|| California Expeditions, Frame 1 - 25

Weekend experiences for the days that are present
https://www.daytrippen.com/orange-county-day-trips/

1. Mission San Juan Capistrano (11/23)
• Park on street in the early hours, free
• $10 entrance fee; walking tour lasts about an hour
• Spanish architecture and culture infiltration as a missionary journey
2. Dana Point (11/23/2019)
• free parking
• a big coffee shop at the center has coffee, craft coffee, and breakfast items
• long stretches of walking shorelines in concrete walkaways
• July 4th strategy, fly over before 6pm https://southocbeaches.com/2021/04/29/dana-point-4th-of-july-2021-celebration-guide/
3. Laguna Beach, best of the scene of where the old money is ... (11/23/2019, 2/20/2021)
• Act V, lot 16 for the shuttle bus; shuttle bus will go back to the canyon road at the side of the wholefood market behind the main beach road
• Slap fish, seafood shack place at the main beach
• Update on 2/20/2021, park at the lot besides the farmers market on Saturday mornings, then walk south into Victoria beach then Treasure Island, round trip 17,000 steps, 2.5 hours
• Or park after Laguna Beach Inn, after Ruby Street, street parking is free then metered again when it gets close to the Treasure island
• There are many inlet roads in between Ruby and Main that give public access to the beach, very beautiful 
• Transit schedule, ends 9/6, lot 16 and 17 to take the transit, take the red line or dark blue line for short and long coastal stops  https://www.lagunabeachcity.net/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?t=42127.03&BlobID=26918
4. Treasure island (12/11)
• free parking across the street in the strip mall / commercial plaza
• walk the stairs down beside the Montego luxury resort for the boardwalk and sandy beach walk
• beautiful views and walks
5. Victoria beach (12/11)
• park at the meter on the Nyes Pl and costal highway cross-section (meter at Nyes Pl), less than $2 per x minutes ... I think 1-2 hours max you need for this place
• hard to find alleyways, find the Victoria lane, it's right down the overpass bridge then find the public access alleyway in between two houses
• get past the big rocks to see the pirate's tower, get that picture!
6. Newport Beach, sharing the water views with your walker bys (11/30/2019, 7/10/2022)
• the dory fleet fish market is right on the pier
• metered parking all around the pier walks, tight space, and $1/2 per xmin
• balboa islands can take the ferry or park close to the city block right outside of the fashion island mall then walk into the island
• Newport beach is the transition between laguna and the Huntington beach
• 7/10/2022 - set google direction to 5484 Seashore Dr, Newport Beach (58th and Seashore).  Parking lot is free outside of the 8-6pm fee timezone.  Parking along the roads is possible but it has been very full on a Sunday morning 830AM already.  The walk way connects to the south side of the Huntington beach, lots of surfers.  The Newport side of the walk ways are all blocked by vacation homes or private homes as the houses are built on the beach directly, therefore there hasn't been a broad walk provided to the general public
7. Huntington Beach (12/7/2019, 7/9/2022)
• park your car for $15 for a day of sand and beach and nothing else
• Miles of straight and concrete walks, unobstructed views; shops on the other side of the coastal highways
8. Long Beach (12/21)
• plenty of metered parking; park close to the rainbow walks close to the lighthouse; metered for 2 hours max
• the harbor is both industrial and tourist-friendly; lighthouse, aquarium, shoreline village
• take the water taxi to see the queen mary ship 
• Naples island in construction until after Sep 2020; park at the elementary school street parking, then walk into the many islands, almost no commercial shops, similar to Balboa island, there are many architectural homes and designs
9. Santa Monica (12/28)
• plenty of parking, $10; park closer to the pier funfair
• long stretches of walks on concrete away from the sands, with some views of vacation homes
10. San Diego Balboa park (1/18)
• On the way 405 down south, around 30 miles post there is a beautiful vista point, have to stop there because there isn't a point of entry on the way back
• Parking is free and park at inspiration way in front of the activity center, then ride the tram into the center of Balboa park
• Botanical garden, Trin-something art gallery is free; Spanish village and the world village are free to walk around but they are essentially small vendor booths
11. San Diego old town state park (1/18)
• Have to park on-the-street or at the front of an international shopping center, one lane ahead of the main museum street
• Street taco is delicious inside the one cultural garden/restaurant place
• A lot of small museum demonstration houses with people dressed up in history, all free
12. Chino Hill state park (1/25/2019, 3/14/2021, 3/13/2022)
• Use this address for GPS, 4721 Sapphire Road to enter the park; either park downhill for free or drive 1.5 miles uphill to the ranger place for $5 parking
• Aliso Trail is about 2 miles ahead of ranger parking, park on the left on a dirt road pad; it's one way 3.7 miles, not loop
• 3/14/2021 update - spring arrives and the park turned into beautiful resort style mountain hikes with fresh paint of green colors.  Park at the downhill neighborhood area, then walk 20min arriving at the ticketing booth.  There is a trail right on the parking lot, that leads to a mountain path with some elevations.  Or, walk another 1 hour one-trip to the start of the Bane canyon trail, beautiful stops all around with poppy seeds, wild flowers of white and purple.  Turn right on the Bane trail leads to a horse camp that can be explored in the future; overall very enjoyable hikes, 2.5 hours round trip, some elevations but not strenuous 
13. Quail Hill Trail Irvine (1/11/2020, 6/21/2020)
• Park in front of trail or park in the front of the community center, short walk to the trail head
• Going for the short loop on the trail,1.8 miles, not shaded but comfortable; in total less than 2 hours
• Going south on the Shady Canyon trail, and connect with the turtle rock entrance; big climb initially and slow ramp down
14. Shady Canyon Trail Irvine (1/19)
• Park in the turtle rock community center, short walk to the trail entrance, NB will walk towards the Quail Hill, beautiful geology diversity; SB could merge into the Boom head trail; not a loop in my walking distance range
• Not all shaded but comfortable, with some elevation
15. LA board museum (1/18)
• Saturday and Sunday don't require validation in the parking lot
• Walk 30min into the Chinatown, but not worth doing as Chinatown has $5/6 parking, plenty of space
16. LA Griffith observatory (12/29/2019)
• I parked in the union station then took the metro into one of the stations then shuttle bus to the top of hill .... not a good strategy
• instead, just drive into the downhill of observatory, the grass playfield may be opening for busy traffic, but walking up the hill will require a lot of energy
• 5/28/2022
• Greek theatre free parking at lot F, 45min walk from the boy Scott trail of 0.6m on the same side of the drive road, lots of elevation; there is another trail on the other side of the hill, also lots of elevation, passing a golf course
• Paid parking $10 at top of the hill, not necessary, try part at the canyon place after 10am, turn before it reaches the Griffith
17. Anaheim packing district (1/11)
• VC funded hot spot, contemporary design but overall tight space and petite of everything and everything is staged, crafted and lifeless
• Park in front of the no-parking construction site seems to be ok
18. Westminister little saigon (1/18)
• Park at ABC supermarket seems to have lots of parking and there is a desert place right beside the market
19. Crystal Cove (1/4)
• In between Laguna and Newport, lots of rock formation, very sunny place
• Multiple parking places, the best would be on the other side of the coastal highway, walk through the tunnel and walk back on the higher ground on the coastal highway
• Parking is $20, not much place to take a rest, walk on the construction village side
20. Hsi Lai Temple (1/26/2020, 11/12/2022)
• Weekend trips, check the website for parking and shuttling instructions
• The City of Industrial has many Chinese restaurants
21. Corona Del Mar (2/1)
• Little CDM - Drive Culver to MacArthur to Coastal Highway then turn right at before the popey lane, or make u-turn at popey lane to park in one way
• CDM - has metered parking
• Beautiful rock formation, beach volleyball, restroom and etc; no food or drink though
• Inspiration point is in between
22. Bommer Canyon trail (2/1)
• Drive Culver until the new house construction side and turn left into Shady Canyon drive for 0.7miles, you come to the Bommer canyon trail head.  Can also park at the Turtle Rock community park
• At the south bound of the Shady Canyon trail is the walk into the Bommer Canyon.  Nature loop is about an mile, and the Bommer meadow trail leads to some mountain climbing with winding dirt road that shares with the bikers
• A logical stop point will be at the large cactus site in the front of the multiple layers of the green geologically diversified plantations
23. Bolsa Chica Ecological Wetland Reserve (2/8/2020, 1/18/2021)
• North of Huntington beach, park at 18000 Pacific Coast Highway Huntington Beach, CA 92647. Parking is free parking
• Can also park at the Warner Ave (limited parking), then walk into the wetland highlands, or walk past the PCH into the state park sandy beach area
• Miles long and flat dirt roads with multiple forks and turnarounds, lots of migrating birds in the swamp, no shades
• Park at the end of "Brightwater" road, neighborhood area, limited parking space. Walk around the row houses into the reserve, and can circle back to the PCH parking lot, although a long walk 9000 steps
24. Palm Springs (2/15/2020; 1/15/2022)
• Drive 5N, 55N, 91E, 60E, 10E, 111 to get to palm springs.  Downtown parking lot is close to the museum way and walk of the stars
• Tram, parking lot A is the closest to the tram, need to arrive at the valley station before 9am; parking fee $8; nature trail is flat while the other one needs a good pair of boots
• Indian canyon, Andrea canyon has the easiest walk; close to Murry canyon; Palm canyon is the other turn and has some relatively easy trails as well
• All parking is somewhat easy and the city is full of clean lines of flat design of architectural things
• New trails - (1/15/2022)
• One hour 50min, park on the road as the reservation parking lot was closed; 5 miles out there was in/out burger and gas station
• Thousand palms oasis preserve - Willies Palm and west mesa trail (2.2 miles, half done, looks promising, tight parking space along the road); McCallum trail head (easy 47 minutes, sandy roads, very easy); Pushawalla Palms (moderate to challenging); and Indian Palms (1.2 miles, lost after a while, no signs and not sure where it went to)
• Inka peruvian cuisine; La Bonita's; Loco Charlie's Mexican Grill
25. Nixon Library (2/17)
• Yorba Linda city, lots of parking slots, and overflow goes into a nearby church or on the street, overall an easy and free parking experience
• Half price at president's day and with a slice of cherry pie; lots of people lining up in the morning, but in about two hours, there were none waiting outside and there was still the cherry pie
• Three halls with museum style history story telling, and a birth place to visit
• About two hours visit is enough