Things To Know Before Going to Southern California

I booked an Airbnb Tuesday night, and on Thursday we were on our way to California. California has always been a place that belongs in my heart. I really wanted to explore all of the cities and beaches in Southern Cali that I had never been to. We arrived Thursday night at 2am(Utah time), 1am (Cali time) with a cooler packed full of sandwich stuff, snacks, and drinks. We did not need to check in, because all we needed to get in was the code for the keypad on the door. Our host was really on top of things and had already sent us the code, directions to the house, directions to our room, pictures of the house, and house rules. Our sheets were stained which was gross and not shown in the pictures obviously, but we were too tired, so we passed out.

FRIDAY – The next day we started our adventures at Laguna Beach! It was beautiful! I had never been there before, and it has pretty cliffs by the beach. Not to mention the drive there was breathtaking! There were a million butterflies flying around these green hills. When we got there we went to all of the fun artsy stores, then drove to Balboa Island. Balboa Island has a little strip of carnival food & a ferris wheel. It was really fun, and that’s where we bought our skateboards at. We tried to soak up some sun, but the breeze was making it too cold. When the sun went down, we rode our boards and went to bed super early. We were exhausted from all of the walking and the sun beating down on us, and we wished we would have taken a nap.

SATURDAY – On Saturday morning we went to an expensive shopping center that completely blew me away! I’ve never been to a mall that nice! It’s called “Irvine Spectrum Center” (Irvine is where we were staying). It had a Ferris wheel too, huge palm trees, and elaborate water fountains. We spent a lot of time there! We went to Huntington Beach in the afternoon, and we were able to enjoy getting sunburnt for the first time. For dinner we went to BJ’s. I ended up getting really good fish tacos, but we came for the famous pazookies. If you haven’t eaten one of their pazookies, you need to try one! We watched the sunset on the beach,(We almost missed it because I was too tired and wanted to go home). Have I mentioned that naps need to be included in the plans? We ended up back at the mall ha ha! We stayed up so late that night and rode the ferris wheel.

SUNDAY – On Sunday, we went back to Laguna to add to our sunburn and to take our really cute skateboarding pics. After that we were sad we had to leave :/ On the drive home I saw fields and fields of poppy flowers! From far away the hills just looked orange, but they were beautiful! Overall, California was just breathtaking, and I already want to go back! I’ve made a list of things you should know before you go! Xoxo Michelle

“Things to know before going to Southern California”:

-Don’t forget about the time change!

-Most stores charge a credit card fee if you buy something less than $5. Bring cash just in case!

-Buy bottles of water before your trip, because there aren’t many places to fill up your water bottle.

-Pack a cooler full of food & water

-Naps are a necessity-you’re foolin yourself if you think you can run around all day in the sun and stay up until midnight.

-Stay at a place closer to your destination so you can take a nap 😉

-Gas is more expensive

-You will ALWAYS have to pay for parking at the beaches

-Food is pretty expensive right by the beaches

-Try to avoid toll roads (Google maps will help you with this).

-If you do take a toll road, don’t forget to pay it!