CalifornYEAH!

We recently got everything finalized so I can now share our excitement!  For the past three months we’ve been planning a trip to Southern California and It’s been a process!  I know what you’re thinking, “What’s so hard about buying two round-trip tickets, renting a convertible, & booking a nice hotel room on the beach?”  Well, smarty pants, we’re not doing any of that.  Since we don’t enjoy asking our friends & family to watch our dogs, we decided the best thing to do is take them with us… Yep, ROADTRiP!!!! {I’m the most excited about that! ß See, I even wrote multiple exclamation points to drive that fact home, I’m seriously stoked! ßthere it is again!} 

I can picture Diesel laying in the water with his head up high as the waves crash against him and Lady Lashes running up to all the people demanding their attention, both of them wearing their UV protective rashguards, hats, & possibly life vest

 

Yes, I’m buying them all of that.  Diesel I know for a fact wont swim without a life vest, he’ll get in the water but doesn’t like swimming without it.  Can you blame him?  160 lbs. is hard to keep a float strictly by doggie paddling.  As for Lashes Love, I don’t know if she’s ever been swimming, and since she’s so small, I’ll have to bring it as a just in case factor.  It’ll all get used again, our best friends have a boat so I see this gear as investments {feel free to judge, I hear myself, and I don’t care!}

I digressed, back to our planning process.  Since we’re driving and bringing the puppies, it’s not easy finding a location that allows dogs Diesel’s size.  We COULD have stayed at a La Quinta Inn & Suites {they’re like Holiday Inn Expresses, we’re members, and they don’t have weight limits on dogs} but we wanted a yard for the dogs to be able to play in, also the added convenience of being able to leave them outside while we go out on our adventures.  They are inside dogs but at home when it’s a pretty day, we come home from work to a yard full of their toys, and a nice day in Houston is every day in California so they’ll want to lounge for sure.

SO by using VRBO, Home Away, Flip Key, Vacation Rentals, & Google; I found 46 potential rentals in Venice Beach, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, & Huntington Beach area that are all pet friendly.  This was how I kept track, I know very Type "A" of me

We quickly decided that Huntington was too far away from all the action and we didn’t want to spend 60% of our trip in the car {I mean, we're already driving there}, Los Angeles was too far from a beach, and Santa Monica & Hermosa Beach were too $$$ so we isolated it down to just Venice Beach.  At the end of February we found a couple that was renting out their guesthouse, it was small, but it seemed perfect.  We corresponded back in forth for about 3 weeks sizing each other up asking questions, etc… When Cody & I decided that we indeed wanted to stay there I explained to her that we were waiting on our tax refund check before we could paid the $500 deposit {which we wouldn’t get back until 14 days after our trip which I found odd}, but I would be willing to pay $250 to show her we were serious.  She told me that it was fine, we could just fill out and return the contract she sent me and since we were expecting our refund within the next two weeks, she could wait… Well, we received our check on a Thursday, I told her that day, we paid her via PayPal and on Sunday it was refunded with an message saying they rented it to someone else… “YOU BiT…” *DEEP BREATHE* So it was back to the drawing board.  I re-contacted people that were more expensive but in the same area, a lot of them no longer had vacancies, so we started to worry.  After doing another sweep on Home Away I found two prospects and they both sounded fantastic! 

One is a Studio Apartment

It’s attached to the owner’s house that is a 5 min drive to the beach, the couple actually has rental property in the Houston Heights, and she fosters dogs so her and her husband are very dog friendly, but they didn’t have a washer & dryer and we wouldn’t be able to walk to anything, we would have to drive.

The other one is a Bungalow 4 blocks from the beach:

It doesn’t have a high fenced grass yard which is why we’re hesitant to rent it, but we figured we can buy the fake grass to lay out on top the patio.  I mean it has a hot tub, it’s near Abbot Street, & they have a washer & dryer.

We were having trouble choosing so I posted a vote on this blog and everyone said to go with the Bungalow, which is exactly what we did! 

This is where we’ll be spending our first four nights in Venice Beach:

We’re only 0.3 miles from the beach

Now that our accommodations are finalized it feels more real and we can get to the fun stuff, like buying the things we’ll need for our trip & planning our excursions!  When we vacation we like to “live like locals,” and be going none stop, we normally need a “stay-cation” after returning from our vacations! 

{For our honeymoon we only had one out of six days where we did absolutely nothing, and we ended up napping that day because we got bored.} 

Our initial plan is to leave on Tuesday evening/night and drive 16-17 hours to either Tucson or Phoenix, Arizona.  Our goal is to arrive before 10:00 am on Wednesday.  We’ll check in to a La Quinta Inn & Suites where we’ll sleep for a few hours, shower, eat, recoup, etc… then either leave that night or early the next morning for the remaining 8 hour drive to Venice Beach.  My Bubeleh said he wants to see if we can make it all the way to California in one trip, of course stopping for the puppies & potty breaks {the 2 “Ps”} but we’re going to play that by ear.  Our main focus is not being exhausted our first day, we don’t won’t to be useless, we actually want to venture out and explore the neighborhood. 

We’re planning on visiting Santa Monica Pier, hiking the Hollywood sign, people watching on Venice Beach, Catching a T.V. or Talk show taping in Burbank, eating lunch at the Ivy, Seeing the stars down Hollywood blvd, taking our photo in front of the Chinese Theater, eating at Rosco’s Chicken & Waffles, spending a day in Malibu, visiting the Getty Museum, window shop on Rodeo Drive, see the Griffith Observatory, & visit with a few friends.  I created a PiN BOARD on Pinterest to tag the places I mentioned and a few restaurants that were featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives as well as Man vs. Food.

If you can think of anything else that we HAVE to go do, or places we HAVE to eat at, please post a comment! 

The remaining 3 nights of our trip will be spent in San Diego! 

We don’t check into our cute single family home until 4:00 pm so we’re going to spend the morning in Huntington Beach.  I want to take Diesel & Lashes to Dog Beach, they’re going to LOVE it. 

After lunch on the beach we’ll drive our last hour to San Diego.

We’re staying in a “Cute and cozy 2 bedroom 1 bath cottage with a totally private feel. The front yard is completely fenced in with 12 foot high hedges providing a hideaway that allows you to stretch out and relax in the yard as well as the living room. The backyard is very spacious to give even the most energetic dogs room room to play! The interior of this home has every last amenity that you'll need to enjoy your stay. The kitchen and bathroom are completely updated as well as the rest of the house. Hardwood floors and custom paint as well as quality furnishings throughout, will make even our high maintenance travelers happy. There is also a 2 car garage for secure off street parking.  Dogs are allowed. 2 Dog per reservation maximum. The property is completely fenced in and very safe for our 4 legged friends. There is even a kennel in the back yard to secure the dog while you are away for his/her protection.” 

{I copied & pasted the VRBO description.}

 “It’s only 8 blocks from the beach and 4 blocks from the bay.  This amazing rental property is located in Pacific Beach of San Diego, bounded by La Jolla to the north, Mission Beach and Mission Bay to the south, Interstate 5 to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. While largely populated by young people, surfers, and college students, the population is becoming older, more professional, and more affluent due to rising property and rental costs. 'P.B.,' as it is known as by local residents, is home to one of San Diego's larger nightlife scenes, with dozens of bars, eateries, and clothing stores.”

I’ve only heard amazing things about San Diego so we’re really excited to holiday there!  I can’t wait to visit their zoo & eat at La Jolla Beach and appreciate the sea lions, that’s going to be so neat!  We’re also planning on visiting the Gaslamp District, Del Mar, maybe hit up Ocean Beach, Laguna Beach, Old Town San Diego {there’s a few haunted places here!!}, & Hotel Del Coronado. 

If you know of anything else, please let us know!!

I’m determined to blog every night/morning about our outings, purchases, events, etc… throughout this 11 day adventure. 

We’re going to try and film some stuff too, we’ll try and make it interesting, promise!

PS:
I'd like to say a special thank you to my cousin, Monique, who will be house sitting for us while we're gone... THANK YOU!!!