Only a Book Lover will "Get This"

I am sitting here, trying to figure out what to pack for my first trip to England and my main concern is which books should I bring? 

I say this is a concern, but really, I love it. I love the ritual of pouring over my bookshelf and picking out the perfect books to take a vacation with me.  

When I pack for a trip, books always take priority over clothes. I just can't stand the thought of being without something to read. It drives me nuts. I always have a book in my purse wherever I go, always. I might forget my wallet or lipstick, but the book will be there.  

When I finish a book, I replace it immediately. I love going to my bookcase of to-be-read books and picking out the next one. I usually have several books going at the same time, one in my purse, one on my nightstand, one on my Kindle... 

The thought of an eleven hour plane journey both thrills me and scares me. I'm thrilled to have no other agenda other than to read and watch movies. I am freaked out, because maybe I won't have packed enough to keep me busy. What if I pack books that end up being slow to start and I am stuck with a clunker?  Nightmare.

Here is what I have done and I realize that only book lovers will "get me" regarding my book plan. 

1. I have my Kindle fully charged with nine ebooks, a mix of fiction and non-fiction, funny and serious.  

2. I have my Ipad fully charged, in case my Kindle battery dies.  i have the Kindle app ready to go.

3. i have two real books. One fiction, one non-fiction..both lengthy. This is on the off chance that both Kindle and Ipad batteries die. Also, I need real books to fill the take-off and landing gap for when electronics have to be turned off. 

Eleven books for a ten day trip. Sounds about right to me. 

Overnight Trip to Carlsbad

Last Sunday, Dan and I drove down to Carlsbad for an overnight trip. We were feeling the mid-winter blues and desperately needed to get out of the house and into a jacuzzi!

In efforts to maximize our time in the hotel and exploring San Diego, we set off early deciding to stop for breakfast along the way. Unfortunately, we did not make a good choice by stopping at Tommy's in San Clemente. Tommy's is 50's themed diner with super cheap prices. Of course, the pricing was too good to be true as the food was bad and the service was slow as molassas with multiple mistakes. It looked like it may have once been a decent place, but little has gone into maintaining the theme or quality, despite the sign stating that it's under new management. 

We arrived at the Carlsbad By The Sea Resort around eleven and even though check in was four pm, they let us have the room early. I was really impressed with our hotel. All of the staff were extremely nice, from letting us in early to storing our luggage on check out day. The room was comfortable and even though it's winter, we made use of the pool area. It was great to have the pool all to ourselves! Breakfast, a decent buffet, was included and the location can't be beat. It's just across the street from the Carlsbad Outlet Mall. The best thing was we used air miles for the hotel stay and it was free! We have realized that air miles are actually a better deal when put towards hotel stays and we have accrued a lot, meaning lots of adventures to be had in 2013!

We used the jacuzzi three times and amassed quite the collection of pool towels. We would definitely stay here again, especially when the weather warms up.

Having a free afternoon and zero plans, we headed towards San Diego to explore. Outside of visiting places like Sea World and the zoo, Dan and I have very little experience with San Diego and had never visited the city together. We drove straight to downtown and stopped near a cool bridge next to Petco Park for pictures.

We decided to cross the huge bridge, not realizing that it led to Coronado Island. I've always wanted to see the Hotel Del Coronado, but since we were very casually dressed, we just drove by it. It didn't seem right to wander the grounds in jeans and hoodies. Next time, we will visit it properly, maybe even spend the night. It was as magnificent on the exterior, as it looks in pictures.

We parked the car and walked around a gorgeous city park with bike paths by the sea. I happily discovered a bunch of ducks living in a pond! Then, we drove the car to the town center and had a late lunch at the Tent City restaurant, located in a historic building and adjacent to the Coronado Historical Society Museum.

Tent City had fabulous food. We started with dessert and ordered two appetizers for a main course. I look forward to ordering off of the main menu on future trips. It was a gem of a find. Unfortunately, we took too long eating and the museum closed before we could explore it. 

We had a wonderful day in the San Diego area. Although, I liked Carlsbad and Carlsbad by the Sea, I am inclined to want to stay closer to Downtown San Diego on our next trip. There is so much to do in the area hopefully we will return soon!

Day Trip- Ojai

I've lived in Southern California my entire life and I've never ventured to Ojai, which is only about a ninety minute drive from my house. So close that it's a shame that I've waiting until now to discover it.

It's a city that wasn't on my radar, until it was mentioned pervasively on the television series Brothers & Sisters. The fictional Walker family of Pasadena owned a ranch in Ojai and several episodes a season, there would be some drama that would drive the entire family to run away to their second home. They made it sound so pretty and so not-LA, that I wanted to visit. Dan and I had a free day this weekend, so we took a trip to check it out. 

We drank too many margaritas the night before and has a lazy Saturday morning, not hitting the road until nearly eleven.

One rule of any good road trip is to hit the brakes when you see a miniature golf course. We stopped at Golf N' Stuff in Ventura for a quick competitive round. Nearly a year ago, we played one of the courses with Dan's dad, who beat us both. This time, we played a different course and although the game was close, Dan took the lead and edged me out. He even got a hole-in-one!

We went for the thirteen dollar package, which included one game of golf, four arcade tokens and a ride. We picked the Go Carts for the ride, which was a pretty good deal as we got to drive about five laps on a lengthy course. One thing that sort of freaked me out, were the warning signs. Anyone with long hair, must pull it in a bun, because hair gets caught in the motors. I was assured that it had not happened at Golf N'Stuff, but that it has happened many times on Go Carts in other places. Having been a ride operator myself, I am quite obsessed with ride safety and love to hear a gory accident story.

Dan and infront of the castle.

Suspicious mini-golf water/sludge

Golf N' Stuff Map

The dullest hole ever. Although, it's usually the ones that look boring that are most tricky.

Castle hole

Wishing Well Hole

Elephant..there are loads of different themes at Golf N'Stuff

Pirate ship.

The pirate ship

The final score. Dan won!

Swamp hole

Final hole

A view of the course

The Go Cart track

Mission hole.

Dan and i in front of the elephant, we have one from the other side of the course from our first visit.

Mini golf graveyard

church hole

I'm getting ready to play.

Don't believe the gossip

It was too cold for the bumper boats...darn, guess we will have to come back in the summer!

The rules

The biggest claw game that I have ever seen.

Dan was on a winning streak, after beating me at golf. We went into the arcade and with one a single play, he won a thousand tickets on a fishing game. All of the kids in the arcade were green with envy. This big win gave us enough tickets to get something cool (meaning not utter junk)  for Dan's daughter.

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Dan and his thousand ticket win!

We finally hit the road to Ojai and made it there by mid-afternoon.

The main street in town.

The pretty drive to Ojai.

Our first priority was to find a place for lunch. We found a free parking lot behind the main street and decided to walk until something caught our fancy. Unfortunately, a lot of the restaurants seem to close between lunch and dinner, limiting our options.  We had arrived right in the middle. Lucky for us, we found a very cool wine bar that served small plates and was just opening for the evening. The woman who served us, who we think may have been the owner, was really warm and welcoming, letting us take any seat in the house and quick with recommendations.

We loved Barrel 33 so much, that we had a very leisurely meal and it was basically the extent of our visit to Ojai. We shared a bottle of wine, some beer, a shot and loads of great food. The atmosphere of Barrel 33 is intimate and cozy, the perfect place to warm up on an overcast winter day. If I owned a bar, I would want it to look exactly like Barrel 33. We can't wait to go back on a future trip to Ojai.

Dan dumped the shot of rum into the beer...which kind of worked. After sharing a bottle of wine, anything was going to work.

Second course- Sausage Plate

First course- Cheese Plate.

Shot and a beer

Third course- Prosciutto wrapped figs

The bar. Unfortunately, the pictures of the other half of the restaurant didn't turn out. The restaurant is very intimate and cute, with a waterfall wall hanging and overstuffed chairs.

Barrel 33. Yes, it's a bar and yes, there are kids sipping soda on the window bar stools.

Even though we were stuffed, we had a bit of room for some local ice cream. Who doesn't always have room for ice cream? We got cones and walked across the street to a very pretty park. On the way to the park, we saw a ladder leading to a tower, but it was locked.

Yummy local ice cream

Caution sign

More crazy ice cream eyes

Alcohol & Ice Cream = Crazy Eyes

the steep stairs to the tower.

The pretty local park.

We had a great time in Ojai, even if we hardly saw any of it. It just means that we will need to plan another trip soon!