San Diego to San Francisco

Bryan wrote:

"flygis" wrote in message
oups.com...

Hi,

I need advice. We are going to travel to US in december. First stop
will be in Phoenix to visit an old friend from Sweden (where we're
travelling from), then by car to San Diego. This part is planned.

From San Diego to San Francisco we plan to travel by car. Three days
travelling and two overnight stay in motels will be a good pace I
think, regarding that my wife and I are travelling with our two
daughters, 23 months old. We would like to see (part of) highway 1 and
nature surrounding.

Now: What to see? Where to stay? We both prefer
nature/wildlife/culture.
My wife mentioned Disneyland in Anaheim, but I'm not sure.
I would like to see some wildlife in Monterey.

Any suggestions? How to split the trip, bearing in mind that we need
(preferably) to have checked in at the motels in the afternoon or early
evening so our daughters can have their sleep in beds?



I'm not sure about Disneyland for 23 month olds, I doubt that they will
remember it the way an older child would. Still you might enjoy the
memories of taking the girls to Disneyland.




Now that I think on it Disney is pretty much not a possibility given
your short time and the park price. Even though the 2 year olds are
free you and your wife would pay US$112 for your 2 tickets. Plus
parking. It's not a drop in for a minute kind of place.

Keith W wrote:

"flygis" wrote in message
oups.com...

Thanks all for the help and answers!

Another question, related to cars and kids:
The cost for car seat rental for my girls is $8 per seat per day, which
sums up to $160 for the rental period. That is rather expensive we
think, and since we need to get two extra seats for use at home, we
thought we could buy them in Phoenix and bring them home to Sweden from
SF. But, since all kids car seats used in Europe must have an E-marking
to be legal for use, it can be difficult to get these seats in USA.

Do any of you know if it is possible to get E-marked seats in the US? I
have searched the web for a baby/kid store that I can ask this, but
failed miserably. Any of you that know a store in Phoenix that could
help me with this question?



It seems HIGHLY unlikely that any seat sold in the USA will
have been verified as meeting European standards.
Worse the shape of car seats, the length of seat belts and
the position of seat belt anchor points differ between cars
so, not all child seats fit all cars which means any seats you
buy in the US may not fit your car at home and you'll
have to spend some time ensuring the seats you buy in the
US fit the rental car

Frankly I'd advise spending the $160, at least you'll
get seats that fit the rental car.

Keith


Actually you might simply buy 2 seats and dump them at the end.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=4083774

shows seats for $40 each that should do. To feel better there might be
a way to drop the seats at a charity when you are leaving. Perhaps the
airport fire department might take them to pass on.

Do any of you know if it is possible to get
E-marked seats in the US?

Don't forget that you must obtain the seats BEFORE your children's
first ride in the car. If you are renting it at the airport when you
arrive, this wouldn't work.

Another consideration is that U.S. child seats often don't fit properly
in European cars because the fastening system can be different. Maybe
the E-rating takes that into consideration; I don't know.

Any of you that know a store in Phoenix
that could help me with this question?

Personally I wouldn't rely on advice from a store clerk as they might
have little experience with this; I'd suggest talking to someone more
authoritative. Maybe contact some car seat manufacturers for advice, or
maybe the reference department of your local public library can look up
an authoritative answer for you concerning compatibility and
availability.

Jim

In article .com,
"flygis" wrote:

From San Diego to San Francisco we plan to travel by car. Three days
travelling and two overnight stay in motels will be a good pace I
think, regarding that my wife and I are travelling with our two
daughters, 23 months old. We would like to see (part of) highway 1 and
nature surrounding.

Highway 1 through Big Sur (the most scenic part) is prone to mudslides or
rockslides that can close the road for a few hours or a few weeks. If there
is a closure you can usually get as far north as Cambria, then over to US
101 and north to Monterey. Make sure you fill your car with gas no later
than Cambria. There is no regular priced gas for about 100 miles on HWY 1
between Cambria and Monterey.

--
I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet

Bob
in Carmel, CA

In article ,
Bob Allison wrote:
Highway 1 through Big Sur (the most scenic part) is prone to
mudslides or rockslides that can close the road for a few hours
or a few weeks.

And this is the place to check its status:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/Hourly

You can see already that it is never boring.

hmm...I'm getting into this one a bit on the late side. Here's my
contribution:

While a two year old can enjoy Disneyland (my two year old grandson thought
Tiger was real and thoroughly enjoyed bouncing along with him), I agree that
a stop there is an all day endeavor...and a pricey one at that. Tough to
spend just a couple of hours there.

Actually, three days and two nights between San Diego and San Francisco does
not leave you much room to explore. My recommendation is to target what you
want to see and plan around that. Three broad strategies present
themselves: 1) Spend most the first day driving as far north as you
reasonably can, then saunder the next two days into SF. 2) Loiter around
the LA area for two days (making Disneyland feasible) and spend the third
day driving up to SF. 3) Meander northward over those three days.

Sounds like you'll be taking highway 1 from San Luis Obispo to Monterey.
My suggestion is to stay at one of the motels on Moonstone Beach on the
north side of Cambria. The motels are just across the road from the ocean.
Very nice location. Do a websearch on Moonstone Beach Cambria.

No one seems to have suggested Hearst Castle...that is one of the more
popular state parks in California and worth a visit just to see how a rich
capitalist lived in the first part of the twentieth century. The
recommendation would be to take tour number one, which will very nicely kill
one morning (or afternoon) of your trip.

And as you drive north of Hearst Castle, keep an eye out on the left for
cars parked in a parking lot between the road and the sea. If you're lucky,
there will be elephant seals on the beach below. Once the road starts
climbing you will have passed those beaches.

If you like nature, my recommendation is Point Lobos State Park just south
of Carmel. If you are a photography enthusiast, be advised that Edward
Weston did some of his work there. But photography aside, the view at Sea
Lion Cove from the top is superb, as are the views along the Cypress Grove
trail. Be careful - you can kill an entire day here. No food, but water
and restrooms.

And there are some very nice waterfalls in the Big Sur area: Salmon Creek
Falls, Limekiln Falls, and McWay Falls. The last is supposedly the second
most photographed waterfall in California...Yosemite Falls has the
distinction of being the first. Limekiln Falls is in Limekiln State Park
and McWay Falls is in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. Limekiln will
probably take an hour or so to visit, the others will probably take half an
hour...if that much.

Once you reach Monterey, stay on hwy 1 until you hit 156. The quickest way
to SF at this point is to take 156 east to 101 north to 85 north to 280
north. Figure about 2 1/2 hours driving time to SF city limits from
Monterey on this routing. Once you hit the SF Bay Area, take advantage - if
you are travelling during peak commute hours - of the car pool lanes on the
far left.

As you leave San Luis Obispo on hwy 1 north, you'll come across Morro Bay.
Take the main entry to the town. You'll find an Arco gas station just as
you enter the town. I recommend filling up there. Gas - regular and
otherwise - is available in the Big Sur area (Ragged Point, Gordia, etc),
but you'll pay a hefty price
for it.

One last point - the stop at Nepenthe is worthwhile for the view from the
upper deck, but be aware that the meals are on the very pricey side. A
friend stopped there a
while ago despite being warned and complained afterwards about dropping over
$100 for a hamburger lunch for his family of five - four adults and one
child.

Hopefully the weather will be brisk but rain free. However late
November/early December begins the rainy season for us so be prepared for
rain. The nice thing is that fast moving storms move basically from north
to south for the most part such that you shouldn't have more than a day of
heavy rain, driving south to north as you are. Then, too, fog along the
coast will not be the risk it will be along I5 in the central valley that
time of the year.

Lawrence, you're not late, we're not leaving Sweden until 2 of
December. Until then - please give me your thoughts.

Again, thanks for all the help, tips and links. Many things have been
clearer in my mind now.

As for now, we're into the alternative to skip LA/Disneyland (looking
at Google Earth, it seems like we can get a gleam of Disneyland when
passing on I-5...) and to drive that day to some nice place to stay
overnight.
Then the second day see what HWY1 can offer and reach Carmel or
Monterey at late afternoon/early evening. Hearst Castle have been
mentioned by my friends a couple of times. As I understand it isn't far
off the HWY1, so we can have a look at it, even if our girls aren't up
to touring the castle at that time.
The third day we hopefully can take some time in Monterey to visit the
aquarium or some other features and then drive straight to SF.

I'm appreciating the driving and road tips a lot.
What does "car pool lanes" mean?

flygis wrote:
...
I'm appreciating the driving and road tips a lot.
What does "car pool lanes" mean?

You won't have a problem with that. It means "One person in One car" is
not allowed to drive in that lane - it is to encourage "car pooling"
meaning; a group of people share driving a car to work usually during
peak traffic hours. The intent is to lessen traffic congestion,
decrease pollution, and save dependence on foreign oil.




--

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we can have a look at it, even if our girls
aren't up to touring the castle

I believe you have to park your car several miles from Hearst Castle,
buy a ticket, and then a tour bus drives you on a private road to the
castle. So it may not be worth going there unless you plan to take a
tour.

wrote in message
oups.com...
we can have a look at it, even if our girls
aren't up to touring the castle

I believe you have to park your car several miles from Hearst Castle,
buy a ticket, and then a tour bus drives you on a private road to the
castle. So it may not be worth going there unless you plan to take a
tour.

And, unless they've changed the tours since I went, these are "Look don't
touch" and "Keep up with the guide" tours. (Much like castle tours I've been
on in Europe...) I don't know your toddlers, but my girls would have been
bored, and then disruptive on that type of tour.