On the Bike:
Huntington Beach – Jacks’ Concessions and Bike Rentals served as our place to rent bikes. Beach Cruisers that were good condition. If you are looking for something more serious, this isn’t your place. These cruisers are well suited for the beach side path. Don’t even think about taking these out on the Pacific Coast Highway that runs parallel to the beach side pathway. The path is for all pedestrians, riders, skateboards, etc. It’s very busy and congested in areas adjacent to parking areas. Once we got out of those areas to the north, the paths were less crowded. We didn’t see a single bike cruising on the beach. They were all on the path. We saw a number of bike riders on their road bikes cruising along North and South bound on the PCH. What an absolutely perfect day for a ride!
Off the Bike:
Hotel Irvine – our base camp for the bike adventure phase of our trip. Neat hotel that I found out about through Southwest Rapid Rewards. Conveniently located near the interstate and an easy drive to the coast. Great location that fit our trip plans.
Old Crow Smokehouse – a great barbecue place across the street from where we parked in Huntington Beach. Ocean view and a great outdoor area. We went with the sampler platter to share.
Starbucks – Being a hot day on Saturday, we went with the Chai Tea Latte (Keto version) on ice. As the weather got cooler later in the week, we moved to the hot version. Yeah, I’m hooked on this drink now….
Crystal Cove State Park – Beth came up with the awesome idea of going to the Laguna Beach area to see the sunrise and get in a walk along the Pacific Ocean on day 2. Right off the PCH, we chose Crystal Cove for our parking area, with a tunnel access to the beach and ocean. What an experience! A little chill in the air at 59 degrees. Worth every second of it. We walked about three miles along the beach. We saw five people walking, and one fisherman. Talk about a peaceful place to be with the one you love…
Rose Bakery Café – the curse of being on a Keto Diet came to full realization when we walked into this gem of a bakery on the PCH in Corona del Mar. Our carb free breakfast was great, but the carbs were calling the whole time we were there. We highly recommend this as a place to eat (or grab a pastry) if you are in the area.
Joshua Tree National Park – We were headed towards our hotel in Norco that would be my home for the week, about an hour from Irvine. Looking at the map, we realized how close we would be to the Mojave desert. Google helped us find this amazing state park, which proved to be farther east than expected. Not quite to Palm Springs, but so worth the trip. It was 102 dry degrees in the park while we walked through the brush on one of the trails that we found off the parking area we stopped at. Important bonus, the parking area had bathrooms. Whew!
Hampton Inn and Suites in Norco – Beth would stay the night and then on to Ontario for her plane flight to Sacramento (4:30am drop off at the terminal for her flight!) to hook up with a girl friend for a few days in Lake Tahoe. Yeah, I was jealous…
Southwest Airlines – our sky chariot from STL to LA. Took a late flight on Friday night and got into LA around 10pm PT. (Only midnight for our tired bodies). All our flights were full. Our flight attendants were great and the planes departed and arrived on time.
National Car Rental – Rented a Kia Soul. Loved it! Absolutely no problems with the car the entire trip.
Thanks for checking out our post on our California adventure! Have you got any tips for California adventures (trails, parks, restaurants, antique shops, etc.) that we should look into for our next visit? Leave a comment or drop us a line on our contact us page. We are always on the lookout for new places to ride, see, eat or explore! We would love to hear from you