Final Thoughts on Our Phoenix & SoCal Vacation

We really covered a lot of ground on this trip from Phoenix to Anaheim and enjoyed every bit of it.

The Arizona Biltmore and Spa is probably the most luxurious hotel we have ever stayed at - and one of the most expensive, even with the special rate we got for the conference. It was fun to pretend to be rich and famous for a little while and mr. lo got a kick out of using the spa.

We'd stay at La Jolla Shores again if we ever find ourselves in that area. Nothing can beat the view of the beach and the climate really is heavenly. San Diego is a beautiful city with lots of diversity. We only scratched the surface of what there is to see there.

The Howard Johnson's Plaza Hotel in Anaheim actually had the nicest, most spacious, and best laid-out rooms of all three resorts and was by far the best value. Three nights there cost less than one at the Biltmore or La Jolla Shores, so with its proximity to DLR, I would be happy to stay there again and highly recommend it.

I finally had my lifelong wish of visiting Disneyland fulfilled and it was as wonderful as I had dreamed. Many people comment that its smallness and urban location is a disappointment after seeing Disney World, but I don't agree. Once inside the gates of Disneyland, I was never aware of the outside world and the compactness made it easier to get from one land to another. They certainly have packed a lot into that limited space. I liked New Orleans Square the best because it is totally different from anything at Disney World's Magic Kingdom and it also has the best restaurants.

California Adventure was a bonus, although I have to admit that if it wasn't right next to Disneyland, I don't think I'd go out of my way to go there. Not being into thrill rides, it doesn't have much to draw me. Our favorites at DLR were all in Disneyland: the Haunted Mansion Holiday, Pirates of the Caribbean, "it's a small world" holiday, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, and Indiana Jones. And - of course - my chance to sing with the Disneyland Band was an experience that will stay with me always.

This was most likely a one-time trip for us. Although we really enjoyed Disneyland, mr. lo and I agree that Walt Disney World is the place that calls us back. Because there are so many more options there, you can always escape a crowded location and find something equally enjoyable to do elsewhere. Epcot is what really draws us to WDW. We always stay in one of the Epcot resorts so that we can wander in and out whenever we want. Evenings strolling around the lagoon before Illuminations are the best part of a WDW vacation for us. We like to be able to dip in and out of the other parks, but we spend most of our time in Epcot. So if we find ourselves in the vicinity of Disneyland again, I'm sure we'll stop in, but I doubt it will be our destination for future trips.

Thanks to all for reading! Don't forget, all the photos from this trip are on Flickr! I hope you'll check in here from time to time to see what I'm up to next. I have reset my Disney countdown clock for our next trip to WDW in just 140 days - April 27-May 3, 2008

La Jolla and San Diego

After a day of driving across the Arizona dessert and the Great Walmart Quest (see below), we arrived at the La Jolla Shores hotel in time enjoy a delicious dinner at the restaurant there, followed by a walk on the beach that is right outside our room! We couldn't wait for daylight to see what this place really looks like. Our room is large and comfortable. The hotel looks like a hacienda, with courtyards full of lush plantings. All the windows in the restaurant look out on the beach. It's really nice!

On the way here, we decided we needed to stop and pick up a few necessities - like flip shades for mr. lo (he left his in the car at the Manchester airport) and a new suitcase for me (the past two trips have done my old one in). As we were driving along we used our trusty Garmin Nuvi GPS to locate a Walmart somewhere in the boonies of Arizona and were surprised to find that there was one just 1.9 miles away. Although this seemed unlikely, as we were driving by cotton farms at the time, we followed Nuvi's directions and sure enough, soon came upon a very large building off of a secondary road with Walmart - Distribution Center - painted on it. Hmmm. Oh well - back to the highway. We'll look later. (We did find an actual Walmart Superstore in Yuma just before crossing the border into California and were able to pick up everything we needed, including a large bottle of Merlot, which we enjoyed on our balcony once we arrived at La Jolla Shores.)

This morning, we were up bright and early for a long walk on the beach and the neighborhood near the hotel. We have an amazing view from our room of the beach and the ocean. I could just sit on the balcony all day and watch the waves break and the people pass by. The weather is perfect and wow, are the homes here beautiful! All the yards, while very small, are perfectly groomed and landscaped with flowers and plants, like Bird of Paradise, that I have seen only in floral arrangements. We are right near the University of California San Diego campus and its Scripps Oceanographic Institute. There is a large palm tree-filled park next to our hotel and the ocean is full of surfers. Lots of people, many with dogs, are walking the beach.

After breakfast, we drove to San Diego's Old Town State Historic Park and took a trolley tour of the city, stopping for a while to walk around inside the Hotel Del Coronado and go out to its beautiful white sand beach.

The view we had of the city while driving over the Coronado bridge was breath-taking.








We spent most of the afternoon at the world famous and beautiful San Diego Zoo. We ended our day at Fred's Mexican Cafe for a great Mexican meal. There are lots more photos on Flickr.