Life's Helmet

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Taking On The Pacific Coast Highway - Day 2

Stop 3 - El Matador Beach, Malibu: The next morning we started our day off at El Matador Beach in Malibu. When we arrived at this particular beach we noticed film crews and trailers in the parking lot. When we got down to the beach we found them filming just a few hundred feet from where we were. After finishing his scenes, Kevin Kilner waved to our kids on his way back up to his trailer.

Stop 4 - Hearst Castle: Our next stop was at Hearst Castle to take a tour of the amazing mansion. The kids enjoyed the bus ride up to the house but their amusement stopped there. The combination of the workers being super strict about our kids not touching ANYTHING and the kids being a bit stir crazy from the car ride, we found ourselves counting down the minutes until we could get out of there. I think next time we'll leave the kids at home...

Stop 5 - Elephant Seal Vista Point: Not far from Hearst Castle there is a great little viewing point where visitors can watch hundreds of elephant seals sunbathe on the beach. The kids found the seals almost as amusing as the many friendly squirrels running around the tourists. The kids were laughing as they watched the squirrels come within a few inches of us. Maeli was even brave enough to reach out and pet one.

Monday, June 20, 2016

Taking On The Pacific Coast Highway - Day 1

Stop 1 - Old L.A. Zoo: We began our trip around 3am in order to put us into L.A. by mid-morning. Our first stop was the Old L.A. Zoo. The old zoo is now can now be found in the middle of a park near downtown L.A. The kids were able to run through the park exploring the old cages where the animals were once kept. It was a bit eery to walk in the halls where such dangerous animals once roamed.

Stop 2 - Santa Monica Pier: When we arrived in Santa Monica our first stop was at the beach. After spending a few hours playing in the sand we got some dinner and finished our day eating ice cream at the pier. The highlight of the evening was riding the ferris wheel at sunset while the kids looked down at all the people below. It was a great day to start off our PCH road trip.