I really miss having more plants around. I didn’t have a lot inside at our house, just 4 plants at the kitchen window. I know some people travel with their plants, but we just don’t have the room in the kitchen for more than Nick’s Venus Fly Trap. Fall time always meant having mums on the front porch. Since we are stationary for a little bit, I wanted to get some for the outside of the RV.
After school was over, the boys and I went on a flower hunt. We ended up getting orange and purple small mums. I placed them on our picnic table near the front of the RV. We added a spider wreath to the front door and a skeleton to the ladder in the back. We have a couple of other decorations, but they are not up yet.
When Ben was done with work, we ran into…can you guess it?…Costco! This one had this amazing looking glass brandy holder in the shape of a dragon. I don’t even like brandy, but I was tempted by the cool packaging!
We found a few other neat things: a huge ball of Queso Oaxaca cheese, mantecada muffins (tastes like yellow cake), crab legs and lobster in the freezer section, and a money exchange station. Nick even got to try out a guitar. I bought a large yellow marigold for the front of the RV as well. I have noticed the Costcos around here do not have as many plants as back home, and definitely not any of the huge mums.
Outdoor food court requires a membership here, unlike at home. They had someone getting the drinks for you.
We had had a count down for at least two weeks before somebody’s birthday. He loved to inform us every morning how much longer.
This year birthdays were going to be a little bit different. There wasn’t going to be a party with friends and family, we were out of town, and a lot of the cool stuff to do was still closed down for COVID restrictions.
A little before his birthday, I mentioned to family and friends that they could send him a card at our campground if they wanted to. He always loved getting mail at home, so I figured it would be even more special when we were on the road. I set aside any cards that came in to be opened on his actual birthday.
The day before his birthday, I ran to the dollar store and found a birthday banner, napkins, tablecloth, and a helium balloon. I snuck back inside the RV through the back door and hid the balloon in our small closet. Once he fell asleep, I decorated. Granted, it wasn’t a lot of decoration, but it still made it feel birthday-ish.
On the morning of the kids’ birthdays, we had a tradition of driving to school (instead of taking the bus) so that we could pick up donuts on the way. The birthday kid also picked what was for dinner. I think getting to pick out a donut was one of their favorite things, so on the morning of his birthday, we hurried out to find a donut place. We picked a few and he got to eat while doing his online classes.
They had regular sized donuts and mini donuts!
This year with having a much tinier living space, we wanted to do more of an experience than physical gifts. It took awhile for him to decide what he wanted to do. We had a list of things we wanted to see/do in San Diego or he could also find something else he might want to do.
He finally decided on seeing the Spruce Street Suspension Bridge, Balboa Park, Chinese for dinner, and a movie night with snacks.
The Spruce Street Suspension Bridge was in the middle of neighborhoods. It had been built in 1912 to help people get between two trolley lines (there is a canyon underneath the bridge). This was a pretty cool pedestrian bridge. It was easy to walk, although it does get a little bouncy in the middle. We even found a Little Library on the other side! (VIDEO: Walking Across Spruce Street Suspension Bridge)
Balboa Park looked like a great area to explore with several museums and the zoo either in the park or really close by. However, parking was packed when we tried to go. We ended up just driving through slowly to see things on the main road. We plan on going back on another date. (NOTE: Do not use the address that pops up in your phone’s Maps when you type in Balboa Park. It drops you next to the Balboa Park golf course. I instead type in Spreckles Organ Pavilion, San Diego Art Institute, or any of the other features in the park.)
After finishing the stops he picked out, we were on the hunt for a candy store for some movie snacks. We stopped in Old Town because we found Cousins Candy on Yelp/Maps. It is a cute, old-time feel candy store. We got a bag of taffy (which was the softest taffy we’ve ever had-so good!), and a few new types of candy to try. The prices were not cheap, but some of the items weren’t too badly priced. Old Town itself was really cute and must be lots of fun when everything is open. We saw several neat things, including luchador mask style face masks.
We had our candy snacks for the movies, but still needed to get the movies themselves. Ben ran into Redbox while we Zoomed with my side of the family. We then picked up some Chinese for dinner and headed back to chow down and watch some movies.
One of the iconic pictures of San Diego that I see a lot is of Children’s Pool, near La Jolla. I love seeing animals and really wanted to see this beach as seals and sea lions are frequently seen here.
Although the wall was originally built to keep the beach calm for children to swim in, seals and sea lions have started congregating there too. People are still swimming there, although we did not after reading some warnings about water quality (due to the seals). (Link to sandeigo.com for more beach info.) Parking was tight and in high demand when you got closer to the beach. We lucked out and found a spot pretty close.
The water looked clear when we were there. We could see several birds and seals on the beach and surrounding rocky areas. We walked out on the retaining wall to get some better views. The wall itself is neat to stand on and look around at the different views of the beach and the ocean. You can feel the rough surface of it where the ocean has worn it down. The wall gives you several good viewing points of the rocks where the seals were laying. Nick stood at the end and ended up getting wet from an incoming wave. (Video: Walking Children’s Pool Wall)
The seals were laying in the sun taking a nap, occasionally rolling over or adjusting position. I was surprised by the variety of patterns of their skin, I guess I had always just thought they were a solid color from pictures I had seen. They were fun to watch, although they didn’t move much while we were there.
We have been to Mission Beach a couple of times so far during our stay here. The beach was nice, with soft sand and the waves were just the right size for us. There are other things to do around here as well. There was a fun looking amusement park at the beach called Belmont Park. It had a roller coaster and a few small rides, an Escapology, and an arcade and games. Some of it was open, but it seemed like a lot of it was closed while we were there. It looked like it would be a really fun place when it was all open.
Next to Belmont Park, there was a street (Ventura Pl.) which ended in a cul-de-sac right next to the beach. There was a parking lot, as well as several food and souvenir shops along this short street. When we were done walking the beach, we rinsed our feet off in the outdoor showers. As we were sitting down to put our shoes back on, a group of motorcycles came in and lined up along the end of the street. A few of them started doing tricks in the center of the cul-de-sac. It was really loud, but the kids got a kick out of it. There was even one guy on a bicycle, who jumped in to do a trick as well! (Video link) Once a few of them had preformed, they drove off.
Sunday was a beautiful morning. Ben and I took a short walk along the water and grabbed some donuts for the boys for breakfast.
After finishing a couple loads of laundry, we drove into another Costco (they have so many here!). One of Ben’s favorite things is to go to different Costco’s and see what they have. Sometimes we find new and different things. For example, Ben’s “favorite souvenir” was a collapsible storage/shopping box tote from New Orleans. That thing stays in the truck and goes everywhere with us. Ohio (or at least Cincinnati) based Costco’s sell wine and beer but not liquor, but Costco’s in different states do.
This one in San Diego looked like a warehouse with an all metal exterior. The food court was on the outside of the store, but did not have any self order/pay stations. This location also had a pick-up box, similar to the ones Amazon has everywhere.
This Costco also sold a few things that we hadn’t seen before in-store: boogie boards, Oreo popcorn, huge cans of tuna, shrimp chips (yup, made from tapioca flour and shrimp), Fish Skins (salted salmon to be exact), baguettes in the freezer section. I wish we had the room in the freezer because I totally would have bought the baguettes.
We also bought ice to keep everything cold while we explored the nearby area. We ended up driving to Mission Beach and walking around. It seemed like a nice beach with soft sand. There was some seaweed around, which seems pretty common around here. The beach area was pretty busy even with the water being cold! We didn’t go in all the way, just waded along the shore. Nick did some seashell hunting, although there weren’t very many on the shoreline. (Video: Walking Along Mission Beach)
We had not stayed at a Thousand Trails campground yet. It had been a long process to get our pass. There also were not TT campgrounds near the middle of the country.
We were looking forward to making use of our pretty pricey membership. We got to the campground and picked our spot from the ones that were still available. (With Thousand Trails you reserve a spot, but not a specific site.) The 50 amp sites were an extra $3/day. I would say roughly 3/4 of the sites were 30/50 amp and 50 amp sites. It was conveniently located to the highway and there were plenty of stores within 10-20 minutes. The Strip was about a 20 minute drive from the campground.
The other plus was that the staff was always present and seemed polite and nice whenever we interacted with them. There were three sets of bathhouses/laundry facilities. You could also get mail delivered there and they held it in the office for you. They had a pool which the kids really enjoyed. It even had the lift chair to get into the pool, a bathroom, and outdoor showers. They had an ice machine for $3/bag. There were two horseshoe pits and a activity room. (Link to the boys’ Campground Tour video.)
Now, onto the not so great stuff.
WiFi costs extra. We had our hotspot and phones, so we were ok. I’m not sure if that is all TT or just this location.
The spots were tight and harder to get into. I am glad we had an end spot or it would have been really difficult. It seemed run down. Bushes and trees were trimmed and there were sprinklers for areas of grass, but there was just a general run down feeling. Our site had cigarette buts and even a rusty screw laying around on the ground.
The garbage bins were often overflowing. There were lots of long term residents with run down or broken cars and RV’s.
The spa (hot tub) was off limits, but there was still water in it and it was just poorly roped off.
It was between two busy roads. The wall near our spot had barbed wire on top. There was a lot of airplane and road noise. About 2-3 in the morning it sounded like people were drag racing. Almost every day.
Checking into our spot: Electric box, hose hook up
The area is not one where I would walk to anything. There were several things nearby (a donut shop, Boulder Station casino, etc) that were less than a mile from the campground, but I definitely did not feel safe walking in the area. I didn’t even walk around the campground by myself. The campground is walled in and has a gate at the front, but it is a gate that is easily walked around. There were also several homeless camps nearby. We saw someone arrested on the street in front of the campground entrance.
If we were in Las Vegas again, I would look further north of the city where the nicer areas are for a different campground. The staff seemed nice, but the area was not. Some of the things like road and airplane noise are out of their control, it’s based the location and maybe at one time it was better. But some things could be improved around the grounds.
SUMMARY OF CAMPGROUND:
Our rating: 2 out of 5 hitches
Cell Phone Reception: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile
Laundry: Yes
Bathrooms/Showers: Yes
RV Sites: Pull Through, Back-in
Pop Up Tents/Gazebos/Outdoor Rugs On-Site: No, not enough room
Our time in Las Vegas came to an end and we were off to our next adventure: California. We were staying near San Diego and it was about an 8 hour drive. There was definitely some haze in the air when we got to California.
We got to our campground and stopped at the office to get our check-in packet. We had a pull-through spot, so it made setting up a lot easier. The space was the perfect size for the RV, but fitting the truck in was a little challenging. We had a 50 amp site with a picnic table, hedges, and some palm trees to help provide shade.
We did a quick grocery run to Albertson’s. We then drove up to see the town of Coronado and the Coronado Hotel. The town looked really cute and I couldn’t wait to explore it. Parking was completely full when we drove through, so we didn’t stop. Hopefully we can find a spot next time! It was getting to be dusk and we headed back home. Even though we were right next to the ocean at times, it was really hard to see the waves through the haze in the air.
Ben and Nick found some crazy things in Las Vegas, including Cereal Killerz Kitchen. It is a store in the mall that offers only cereal, shakes with cereal in them, waffles, and some coffee drinks. They had a cereal eating challenge, but you had to schedule it in advance and it didn’t work out on the days we were there. It consisted of a gallon of milk and huge bowl (more like a tub) of cereal.
It looked like there had been gaming stations set up near the entrance, but they had been removed for COVID. They had so many cereal options, many of which I had never heard of or seen before.
Nick was so excited about eating cereal, even though he couldn’t do the challenge. They did sell different sized bowl options. He got a small bowl, which meant that he could pick 3 cereals. He picked Fillows, Peeps, and Frankenberry. It was quite the colorful bowl. He seemed to like it though. (Cereal Killerz Kitchen Video)
Ben got me a peanut butter chocolate shake from Cereal Killerz. It was a nice thick shake, although I didn’t really eat the cereal on top.
The rest of us got dinner from the food court in the mall.
Our stay in Las Vegas was almost over and there were a few things I wanted to do still. One of which was the Ethel M Chocolates factory tour. It was only about 20 minutes from the campground. It was a (free) self guided tour. There were glass windows with informational text, along with a few TV screens with a slide show video. (Video: We walked through the Ethel M Chocolates Self Guided Tour.)
We didn’t see any of the chocolate being made when we were there, but it was still an interesting tour. (They are part of the Mars family.) We received a dark chocolate square sample when we walked in the door and a truffle sample when we were browsing the shop. There were so many different chocolates to choose from! Ethel M is a higher end chocolateir, so it was a little more expensive (for example, it was $2.50/truffle, or $35 for a 12 piece build your own box). I bought a chocolate covered apple for us all to share and a 12 piece box. I’ve been limiting myself to one a day. They are delicious! (And so pretty!)
You know it’s a nice chocolate store when you get a cooler bag when you spend $5 and they pack it with an ice pack!Time to eat!
If you are in the Las Vegas area (and love chocolate), I would definitely recommend stopping in!
Outside the store was a cactus garden, which was part of the Ethel M grounds. They had a lot of variety and interesting informational signs. They were in the process of putting up the Christmas lights in the garden while we were walking through. (Video: Ethel M Cactus Garden Walk Through)
The boys and I still woke up early so that they could attend their “live” classes. We snacked on the donuts that we picked up yesterday from pinkbox. Everyone’s favorite was the DoughCro (a croissant/donut). Ben had taken a vacation day, so he finally got to sleep in.
Pretty good donuts. The pink one is funny, but it really is just a lot of icing piped on top of a regular donut with a glaze/shell over the whole thing.
Today was pool day! We were all excited to go swimming. The pool opened at 9:00 am and was operating at 50% capacity due to COVID restrictions. Once capacity was reached, there was a waiting line to get in. If you leave the pool area and it is at capacity, you would need to wait in the line to get back in. However, if you book a cabana, then you can come and go all day long. Masks were also required in the pool area unless in the pool, eating/drinking, or going directly into/out of the pool. There were staff members at exits with disposable masks for people as well. I did see a few stop people who were just walking around or sitting on chairs and give them masks to wear.
We had reserved a cabana for the day on the Mandalay Bay Beach lazy river. Ben had always wanted to try a cabana and it definitely helped with social distancing. The boys also still had school so it gave them a place to do their school work in the morning. Although we had prepaid, you still had to check into the cabana by 11:00am or give them a call to let them know you were going to be later. We packed up, checked out of the hotel room, and headed down to the pool area a little before 9:00. We brought the boys’ computers and the hotspot so they could continue with their classes.
We chose a cabana on the end to help with even more social distancing. The cabana had a loveseat, a table and two chairs, TV, towels, 2 inner tubes, a mini fridge with included Pepsi/Diet Pepsi/water/bucket of ice, 2 lounge chairs under an umbrella, and a safe. Food and beverage service was available for an extra charge.
Tipping and charges were a little different than what I was expecting. There was the cabana charge and the cabana host tipping option (they were the ones in the blue shirts). We didn’t really interact with them much. One person showed us to our cabana and another replaced the waters in the fridge towards the end of the day. The people in red were the food and beverage servers and were a separate charge and tip. We saw our server multiple times during the day, as she checked in on us quite frequently. She was very friendly. We ordered a frozen drink (Miami Vice 22 oz, souvenir plastic cup, $28) and an order of chips and guacamole ($11, way over priced for the amount we actually got). The drink was very tasty! The guacamole was good, a little spicy, but the chips seemed a little stale.
The main pool area had a walk up food/drink service as well, but it looked like the same menu.
There were a few restrooms around the different areas, but not specifically changing rooms that I could see. There was an outdoor shower area to rinse off the sand from the beach. The entry walkway also had a beach shop, but it had very limited gear. I had not not been paying attention when I packed my swimsuit and accidentally grabbed two bottoms. I stopped in the beach shop to see if they had any bathing suit tops. It only had tiny bikini tops and small one-piece suits, no larger swim tops/shirts. (Seriously, I tried on a top and there was no way I could swim and stay in it. I ended up just using my swim skirt bottoms with my bra and top.) Video: Walking Around The Mandalay Bay Beach pool area.
The lazy river was also operating at 50% capacity. When we got there in the morning, there wasn’t a line to get in, but towards the afternoon it got crowded and you did have to wait in line. There were times it was just a sea of people floating past us, so we took a dip in the Wave Pool to avoid any crowds. NOTE: You can also bring your own inner tubes for the lazy river as long as they are round, no rafts. There is a fill up station near the lazy river entrance. Video: Traveling Along The Mandalay Bay Beach Lazy River.
The lazy river was a decent temperature. It was a little cool when you first got in, but I quickly adjusted so it wasn’t bad at all. The Wave Pool was freezing. It would have been really funny to watch everyone’s faces as they got in the water, but I’m pretty sure I had the same “Holy Cow, this is cold” look on my face.
NOTE: The walkways are very slippery if they are wet or even just walking with wet feet! Go slow. The Wave Pool also goes off every 90 seconds, I believe.
