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Roadtrip to Las Vegas- Day 3

I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. You can read more about it on San’s blog the in between is mine. #nablopomo2022

The last stretch of our Las Vegas travels lay ahead of us. It’s ~ 320 miles from our hotel and google maps said it would take 5 hours. I think with stops and everything it ended up being 7 hours – somehow those distances always seem theoretic and I learned from previous trips that you should always plan for some extra time.

I always feel like there is not much that much to see or nice places to stop on that stretch of the trip but we made do.

Our first stop on the way was Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch about 2.5 hours in. Josh from California through My Lens wrote about it here. He also had quite a few other suggestions for stops along the way so we have more to see on upcoming trips. I read it’s a little unpredictable if the bottle tree place is open but I suppose we got lucky. It was pretty impressive what the guy did with bottles and other found things. You can freely wonder around between the bottle trees and it was a fun place to explore for sure.

We had lunch at In-N-Out Burger in Barstow what was about the half way point. In theory we had plenty of time to get to our next stop before sunset but we hit some traffic after Barstow. We drove by the Seven Magic Mountains before but I really wanted to stop this time and get a little closer. It’s not really a detour when you drive to Las Vegas as the street just runs parallel to the highway. There was just the last bit of sun on the stone columns when we parked the car. We still had a look up close and saw the sun set over the mountains. It was a good end to the day.

We made it to our friends house safe and sound and picked up some dinner up from the Cheesecake Factory. It was so much fun to take a couple of extra days and now we have a couple of days here before we head back.

I know a couple of you mentioned that driving seemed safer then flying because of the pandemic and in some ways I agree. You have more control of how close you get to people but then you also are at more places. We tried our best like we always do. Fingers crossed all goes well.

My friend mentioned that we should go grocery shopping for Thanksgiving today. Have you been shopping for the holiday yet if you celebrate? It always feels like everyone thinks that the stores will be closed for a week but then it is just that single day if that at all.

Roadtrip to Las Vegas – Day 2

I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. You can read more about it on San’s blog the in between is mine. #nablopomo2022

I have to say I did not plan well in advance this time around other than booking the hotels we were going to stay at. We had to cancel a trip short notice the presidents’ day week (my son started to have covid symptoms the day we were supposed to leave and sure enough he tested positive), so I am a little reluctant now to make plans.

We have been in the area before so we had one spot I wanted to try again. In December 2019 we did a road trip that also took us to Pismo Beach. We visited the Monarch Butterfly Grove back then which had about 3000 monarchs visiting over the winter at the time. Since then the monarch population recovered somewhat and this year there were close to 24,000 in that specific location.

It’s a little hard to tell from the picture above but they hang high up in the trees in huge clusters. Those little specs in the sky – butterflies, too. They were everywhere. The picture below shows the view through a binocular that was set up by the volunteers.

What I did not realize last time was that the beach is fairly close, too. So that was our next stop. There were some concerns that we were on the way to make the outing a hike but as soon as the water was spotted all was good again.

Next stop on the map was Ostrichland near Solvang. I saw Instagramfriends post about it and it looked very entertaining. You have to pay an entrance fee and get to have a look at some ostriches and emus that roam around behind fences. If you are brave enough you can also feed them. You get a kind of dust pan that holds the feeding bowl and if you watch how they pick at the food it’s probably a good idea to be able to hold it as far away as possible (my feeling about it). But it was fun, too and everyone agreed that it was worth it.

For lunch we stopped right next door at Hitching Post II. They had tables set up outside in the shade and the pulled pork tacos I had were very yummy. In the distance you got another view of the ostriches.

I always wanted to visit Solvang. It’s a small town that is known for it’s Danish-style architecture and bakeries. It always looked very quaint to me when I saw it in pictures but it did not match the vision I had in my head. Maybe I had an off day? It felt just very touristy and busy to me and did not live up to my expectations. So the only picture I am willing to share is of one of the arches at the mission Santa Ines in Solvang. There was a private event at the time and we just walked in the garden for a couple of minutes before driving on.

Did that ever happen to you that you thought something would be great and then you were just left wondering what all the fuss is about? Maybe we should have stopped at one of the bakeries and it would have become clear but I also wanted to get to the beach before dark because I promised.

Old arch at the mission Santa Ines in Solvang

Last sight seeing stop of the day was at the beach in Santa Barbara. We already went here a couple of times and we knew it would not disappoint especially at sunset.

I always find it fascinating that a walk on the beach is just fine but as soon if we hit a trail there is always complaining from one family member 😉 We do it anyway from time to time and most of the time it will stop after 30 minutes.

We headed to our hotel in Camarillo shortly before the sun was completely gone. For dinner we just picked something up at Trader Joes and called it a day.

Stops today:
Paso Robles – Pismo Beach – ~45 miles – ~45 minutes drive
Pismo Beach – Ostrichland – ~50 miles – ~45 minutes drive
Ostrichland – Solvang – ~4 miles – ~5 minutes drive
Solvang – Santa Barbara – ~33 miles – ~40 minutes drive
Santa Barbara – Camarillo – ~44 miles – ~45 minutes drive

Roadtrip to Las Vegas – Day 1

I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. You can read more about it on San’s blog the in between is mine. #nablopomo2022

Thanksgiving week break started for us yesterday after school, hurray! I am so glad school is out now for the whole week. I kind of needed the break, too. When I asked the rest of the family what they wanted to do, my daughter suggested we visit our friends in Las Vegas. Luckily they are happy to have us and honestly I can’t wait to see them again. They moved away a couple of years ago and I miss them dearly. I met her at work when we first moved here and we became really good friends. When our son was born my daughter stayed with them when we had to go to the hospital in the middle of the night. They feel more like family to me.

Las Vegas may not necessarily be my first choice for a vacation spot. We stayed a couple of times by now already before they moved there just because it’s so convenient when you do a road trip through that area (California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah). We don’t gamble, I hate the smoke in the casinos but like in any place you can find other things to do (and the Cirque du Soleil shows are amazing) – I will report more next week.

I was thinking about flying this time but with 4 air fare tickets and the holiday timing price wise it came down to almost the same and we do love a good road trip. It’s a long drive from us and it took us anywhere between 10-14 hours so far (google maps tells me 9 hours but it is wrong, I can tell you that). Most of the time we spent a night in Bakersfield to break it up a bit and there are things you can do just not very many – maybe later more about that.

So yesterday I packed up the car in the morning while the others finished up work and school and off we went. Instead of the 5 we are taking 101 this time. The first night we stayed in Paso Robles. It’s a little over 200 miles and the drive took a little over 4 hours. We arrived pretty late so we just hopped quickly in the hotel pool and went off to bed.

I made no concrete plans for today yet. The hotel has breakfast so we will likely decide then.

What would you have done – road trip or flying and spending more time in one place?

When to visit Germany?

Northsea — A North Sea beach at Cuxhaven (nice in summer and winter)

Friends of mine were asking me the other day, when would be the best time to visit Germany. I have not written anything for almost two years now but I thought it might come in handy if I wrote something about it down.

So, when is it a good time to visit Germany? I would say it depends what you want to do and if you have to stick to the school schedule.

We usually go in the summer since the kids are free for longer than two weeks (and we would have to organize camp otherwise), the cousins are off school, too, the days are longer and you can actually go outside without getting wet or cold (at least if you are lucky enough to catch a summery summer). We also went last winter for the holidays because we did not go in some time. Certainly long enough to make me forget how miserable winters can be. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with the family especially during the holidays (that’s why we went after all) and the Christmas markets and winter as an idea (curling up on the couch with a good book, candles and a hot tea, a fire in the oven – what else is there to do if it gets dark at ~4pm), but the weather usually really sucks. In our three weeks the sun came out on three days! Since the days are so short the jet lag seems even more painful. We are also not talking snow either but wet and cloudy. It sure reminded me how spoiled we are in the Bay Area where the weather almost always is good enough to go for a bike ride, hike or just out to play. I guess you can already tell I prefer going in the summer. But since we almost always go to hang out with family our situation is a little different. So, I am trying to be a little more objective:

Go in the spring or fall:

if you you want cheaper airfare (especially June – August and mid December- early January airfare can get steep)
good weather with less crowds (April, May, September and October) – attractions can get busy during the summer month when schools are out in Germany and booking might be easier as well since Germans tend to plan far in advance

For families with kids in school this might not be an option.

If you go in the summer:

weather is mostly nice
days are long
you can go to the pool and relax (no shouting at your kids because they are running, no serious checking on height restrictions on slides – just be responsible yourself)
go to the beach
enjoy nature, go for a hike or a walk or a bike ride
go to the beer garden
get an ice cream in a cafe
take a boat tour
walk the streets in old towns
everything is green

If you go in the winter:

days are short
go to museums
go for the food
go for the Christmas markets – some markets, especially in bigger cities, now stay open until after Christmas or even until New Year but some smaller ones (which can be really nice) happen before the school break starts
go for the snow (if you are lucky, more likely in southern Germany)
keep in mind that some attractions might close around the holidays (Christmas and New Year)

I am not saying that winters are always rainy but it is colder. I am also not saying summers are always great – we had some quite rainy summer vacations, but then you still can do all the things you can do during winter (except the Christmas markets). You might want to visit for Oktoberfest in Munich or the Carnival (about Carnival on Wikipedia). In the end you have to decide what works best for you.

I am curious: what would you want to see when visiting Germany?

Counting down the days

Kornblumen Only five more days and me and my little guy will be sitting on a plane to Germany. I usually try to visit our families every summer for a decent amount of time. This year it is going to be a whole month! So looking forward to this. Since we live so far away this is the only time that the kids meet most of their relatives. The grandparents usually try to visit us ones a year but for everyone else it gets harder to make the trip work.
Compared to US standards Germany is not that big and luckily my dad and my parents in law live fairly close near Hanover, but there is also Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg and Zurich in the mix from aunts and uncles. Our friends are also scattered all over the place now but seem to mostly collect in Berlin. My best friend from Berkeley actually moved to Berlin for a year and I hope I get to see her. Back in the days when we did not have the Green Card yet we had to visit Berlin almost every time to renew our visa. As annoying as that was sometimes I also enjoyed it. I love that city! I would not mind living there – sigh.

This year it is going to be extra special since my sister in law is getting married. It is going to be so fun!

Did you notice that I only mentioned my son flying with me? My daughter went ahead for the first time this year! So exciting! I think I was more nervous than she was. But more about that tomorrow.

One more note: Whenever we are in Germany I fall back in the typical German pattern of not wanting to drive to far for a trip. Around the Bay Area an hour in the car is nothing but back in Germany it seems like a huge commitment and we will not do that on a daily basis if avoidable. What about you? Do you hesitate to get in the car for an outing what is the maximum time commitment you are willing to take for a day trip?