($65 total per night) but because we love seeing the Mermaids!  The trouble with this is that we show up late and leave early, missing the mermaid performance at 1:30, all together.  We had some good friends over for a pool party that night however, and that made up for it.  On the way back home we decided to get a regular Comfort Inn off of the strip so we could skip the smoky casino, we all liked that much better, and we have friends close by so that's a bonus too!


 Next day we were California bound.  We made a stop in Barstow, CA, for a quick bathroom break and refreshments- found this really cool McDonalds that had been made out of old passenger train cars.  Pretty cool and budget friendly- 4 cones and a drink for under $6!  A friend mentioned the town was sketchy so we just kept on after that stop.

Once in California we stayed at our usual Lawerence Welk Resort in Escondido; a 2 bedroom condo, with a kitchen of course.  Believe me, it's worth spending a little more for these condos simply because you don't feel like you are staying in a hotel, and you can actually cook and keep your own meals.

This particular resort has 4 different pool areas and 2 that are specifically aimed at kids.  They each have a water slide and either has a splash pad or a zero entrance pool.  This makes the vacation so much more enjoyable because if we are tired or just feeling lazy, we never have to leave the resort.  The pools are plenty of entertainment for our family but they also have a long list of things going on that you would never need to leave, including a farmers market that we always love to explore, right on the property.  The resort is 30 minutes from the beach however, so you will have to drive if you want to explore.

We try and visit a few different beaches each time we come, however I think we have established which beaches we enjoy the most and we will probably just stick with those.  Here is my take on some of the local beaches... and WE are beach seekers!

Oceanside- has a fun pier with lots of neat birds and fishermen to see.  We were able to get pretty close to a bunch of pelicans and seagulls for a closer look.  You can also watch the surfers and beach goers.

 We stopped for some onion rings and shakes at Ruby's Diner at the end of the pier- excellent service and good old fashioned food- completely worth it.  The beaches have fire pits that you can use for FREE and the surf seems calm and safe enough that you could chill for the day- we decided to hit Carlsbad beach instead.

Carlsbad Beach- Specifically Tamarak Beach. I honestly think we pick this beach again and again simply because we take a super-full size truck on vacation (good luck parking that!) and this beach has a nice and roomy parking lot ($5 daily parking fee) that always has plenty of parking and a bathroom.  The beaches seem to be less packed and cleaner then others.  The surf here, however, is strong and you would not want little ones playing too close as the rip tide would quickly pull them out.

Our kids are super happy playing safely in the sand, without getting in the water. We have this fun family tradition where we "chase waves" together.  Run toward the ocean when the tide goes out and run back to the beach as it chases you in- try not to get wet- it's good fun! :) Ryan claims to have seen a bunch of dolphins swimming just off of the rocks, really I think he just likes to torture me about my inconvenient bathroom breaks. We found a few shells here, although I think the best shell beaches are your local, non-tourist beaches like Imperial Beach, further south.


LaJolla Beach- This area is beautiful but not really my style.  It's hoity-toity and has absolutely NO parking. We did make it to "La Jolla Childrens Beach" during our last trip- it was beautiful and fun.  We were able to see the sea lions and enjoy the views of the rocky cliffs.  This trip I was hoping to see the caves or taverns we heard about, but again, no parking (no parking- as in NO PARKING for super-full sized pick ups or itty-bitty scooters) so we just went on to Imperial Beach.


Note: We just completely skipped San Diego altogether.  No Lego Land, No Zoos, definitely NO Sea World (Orca abusers anyway).  This area has so many fun things to do that I couldn't imagine wasting my time or money on these commercialized, over priced attractions.  In most cases, they exploit wild animals in captivity- again, just not my style.  Don't feel pressured into doing them either- I'm telling you we had the most amazing, easy-going, stress-relieving vacation, without all of the exhausting hype and expense.

Coronado Beach- This was a really nice beach, although on the day we went the wind was blowing like hell so we just moved on to Imperial Beach.

My Aunt Carol told me about how the Coronado Hotel was the largest wooden structure on the west coast and that there was only one other like it (same builder or architect I believe) on the east coast.
It was surely a beautiful area, reminded me of Monterey Bay, California- a beautiful area, rich with unique
and historic architect.

Imperial Beach- YAY!  I would have preferred to find out about this beach FIRST, but hey, better late then never!  This is a local surfers beach, about 9 miles from the Tijuana, Mexico border, but don't let that deter you from visiting.  This was a quiet and quaint beach.  According to a few of the locals I was able to chat with, IB used to be a ghetto and full of bums.  They started really cleaning it up about 10 years ago and now it's a gem of a town with beautiful groomed streets, local pubs and sandwich shops.  But hey, I bet they are just fine with that bad rap, it keeps it quaint :)

 We ate at a local joint called "Katy's Cafe", the food was great and the environment was relaxing and inviting, and not no mention the coolest bathroom ever! :)  And then naturally we would go to the place with a mermaid on the sign :)

The beach is open to sun seekers and dogs- which I think is great.  The ocean spits a bunch of seaweed out in this area but other then that the beaches are clean and littered with sea shell treasures.  I found my very first sand dollar here- I flipped out! Here is a neat YouTube video I found for the girls to show how Sand Dollars live. We ended up coming home with nearly a dozen, fully intact, sand dollars.  There is a sand bar just west from this bronze surfer statue (west end of Seacoast Drive), and at low tide you can reach down and pick them up.  Check tide times here to see the best times to go.

 Parking is free and plentiful. We actually went back to this particular spot twice.  Lana wasn't so keen on the water but Ella was a fun little explorer and we spend many hours looking for treasures and chasing waves.  Ryan was taking it all in, chilling in his chair under the umbrella, watching Lana dig through the endless sand- she was in heaven :)  I think we will come back and stay in IB the next trip- it's a really easy going place, just our style!  Also, I hear they have the best thrift shops- I'll save that for the next visit.

 Posing with some cool anchor chains in IB

Imperial Beach 

Being able to bring our own beach stuff was nice and saved us a bunch of money not having to buy anything.

 We were also able to shop at the local grocery stores (I prefer Trader Joes and Von's) and pack a lunch to go, using the coolers we brought from home.  Of course I have no self control when I see TJMaxx or Marshalls- I usually come home with a few bags of treasures from these places.  New running shoes for Ryan-1, new running shoes for me-0. And the hunt continues...

Making sand castle forts with my girl.

I love this picture of me and my Shoopie! 

As usual Ryan wants to fly to our destination.  I insist on driving and I usually win, here's why: At the end of the day, we drove our super- full sized truck from Vernal, Utah, to Escondido, California, and everywhere in between.

BBQ at our condo at Welks Resort in Escondido, CA.

We even splurged quite a few times and ate out, but mostly hit the grocery store and ate in.  We stayed 9 nights away from home (2 nights- hotel, 7 nights- condo) 10 days all together- 4 of which we drove most of the day.

(Chili's Corona-rita $15, not a bargain!) 

I can't resist shopping for a few fun things but otherwise we mostly had FREE fun! For our family of 4 we spent approximately $2500 for this entire trip- gas, lodging, fun, food- everything.  Our plane tickets alone would have run us $1800 minimum, lodging- $800-$1000, a rental car- another $400-$600.  We are at $3200 and we haven't even left the hotel.  You see how I might win? :)


One last bit of advise I wanted to share- If you happen to be in Vista and you see a Raspberry stand, don't be sucked in by it's mirage of beauty and promises of sweet luscious berries- WATCH THE ROAD!  Um yeah, that little bump surely put us over our budget. Yikes!

Happy adventures!
Love,
The Henlines

It's VEGAS baby! Er... I mean, kids.

Vegas in December, with an 18 month old and a 4 year old? You're probably thinking 'She's nuts, Vegas is NOT for families' but, have I got news for you! Vegas IS such a fun place for families and a great place for families on a BUDGET! So what do you do? Lets see... well, you don't gamble, you don't drink, and partying is out of the question. Stay with me, I'll tell you about the fun and FREE places I found in Las Vegas, Nevada.

First, here is my cute family, in LAS VEGAS 2012!

Henlines- Vegas style!

Our friends, The Draughons!

 

Ok, so to start, I like to take vacations while everyone else is doing something else. I don't like the crowds and I'm not interested in full price ANYTHING. Casinos tend to offer better deals when things slow down. Try to be flexible with your dates and try to stay OFF of the strip. There are grundles of nice hotel/casinos, and even condos, that are super cheap and near the strip. You will still enjoy the amenities (plenty of FREE ones!) of the strip with out the dirty card flippers and the "Mommy how come that lady isn't wearing any...?" comments from the little ones. If you're looking for a last minute hotel deal I suggest using travel sites like www.lasvegas.com and your mobile apps like hotelstonight. Once I scored a $7 hotel room in Primm Nevada using www.Lasvegas.com and another time a $19 room at the stratosphere. When you sign up for the FREE app for Hotel Tonight you automatically get a credit to use for a last minute stay. The deals are out there, it's worth the research.

This trip we stayed in a Condo at the Diamond Resorts just off of Decatur (West of Las Vegas Blvd/ "the strip"). I scored a free week when I signed up for a 3 year membership with our time share exchange company, Interval International. So to start off this super-duper-cheap trip we got our 7 day condo, with a full kitchen, for FREE! After checking in, we talked to the concierge people who gave me a local visitors guide (Vegas 2 Go), a stack of coupons (mmmmm!), and a list of local events going on during our stay. When you arrive at your hotel I would recommend talking to these folks at the front desk first, they have the most up-to-date information.


First thing next morning we headed to The Silverton Casino for some mermaid fun! Unfortunately we were too early so we came back on the last day of our trip. Worth the wait!

We were able to see the sting rays eat and also watch the mermaids swim. Both my 4 year old and my 18 month old were mesmerized! You could easily spend an hour or two here. I also scored some fun mermaid prints for Ellas bedroom 3 for $25! What a deal!

The Silverton casino also has Bass Pro Shops connected to it for the guys and a live prehistoric fish that you can watch swim in the fountains of the store. Check the website for special events. Santa was there taking wish lists, although Ella decided to pass as she had already talked to him at another casino.

My cute friend Cristy and I

Next we headed to South Point Casino. After walking for what seemed like forever, we found a craft and gift fair. I was super ticked when I realized we had to pay $5 per adult to get in, but hey, we walked all that way, right?  I found a couple of cute things to purchase, made by the local crafting folks. The BEST part of this particular outing was that I got to meet 2 of the "Sister Wives" from the popular TLC show!   I tell Ryan- "Ryan, why do I know those girls?  Hurry help me figure out who they are!?"  Duh.

 

You're jealous, admit it! :)

Remember, it's a long walk through most of these casinos so be sure to pack an extra bottled water (especially in the warmer months) and a couple snacks to keep the kids with the program. I highly suggest a stroller if you have kids under 3. One last thing I noticed was that most of the casinos don't have changing tables located in the restrooms so be sure to pack a changing mat or a receiving blanket- something you can lay them down on the floor if you have to.

Lana posed for me here, she's so sweet :)

Circus Circus is an older casino with a bunch of fun and clean entertainment for the whole family.  I appreciate the old school feel this place has.  It's sort of... vintage.  I love vintage :) 

 

They have daily FREE live circus acts from 11am-midnight. You can also get some 2 for 1 coupons, I'm guessing at the front desk, and let the kids play games. Ella was thrilled to win a stuffed turtle!

 

 

We moseyed out side to catch a glimpse of the Las Vegas Marathon and 1/2 Marathon- so cool! We cheered the runners on for a good 20 minutes and they just kept coming, as far as you could see in both directions!



Freemont street: not for the kids. The sky light show is neat but you'll have to pass by at least 2 half naked dancers and half a dozen junkies to get to a safe spot to do so. It's full of panhandlers and transients. Our kids here looking ultra thrilled with that "Seriously?" look on their faces.  Despite what you might hear or read, this place is a dive.
 

 

5 years ago we took a drunken taxi from the strip to Freemont street. At the time it seemed awesome... Take my word for it- do something else like...

Bellagio fountains! WONDERFUL and FREE!
 

 

The Botanical gardens are also free and located just inside the Casino lobby. When you get here drive all the way to the top of the parking garage. Take the elevator straight down to the lobby- much easier and less chaos.

Ethel M Chocolate Factory- Take a Tour of the chocolate factory and sample the delectable chocolate! Then you can take a tour of the cactus gardens.

We did this during Christmas time and everything was decked out with Christmas lights.  It was magical!
They had an M and M store but I would skip it and head for the MGM Grand to see the M and M store on the strip.

The M and M Store is located on the Strip (Las Vegas Blvd) just in front of MGM Grand. Free parking is located behind the casino then walk through to the strip. Warning: while this is so much fun for the kids to see, it's not cheap. This is one of those items that we felt would be worth the $15 in "special colored" M and M's. We had fun, glad we did it!

 

That's all we were able to fit in our 7 day stay. You could still choose from a long list of items we never got around to checking out...
Caesars Palace- Forum Shops, Fall of Atlantis- Show times every hour.  Flamingo- Wildlife Habitat open 8am-dusk.  Mirage- Volcano- Hourly Dusk to 11pm.  Treasure Island Sirens- Evenings. Venetian has street performers daily from 10am-10pm.

Our family had a really great time not only getting to see Las Vegas but to see if we could truly enjoy ourselves on a dime. In almost every case, we had more fun doing the things that were the least expensive or free all together.

Our next challenge- San Diego for FREE! Until then, Safe Travels from our little Henline Zoo! xoxo