A timelapse of driving the coach 144 miles from the Orange, California to Santa Barbara, California. Or more specifically El Capitan beach, near Goleta.
Travel from Orange to Santa Barbara, CA
We departed Orangeland RV Park in Orange, California, and headed to a week at Ocean Mesa RV Resort in Santa Barbara, California. Or more specifically El Capitan beach, near Goleta.
Here’s the route map (right to left); 144 miles, a non-stop four hour drive in our coach:
Departing Orange:
As usual, Paladin wasn’t thrilled that his house was moving again, though only complained once:
Heading towards LA on I-5:
Fork to route 101:
Downtown LA:
A couple glimpses of the Hollywood sign:
Sign for Universal Studios etc:
Paladin loafing on the mat between us:
Suddenly we’re out of the city and into some hills:
Whenever Paladin was in the cockpit area I kept a close eye on him, to make sure he didn’t go by Jenn’s feet, and risk interfering with the pedals. When he showed interest in heading in that direction, I picked him up and put him on my lap. He wasn’t thrilled about that:
There were no rest stops on this route, so I grabbed some salami and a slice of cheese as a quick lunch (we had more food after we arrived):
7% grade downhill:
Continuing along 101:
Reached the coast:
Paladin on my lap again; still not too keen:
Countryside:
Our exit:
Arriving at Ocean Mesa RV Resort:
We followed another Tiffin in, a Phaeton:
Our coach when checking in, after unhooking our truck:
As usual, I’ll have a timelapse video of this drive tomorrow, and a post about our time here later.
Orangeland RV Park
We stayed at Orangeland RV Park in Orange, California, specifically because it was about 10 minutes from Disneyland. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Dates:
- Check in: 2022-02-06
- Check out: 2022-02-20
- 14 nights
Weather:
- Sunny, one day of evening rain and a thunderstorm
- High temps ranging between 70 and 95°F, lows around 40-50°F
- Occasional wind (gusts up to 30 mph)
Noise:
- Background road noise
- Very occasional train horns, during the day
Site:
- Pull-through, diagonal, concrete, had to disconnect toad (tow vehicle)
- Medium-sized, about 50 feet long by 27 feet wide, including pad for toad beside RV
- Full hookups: 50 amp power, good water pressure, no sewer connection issues
- Table and chairs with umbrella on patio, grass, orange tree (can pick oranges); no fire pit
Internet:
- Campground Wi-Fi: 6 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 40 ms ping, mostly reliable
- T-Mobile: 40 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
- AT&T: 4 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
- Verizon: 17 Mbps down, 17 Mbps up, 43 ms ping
Amenities:
- Mail service
- Daily garbage pickup
- Pool; hot tub was being resurfaced
- Rec room
- Various outdoor games
Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:
Fantastic basecamp for Disney fun!
We absolutely loved our stay at Orangeland. We stayed for two weeks in order to do Disneyland and California Adventure and a couple of other LA attractions. This was the perfect place to launch from, it was so convenient to the freeways. Despite being in the heart of a sub/urban area, it was pretty quiet and peaceful. Picking oranges right from our patio was so cool, and we really enjoyed the wonderful scent of orange blossoms. Spaces are pretty tight, but the staff was very helpful in getting us situated quickly and efficiently. The patio with table and chairs at our deluxe pull-through site was very nice. The only downside is that they positioned the patios for fifth-wheels and Class Cs, so we had to walk across the (often wet) grass to get from our door to the table since the parking pad was just wide enough for our large Class A. Not a biggie, just something we’ve noticed in other parks as well. We will absolutely stay here again when we want to revisit the LA area. We camped at Orangeland RV Park in a Motorhome.
The cover of the park booklet:
Park map; the majority of the park (brown sites) are long-term residents, with a few rows (green sites) for transient RVs (I like it when parks keep the two types separate, since long-term residents are often less tidy):
Satellite view:
As mentioned, it’s about 10 minutes from Disneyland:
This park was unusual in that they gave a little goody bag at check-in:
With a sudoku, book, note pad, pen, calendar, and more:
And to tell about trash pickup, they provided a trash bag:
Our site, with a nice paved patio area with table, chairs, and umbrella (the first time we’ve had an umbrella at a site):
Convenient utility hookups:
A nice feature of this park is the “no parking fire lane” red line around the roads, encouraging everyone to park within their site. Far too often at campgrounds vehicles are parked partly in the road, making navigation of big rigs more difficult than it needs to be. It helps that the sites are actually big enough to park the toad, too:
Have you heard that in cities you can order food online and have people drive it out to you? Crazy notion! This was the first time we’ve ordered food delivery in almost a decade, since nobody would deliver to our rural homestead:
We did it twice:
One of the rules of the park was no free-range cats, and yet there were two cats that roamed around near our site (which didn’t bother us, but I suspect that rule was added due to them):
The weather was pretty nice here, though we had a couple of days with high wind gusts:
Let’s wander around the park. The entrance:
Other RVs:
The office:
The office includes a little shop with all sorts of essentials:
Game room:
Outdoor games:
The pool; we didn’t use it, mainly because we were out late at the Disney parks on the really hot days, and the subsequent days weren’t so hot:
The spa / hot tub was being resurfaced, so unavailable; we might have wanted to use that after long days walking around Disney, but oh well:
Putting green:
Playground:
BBQ area:
Dog park:
Every site has a fruit tree, and they encourage picking fruit off your own tree, or vacant sites. They have a map of what varieties are where:
Warner Bros Studio Tour
While in the LA area, we felt we had to do something Hollywood-related. We’ve long wanted to do a studio tour, so decided to do the Warner Bros Studio Tour.
After going through security and a waiting area, the tour started with a short video on the history of Warner Bros:
Then we headed out in carts for a guided tour of the lot; we sat up front with our hilarious guide:
I can’t remember everything that things appeared in, so I won’t try; here are a bunch of pictures from the back lot; you may recognize some from various movies and TV shows:
The iconic WB water tower:
More back lot scenes:
The gazebo from The Gilmore Girls:
Some stages:
We drove through the workshop, where they make the sets etc:
Then walked through the property department, where they store lots of props:
We met the granddaughter of the Warner brothers:
Then walked through the Ellen stage:
Stage 16, the tallest stage:
Then we went to the next phase of the tour, a self-paced walk around some exhibits on the movie-making process:
A touch screen to design your own Batmobile:
A photo op on a Friends set:
More exhibits:
A forced perspective demo:
Green screens where people can use props and be directed to make a video:
Jenn did a Harry Potter flight on a broomstick, but didn’t like how it turned out, so we didn’t keep those. We also did these together:
We had a beverage and cookie from the Central Perk cafe:
A Friends-focused gift shop:
Next, we hopped back on a cart to get ferried over to another building that was more focused on movies, primarily Batman and Harry Potter:
Finally, exit through the gift shop:
Food: Bob’s Big Boy
I haven’t bothered with food posts recently (other than yesterday’s, which was more about the show), but one worthy of note was the historic Bob’s Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, California.
The iconic sign out front:
Big Boy figure and info:
Some shots of the restaurant interior:
The menu:
The meals came with a salad:
Old-style vanilla and cherry Cokes:
Jenn’s club sandwich and fries:
I had to try the signature Big Boy burger and fries:
All very tasty and filling.
Medieval Times
While in the LA area we went to Medieval Times for a dinner and show. They have a fixed menu of medieval-inspired food, eaten with hands, and put on a show of knights, squires, a queen, and medieval competitions like jousting and sword fighting.
All kinda cheesy, but fun.
A photo op on entry. Yes, believe it or not, I’m smiling. Somewhat:
The bar area (we were fairly early):
They have a bunch of merch for sale, of course:
Interesting ceiling:
Suits of armor:
Knight info; the Red & Yellow knight was the one we were assigned to for seating as “our” knight:
There are windows into horse stables behind the merch area:
A selfie:
Me:
Jenn:
Announcements:
My place setting:
Menu:
Serving “wench”:
Announcer:
Red and yellow knight:
Queen and knights:
Squires:
Knights:
Showing horses:
A falcon swooping over the audience:
Soup and chicken, to be eaten with hands:
Knights:
Horse:
Knights and tournaments:
The victor:
It was a fun experience.
Steering wheel table
It may be shocking to learn that our coach has a steering wheel. Which is kinda useful when driving… but not so much when parked at a campsite:
A fun idea that we saw in an RV we looked at is to have a table on top of the steering wheel when parked. Which has two benefits: (a) it looks nicer, and (2) it prevents our cat from stepping on the air horn!
So we purchased a nice one from Wood Design RV Interiors.
The table has sides to enclose the wheel, and pins underneath to accommodate the angle of the steering wheel (when it is tilted almost flat):
Here it is in place:
It’s a good place for our potted plants:
How fahncy.
Disney day 5: Disneyland
On the last day of our Disney adventure, we went back to Disneyland for the third time.
A long line of cars to get into the parking structure (and notice the song playing in our truck):
Immediately after entering the park, we did a photo op below the train station (with digital enhancement):
Horse and trolly:
We had resisted doing the Star Tours ride, remembering how cheesy it was when we were last at Disneyland over 20 years ago, but it was actually quite good now:
Another photo op:
Eeyore:
Castle:
Lunch:
Try the gray stuff, it’s delicious:
King Arthur Carrousel:
Sword in the Stone:
Raft to Tom Sawyer Island:
River boat:
Canoe:
Part of the island was closed, as they’re doing refurbishments:
Scenes from the raft from Tom Sawyer Island:
Storybook Land Canal Boats:
We did the Star Wars Rise of the Resistance ride a second time:
Tinkerbell:
The Matterhorn Bobsleds ride:
After that ride, there was sudden music, then a Frozen float went by:
Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthrough:
Mad Tea Party ride:
Astro Orbitor ride:
Dinner at the Golden Horseshoe:
We hadn’t realized the stage was in use; the curtains opened and a piano player performed some songs while we ate:
Heading towards the exit, we stopped in the Main Street Disney theater and watched Disney’s first cartoon:
Then we stopped by Great Moments with Mr Lincoln:
A fascinating model of Disneyland as it was when it first opened; some recognizable parts, some very different:
Photos of original Disneyland:
The Great Moments with Mr Lincoln presentation, including a movie and an animatronic Lincoln:
On the way out, Minnie and Mickey Mouse:
This was a most enjoyable five days, albeit very tiring, especially with the tram from the parking structure to the parks not operating. We’ll definitely visit again in the future, hopefully sooner than another 20 years. And we’re already looking forward to visiting Disney World in Florida, probably in the winter of 2023-24.
Disney day 4: Disney California Adventure
Our second (and last, for now) visit to Disney California Adventure.
Starting with a photo op:
We grazed on some food in the lunar new year area throughout the day:
Pacific Wharf:
Goofy:
Parade:
We did the Golden Zephyr ride, spinning rocket ships:
And the Jumpin’ Jellyfish ride:
More food:
The Tow Mater ride:
Photo op:
Horn-O-Plenty:
The Rollickin’ Roadsters ride:
In the Avengers area, Black Widow doing a skit:
Sanctuary:
More food:
After leaving the park, we visited the neighboring Downtown Disney district, starting with the World of Disney shop:
Something for the Portland peeps:
LEGO shop:
Star Wars Trading Post:
Tomorrow, our last day at Disneyland.
Disney day 3: Disneyland
On day three of our Disney adventure, we went back to Disneyland for the second time, on Jenn’s actual birthday.
A bridge soon after the entrance, with the train going over it:
The entrance of Adventureland:
We did the Pirates of the Caribbean ride; quite a long line. We used Lightning Lanes for most rides, but that didn’t have one — but didn’t really need one, as the line moved quite quickly:
Captain Jack Sparrow:
The Pirates of the Caribbean ride:
Lunch:
Raft and ducks:
We rode the train around the park:
Dinosaurs from the train in a tunnel:
The park entrance from the train:
The old classic, the jungle cruise:
Sleepy duck:
We really enjoyed the cheesy jokes of the jungle cruise:
Sticking with the Adventureland theme, we did the Indiana Jones ride:
A fun thing is when some spontaneous entertainment turns up, like a marching band:
A popular snack at Disneyland, pineapple Dole whip:
A very popular bar in the Star Wars area, Oga’s Cantina; we managed to snag a spot via a waitlist:
The droid DJ was playing some classic Star Wars cantina music:
Rey:
A quick visit to Toontown:
We did the Thunder Mountain ride, a rollercoaster, confirming that I don’t enjoy them:
Me having a rest near the castle:
While sitting there, we saw two marriage proposals (and a third later):
Main Street lights:
Disney statue and the castle:
Back to the Star Wars area:
We had dinner at Docking Bay 7:
Star Wars shops:
Jenn did a custom build of a lightsaber at Savi’s Workshop, as an extra special birthday treat:
Droids:
Stormtroopers:
Jenn got some photos of her new lightsaber:
Chewie and Rey:
Riverboat at night:
Popcorn cart:
Castle:
Waiting for the evening fireworks:
Some animated GIFs of fireworks:
Heading down Main Street on the way out:
Tomorrow, back to DCA.