We visited the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego, California.
Jenn and a friendly feral feline:
Bonsai:
Model:
Tea and Eats:
Month: June 2023
Comic-Con Museum
Cabrillo National Monument
We visited Cabrillo National Monument at the coast in California.
The visitor center:
“What am I looking at?” Fog:
Exhibits:
Was Cabrillo Spanish or Portuguese?
Fog lifting:
Lighthouse:
Whale viewpoint:
Other lighthouse:
View:
The big gun:
Gun placements:
Coast:
Pelicans:
GIF:
Video:
Lighthouse:
Sun Outdoors San Diego Bay
We stayed at Sun Outdoors San Diego Bay in Chula Vista, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Party city. We don’t like parties.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-04-08
- Check out: 2023-04-16
- 8 nights
Weather:
- Mostly cloudy, one day with drizzle
- High temps ranging between 57-70°F, lows around 48-52°F
- Negligible wind, up to 16 MPH gusts
Noise:
- Some distant freeway noise
- No road noise
- No train noise most of the time; once or twice distant noise
- Frequent helicopter noise from a naval air station
- Lots of neighbor noise (this was a bit more of a “fun” resort than we usually prefer)
Site:
- #16, back-in, concrete
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked next to coach
- Level
- Small site: about 50 feet long by about 25 feet wide
- Patio table, chairs, plumbed-in gas fire pit on concrete
- Shrubs (in need of a trim)
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 45 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 35-46 Mbps down, 13-21 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
- AT&T: 1 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
- Verizon: 2 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Central garbage compactor, not very convenient (a resort really should have garbage collection from site)
- Swimming pool & hot tubs
- Onsite cafe with delivery to site
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Party central, not the place for quiet contemplation
This was the most expensive place we’ve ever stayed and I really wanted to like it but wound up counting the hours until we departed. Perhaps it was because it was spring break, but this resort was packed with rowdy groups and masses of kids. You could hardly drive down the road without dodging the corn hole games, kids on bikes, adults on skateboards, etc. And, oh the noise, noise, noise. If the neighbors weren’t blasting their music or shrieking, the park itself had music blaring from the pool area or roving the streets. We work during the week, so it was unconducive to concentration. It’s petty, but the biggest complaint is that for $165/night they should have trash pickup at your site. They have one dumpster/compactor and it’s equally inconvenient wherever you are in the park. They also have annoyingly planted trees right next to the patio on the northern sites along the fence. We couldn’t get between our front door and the patio without squeezing between the tree and our slide. On the plus side, the cafe and bar were nice and we enjoyed several meals there, and the plumbed-in gas firepit at our site was a nice addition. The Bayshore Bikeway runs right by the park and it was nice to ride around the bay. We camped at Sun Outdoors San Diego Bay in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: San Diego Zoo is worth the hype (order your tickets online to save a few bucks and avoid the line at the park), and Balboa Park has so much to see. The Cabrillo National Monument is also a great place to check out.
Interactive map; the RV park is too new for the satellite image as of this writing, but may be there if you check later:
Campground map:
Our site:
We rode our bikes:
This shrub was touching our coach; I trimmed it back so we could access the patio:
A nice plumbed-in fire pit:
We like places with on-site restaurants, even better when they will deliver to our site, which we took advantage of on travel day; we’re always tired then, so nice to not to have to cook or go out:
We went to the cafe a few times:
Breakfast:
Another day, free drinks from tokens given on arrival:
Dinner:
Another breakfast:
This place had a definite party vibe, including roving live music on our first day:
Other sites:
Cabins:
Pool area:
Finally, another view of our site, with our coach packed up and ready to leave:
This was a nice, new resort. We enjoyed the convenience of the cafe. But we didn’t enjoy the noisy neighbors, with lots of people having large gatherings in front of their sites (and on the roads), with loud talking, loud children, and loud music. Not our kind of place.
Video: Orange to San Diego, California motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 99 miles from Orange, California to San Diego, California.
Travel from Orange to San Diego, California
We drove our coach 99 miles, about two hours of driving, from Orange (Los Angeles), California to San Diego, California.
Here’s the map route, heading south:
An interactive map, showing our stops and potential stops:
Leaving the RV park; Jenn drove our coach around the block to the check-in area so we could toad up:
Paladin on the steps; this has become one of his favorite places for travel days, so I’m happy to leave the step cover open for him:
Bright green hills:
I-5 freeway traffic:
The Pacific Ocean and yellow flowers:
A stop at a rest area to kill some time (since it was a relatively short drive) and have lunch:
Annoyingly, the truck parking was overrun with cars:
Back to heavy I-5 freeway traffic:
Heading to Chula Vista:
Checking in:
We had a back-in site, so I untoaded while Jenn checked in, then followed the coach to the site:
Our site before parking:
Open Roads fuel discount card
Our coach has a 150 gallon diesel tank, and gets about 7 miles per gallon, so we can use a fair bit of fuel in our travels.
We are glad that there is an option to save a bit of money: the Open Roads fuel discount card.
This service offers significant discounts off diesel fuel at select fuel stops, and enables paying at the pump, instead of having to go in to authorize the purchase (except in Oregon and Nevada).
It also includes an app that helps us find the discounted locations, and compare prices:
The detail page has additional information:
As a recent example, we filled about 76 gallons of diesel (half our tank capacity; we usually fill when it gets about halfway). The pump price was $376.66:
But we saved $92.82 on that fuel up, so “only” paid $293.77:
To learn more about Open Roads, take a look at this blog post and video on the Our Journey in Miles blog. They have a spreadsheet to help track the savings, too.
We don’t have a referral code or anything, so if you join, you could use theirs, or could enter “Jennifer Sinclair” as the referrer to give us credit.
Video: Orangeland RV Park timelapse
A timelapse of the Orangeland RV Park.
Disney 2023: Disney California Adventure
After taking a day off (to work), we went to Disney California Adventure Park.
We enjoyed the tram again:
Entrance:
Trolly:
Spiderman:
Roving music:
Trolly:
100 year anniversary:
We had lunch at Wine Country Trattoria:
We got soaked on Grizzly River Run:
Video:
Music:
The Soarin’ ride was having a special show over California:
Model:
Cozy Cone Motel:
Popcone snack:
Mater:
Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree ride:
The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure ride:
We went to Pym Test Kitchen for dinner:
Back to Cars Land in the evening to enjoy the neon:
Captain America:
Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!:
Radiator Springs Racers ride in Cars Land:
Mickey and Disney:
Magic Band light effects:
Locker:
Fountain:
Disney 2023: Disneyland
We visited Disneyland for Jenn’s birthday last year, and were in the area again this year, so decided to visit again, this time to celebrate our anniversary (28 years, if you’re curious). And just three days at the two parks, instead of five like last year.
First up was Disneyland, on our anniversary.
We were very pleased that the trams were running again; last year, they had suspended the trams due to COVID, so we had to walk the half mile or so from the parking garage to the resort. Which is not much compared to walking around in Disneyland, but not the best way to start or finish the experience:
On the tram:
First thing after entering Disneyland is a photo op below the train station (once again we got the Genie+ service, which includes PhotoPass photos all over the park):
Celebrating their 100 year anniversary:
Main street:
Castle:
No one selfies like Gaston:
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge area:
Another photo op:
We had a lunch reservation at Oga’s Cantina:
Ronto Roasters:
Shops:
The Mandalorian and Grogu:
We enjoyed the Rise of the Resistance ride (again; we did most of the rides last year too; we used the Genie+ service to snag LightningLanes for most of the rides, where available, to minimize waiting):
Then went immediately to the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride:
A snack at Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo:
A duck and several ducklings:
Mark Twain Riverboat:
Mark Twain Riverboat and Sailing Ship Columbia:
Sailing Ship Columbia:
Pirates of the Caribbean ride:
Splash Mountain ride:
After that, a nice gentle Jungle Cruise was just the thing:
Then we went on the Mark Twain Riverboat for a cruise around the Rivers of America:
A duck on a moose back:
For our anniversary dinner, we had a reservation at Blue Bayou Restaurant, overlooking the start of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride:
Here’s the menu:
Castle at night:
Viewing area for the evening Fantasmic! show (included with the dinner package):
The show featured projections on water, fire (but not dragon on fire), fireworks, dancing, etc:
Mickey photo op:
A couple of days later, we went back to Disneyland a second time.
The Pixar ball at the parking area:
We bought Magic Bands, which were very useful; they can be used to get into the parks, access fast lanes, link photos, and have bonus interactions, among other things:
Main Street:
We used the lockers; a great way to bring in extra clothing, batteries, etc, but not have to lug them around all day:
The castle and Disney statue:
First stop was Toontown:
A new ride, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway:
A video of the fun entrance to the ride:
It was rather dodgy, though; near the end of the ride it shut down, and all the lights came on. We had to wait several minutes before being evacuated:
We were given a credit to come back later, which we did. The ride seemed to go down frequently. And when we went on it the second time, it had long pauses towards the end. Some more debugging needed, I think. Still, it was a mostly fun experience, and fascinating to get a behind-the-scenes peek.
Red Rose Taverne for lunch:
Try the grey stuff, it’s delicious (it really is):
Captain Hook:
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage ride:
Matterhorn mountain:
We went for a sail on the Sailing Ship Columbia tall ship:
Below decks:
Pirates of the Caribbean, again:
We got Dole whip snacks from the Tiki Juice Bar:
Castle:
A ride on the King Arthur Carrousel:
Going for a spin at the Mad Tea Party:
Gotta subject ourselves to the earworm of It’s a Small World:
Tiny NZ representation:
Alien Pizza Planet for dinner:
Indiana Jones Adventure ride:
Nighttime Jungle Cruise:
Why not another kiddie ride, Winnie the Pooh:
Finishing the evening with fireworks:
A fun visit to Disneyland!