Cali or Bust: Day Three-Glendale to Santa Monica

Day three of our california trip involved shopping, driving and swimming!

We got up, got dressed and got checked out of our hotel. We knew we were going to the beach that day and decided that we should check out the three story Target in Glendale and possibly get some supplies for the beach. We found our way over to the Target and wandered around all three floors for over and hour just for the heck of it. We got a few clearance beach-related items and then went back to the car.

We were told by a co-worker of my husband’s that while in Glendale we needed to try some Baklava. It’s an Armenian desert. Before leaving home we mapquested a few places, so after Target we found the closest one to the Target. My hubby went inside while I stayed in the car with the kids. He came out with his silly little grin and a container with some pastries inside.

After pigging out on pastries we braved the freeway in an attempt to find a “scenic” route to the beach. The map we had was detailed but not as detailed as one would like. We kept missing exits. But along the way I took pictures of some of the cool buildings. I’m not sure, but that might have contributed to missing a few exits too… It’s hard to take pictures while going down the freeway 80+ miles per hour!

We found an exit that would eventually take us to the street we wanted. Mulhallond Dr. It was supposed to be scenic, not too busy. It was definitely scenic, we would have enjoyed it if we could have taken the very curvy road at our speed but sadly we were stressed because of the locals that would ride our tail and pass us at any given moment. The road was so cury and the map not as detailed as we would have liked we kept taking roads we THOUGHT was the correct road only to discover we had somehow managed to take another road instead. During one such detour we came across a street with the same name as my brother-in-law’s nickname.

The kids began to get hungry and we were getting stressed out. The map showed us the road we wanted would connect all the way to a road that would take us to the beach. The road eventually turned to a dirt road, not what we wanted. We went down a hill that happened to be Encino, Ca. My first thought was the movie “Encino-Man” where the teenage boy had to dig his own pool only to discover an iceage caveman. It made me giggle.

We found a McDonald’s and hung out there for a couple of hours letting the kids play. There was only one other boy besides our kids at the playplace. He was about my son’s age and appeared to be of Indian Descent. His mom would often speak to him in their native language. The problem was this boy was MEAN! My daughter was scared to play with him, and although my son didn’t notice and was okay playing with him, this boy was hitting my son. My son laughed, not understanding, but I was really getting upset. The mom would scold him in their native language but he didn’t seem to care. I finally had to ask my son to come sit with me until they left, I was so worried about this boy hurting him.

After a long break we loaded back up into the car intent on the next stop being at the beach. We found a curvy road Topanga Canyon (I think) that lead to the beach. It was a pretty drive, too bad we had to go so fast we could enjoy the landscape.

The canyon ended right at Malibu beach! We found a place to park and walked out. The kids were at first scared of going near the water, worried about sharks. We watched the surfers, and the waves crash in. Daughter #1 found a plastic shovel, and with a cup, the kids built sand castles with daddy. I sat on the beach with Daughter #2 and took pictures. I looked out over the ocean and saw dolphins swimming. It was a beautiful day.

After some time at the beach we drove south to Santa Monica to check in to our hotel. We found one a few miles from the beach but with a pool. The hotels near the beach didn’t have pools. We spent the rest of the evening playing in the hotel pool, eating some yummy japanese food (no sushi!) and watched tv. The next day would include a lot more driving!