We are trying to find a good place to go on vacation with our 1 year old. We will also be vacationing with some friends who have a 2 year old and a 4 month old. We want something within driving distance of Southern California (about 9 hours away max). We are also looking to do this for as cheap as possible. We really want the kids to have a good time too and not be too bored and driving us crazy. Any good ideas?
Ironically, I literally came across this article in the LA Times and bookmarked it like 2 days ago. It has places that are within driving distance of So Cal - not sure how costly all of them are, but I thought they all looked interesting!
http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-trw-tellus,0,###-###-###...
Palm Springs - great rates right now, play by the pool all day.
Big Bear Lake - if you have an RV there is a campground w/a pool, I can't remember the name. The weather is in the 80's. Or you could hotel it.
Not sure where you live but there is so much here in So Cal. Get a hotel or rent a condo and visit Legoland or Seaworld?
Rent a place at the beach!
At 1 years old, the tough things is finding a place that you will be comfortable with having a 1 year old in (they get in to so much at this age). We did a few trips when my daughter was 1 and had to baby proof the heck out of the places we stayed - it hardly seemed worth it.
So much to do around here!
Good luck,
M.
Honestly... I would pitch a tent in the backyard before I tried a real camping trip. My neighbors just did that and they were so glad. They were trying to gear their four year old up for the great outdoors and ended up with a trip to the emergency room =( My four kids and I were invited to try the experience and my older two (13 and 11) straight out refused and with my three and one year old I had to agree. Fear of waking up with one less kid (my three year old escapes) or with a frosty chill and cold just didn't sound too tempting (thats me anyway.) But our neighbors tried it. There were two other couples invited. One went home at 12 am b/c their six year old was afraid of the noises and the other two families (my neighbors and the other couple) finished out the evening in the house with the kids watching television and the ER victim (she had fallen and opened up her chin while roasting marshmellows)asleep in her own bed. I thought it was smart on their part. As for me... I would pitch a tent in the backyard and play campout. I would also do short day trips like the beach, a park, amusement park or duck pond. If you do travel I would suggest taking the port a crib to place the children in while you pitch tents, cook meals or just take five. Its hard to work around the house with a little one walking around... I could only imagine trying that with an open fire.
Take a drive up the coast to Pismo beach area, there are some really affordable nice hotel/suites within walking distance to the beach or right on the beach. Check out travelocity.com and search pismo beach (we've been looking for the same thing). There's tons to do in the area too!
I would like to say camping, but I just did it with my 3 year old and 3 month old-a little chaotic. We went camping in San Diego. If you did want to camp there is Campland at Mission Bay, there is also Carpinteria (next to Santa Barbra). Both are nice vacation destinations, but still have the convienences of home-restaurants & grocery stores. I might just suggest staying at a cheap hotel in Carpinteria. We did that when our son was younger and it was nice to be able to shut the door or just turn on the TV. You could always look into renting an RV.
If you like camping, go to Yosemite. We were there in May and it was beautiful. My 18 month old daughter slept like a champ every night! If you stay in the valley theres pleanty to see. If you dont want to go that far, try Seaworld. They have the Bay of Play and my daughter loves that too. Its close and the weather is always great in San Diego.
Good luck!
When my son was 1 we used to go to the San Diego Zoo and the Wild animal park all of the time. He liked the zoo better, but both places were fun. Tickets for these places are fairly inexpensive.
