[travel] Road Trip, June 2012 / Day 2

July 3, 2012
[Special Feature] me + miss v, [TRAVEL] to places
16 Comments

Continue from Day 1…

Day 2 Itinerary -
09:30am Breakfast at Mama’s
03:00pm Avenue of the Giants
10:00pm Jacksonville, OR.

After a good night sleep at Omni Hotel, Miss V and I started the morning at Mama’s with Erin for breakfast.  I always wanted to go to Mama’s, but the line would scare me off.  Happy that Erin braved the line with us (thanks, Erin!).  I ordered the Pan Dore, which is slices of Sour French Baguette with Sauteed Apples in Lemon Butter Sauce.  mmm… It was really good!

Around 11am, we made a quick stop at Hamilton, CA. for gas and picked up some pastries for the road at La Boulange Bakery before headed to Avenue of the Giants.  The drive was about 4+ hours, in between we made a stop at The Peg House Grill in Leggett, CA. for lunch.  By the time we arrived to Avenue of the Giants it was already 3pm.  Originally, we didn’t plan to stay long, but the magic of nature and being surrounded by the “giants” had us wandered longer than expected and dropped the plan to visit a small town, Ferndale.

When we arrived to Jacksonville it was 10pm and we were dead tired.  Thankfully, TouVelle House, which was provided by Hotels.com, took good care of us and we were able to go straight to bed for some much needed rest.

More tomorrow!

Resources -

Mama’s
1701 Stockton St
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 362-6421

La Boulange Bakery de Hamilton
5800 Nave Dr
Novato, CA 94949
(415) 382-8594

The Peg House
69501 Hwy 101
Leggett, CA 95585
(707) 925-6444

Avenue of the Giants
Avenue of the Giants Highway
Weott, CA 95571

City of Ferndale (we didn’t get to visit)

TouVelle House
455 N Oregon St
Jacksonville, OR 97530
(541) 899-8938

*Special thanks to Hotels.com for providing an evening stay at TouVelle House for Miss V and I!  Although the hotel room was provided by Hotels.com, please note that all opinions are strictly mine and I wouldn’t rave about anything that I don’t enjoy.

**All images photographed by Bonnie Tsang with Canon 5D and iPhone

[travel] Road Trip, June 2012 / Day 1

July 2, 2012
[Special Feature] me + miss v, [TRAVEL] to places
6 Comments

When I was young I’d go on many road trips.  I love being on the road, there’s just something so free about driving yourself to everywhere and not have to be stuck in a plane with all those strangers.  Now that Miss V is older, I feel better at taking her on some long road trips, but most were 2-3 hours max of driving time.  So when this year’s Summer vacation started, I decided to drive up to Portland, OR. to bid farewell to my friend, Joke, and her family whom are moving to Shanghai.

When I first started to plan the road trip I did worry if Miss V would miserably cry “Are we there yet?” during those long hours of car ride, so I made sure to make many stops along the way.  Our round trip, from Los Angeles to Portland, took about 11 days.  If I get to do it again I’d make it a 14-day trip, which would be a lot less rush and more time to explore.

Day 1 Itinerary -
09:00am Breakfast at Yi Mei Deli
11:00am Lunch and sightseeing at Solvang
05:00pm Spend a night at Omni Hotel in San Francisco

We finished packing and loaded the car with all kinds of snacks and kids activities by 9am.  Originally, I planned to leave at 6am (I like to start early, so I can do more), but as most parents know this – traveling with kids means you need to be as flexible as possible.  I made a point not to take it so seriously if I couldn’t stick to the itinerary and spending time with Miss V was my priority.

First stop, breakfast.  We went for “homey” Chinese breakfast at Yi Mei Deli – egg pancakes and sweet soy milk.  After that, we drove to Solvang.  It took us longer time to get there as I forgot about the weekday morning traffic.  Oops.

In Solvang, we went to Paula’s Pancake House for their famous Danish Pancake.  The pancake was very thin and HUGE, but I finished the whole thing, it was so good.  The weather was so nice, so we walked around a bit and visited some cute shops.  Miss V had so much fun, she loved the cute Danish town.  We got on the road again after an hour or so of sightseeing and by late afternoon we would arrive to San Francisco to spend the night.

In San Francisco, we spent the night at Omni Hotel, which was provided by Hotels.com.  I usually prefer boutique hotel that’s young and hip, but I must say that the decision to stay at Omni couldn’t be more better, especially after a five-hour long drive.  As soon as we arrived we were in total comfort; the staff was friendly (I love it when hotel staffs are genuinely friendly to the kids), our room was very clean and bed was comfy.  Miss V was happy and surprised when she saw the kids explorer backpack that the hotel had prepared for her.  We ended the evening with hot bath and room service – Butternut Squash Ravioli and kid’s Mac-n-Cheese.  Sigh… that was nice.

Resources -

Yi Mei Deli
18414 Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
(626) 854-9246

Paula’s Pancake House
1531 Mission Dr
Solvang, CA 93463
(805) 688-2867

Danish Mill Bakery
1682 Copenhagen Dr
Solvang, CA 93463
(805) 688-5805

Mortensens Danish Bakery
1588 Mission Dr
Solvang, CA 93463
(805) 688-8373

Solvang Theaterfest
420 2nd St
Solvang, CA 93463
(805) 686-1789

Jule Hus
1580 Mission Dr
Solvang, CA 93463
(805) 688-6601

The Book Loft
1680 Mission Dr
Solvang, CA 93463
(805) 688-6010

Omni Hotel
500 California St
San Francisco, CA 94104
(415) 677-9494

Stay tuned for Day 2 tomorrow!

*Major thanks to Hotels.com for providing the lovely room at Omni Hotel for Miss V and I!  I booked the night before we were leaving (must admit, I’m a very last minute person) and Hotels.com managed to confirm the room for us before we arrived, which was a very helpful booking feature.  Although the hotel room was provided by Hotels.com, please note that all opinions are strictly mine and I wouldn’t rave about anything that I don’t enjoy.

**All images photographed by Bonnie Tsang with Canon 5D and iPhone

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