Kiwi cacher visiting California

[sgkahu]

Hi,

My family and I are in California for a few days in August. We are driving from Los Angeles to San Diego where we are staying for 4 nights. Can't wait to do some American caches and are looking for the best of the bunch for the drive down and around San Diego.

 

There are so many to choose from and not knowing the area makes it hard. We like traditional rather than virtual, easy strolls (we have a 9 and 11 year old) and scenic or interesting places! And not too far off the main highway for the drive down.

 

Any thoughts or recommendations anyone??

 

Thanks

 

Ella

[radical geezer]

Hello Ella - and welcome in advance to San Diego. One cache I'd recommend right off the bat is Adobe Falls - a great little place right off I8 that even many locals don't know about. The caches along the Otay Truck Trail offer some outstanding views of local scenery. The truck trail drive is not too rugged and there are at least four caches that are just a few steps from the road. If you start the Otay Truck Trail expedition from the Marron Valley Road end, you could run just a couple of miles farther up 94 first and catch my Lighten Up! cache which is easy and has a great view of the valley and the old aquaduct.

 

Hey, local dudes - pitch in here and give these Kiwis some good, easy coastal caches to grab!

 

By the way, Ella - take a hiking staff with you. There are rattlers out there. To be perfectly honest with you I have yet to personally encounter any in some rather extreme geocaching I've done, but I'm sure the day is coming. A good rule of thumb is simply to not reach into anyplace you can't see without first poking around thoroughly to be sure you won't be greeted by some purty lookin' but inhospitable fella who's decided to take a nap there.

 

Peace,

 

Radical Geezer

[TomBombadil79]

which area of San Diego and will you be doing any of the "touristy" type things like Seaworld, Zoo, or Wild Animal Park???

 

TomBombadil79

[SUNHOUSE]

If you dont want to leave highways. my cache is right off the 805. its called the 805's Canyon Cache. check it out area code 92122

[+Silver Horde]

Hope you enjoy your trip to San Diego. I have family in New Zealand and visited NZ a few years ago. Great country!

I would recommend caches in the Rancho Penasquitos zip 92129. Lots of good ones in the preserve there. There is an active thread called the San Diego Thread I don't know how to 'markwell'!! try posting your request there too.

 

Torrey pines extension cache is a good coastal cache. Several in and around La jolla and del mar!!

 

ttfn

 

Jane

[sgkahu]

Thanks folks for the advice - especially for the snake bit! We don't have snakes in NZ so I can well imagine us innocently sticking our hands in the wrong places!!

 

quote:

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Originally posted by TomBombadil:

which area of San Diego and will you be doing any of the "touristy" type things like Seaworld, Zoo, or Wild Animal Park???

 

TomBombadil79

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Yes we will be doing some of those. Definitely the Animal Park and yet to decide on the other two. We also want to do a day trip to Tijuana - never been to Mexico. I'm keen to spend one day in the country too - the Otay area mentioned looked promising. Of course there is a limit to what you can achieve in 4 days!

 

We are coming back home in October via Anaheim to do the Disney/Universal Studio thing. Compulsory when you have kids!

 

Ella.

[+Kite and Hawkeye]

If you're doing the Wild Animal Park, you can safely skip the zoo, unless you're a big, big animal fan. The WAP is the more unusual of the two, and is highly recommended. If you've got your heart set on doing both, I believe you can buy a two-park ticket, or even a three-park ticket including Sea World, for a slight discount. I think you'd be quite parked-out if you tried to do them all, though.

 

I've never been out of the country, and I'd like to go, but I've been discouraged from doing Tijuana. Everyone I know who's been there says you don't really get the true Mexico experience; it's nasty and caters to gullible tourists and such. Or so they say, take it with a grain of salt and all.

 

There are caches near the Wild Animal Park, but I wouldn't recommend them as easy walks. Also, it will likely be quite hot out there in August. Depending on where your hotel is, you're almost certain to be able to find some caches in striking distance, though. Do you know where you'll be staying, roughly? We've got favorite caches scattered all over the county.

 

I hate to contradict radical geezer, but I guess he's more radical than we are, because we found Adobe Falls to be difficult! There may be an easy way to reach it, but we were stopped short by the terrain. I do definitely second his recommendation to bring a stick, wherever you go. Don't put your hand anywhere you can't see, or anywhere your stick hasn't poked first. Also, I don't know if you have poison oak in New Zealand, but if you don't know what it looks like, find out before you go hiking! It's very common near sources of water.

 

I'd recommend doing some of the coastal caches for nice views; there are quite a lot of them that are very easy walks and easy finds.

[sgkahu]

Yeah I figured Tijuana will be touristy etc but it may be the only chance I get to go to Mexico. And we will be tourists after all!!

 

I had thought the wild animal park was the better option -I am not a big fan of zoos. We are staying at the Days Inn Hotel on Hotel Circle South (tourist centre by the sounds of it!). Any local caches? You have so many more than here in Wellington, choosing is a challenge. And not knowing the city at all makes it difficult to do online!

 

I read about Poison Oak on a couple of cache logs - does it do a lot of damage? Again, we don't have nasties like that here! I shall do a search to get a picture I think!

 

All this help is brilliant though

 

Ella

[+Kite and Hawkeye]

quote:

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Originally posted by sgkahu:

We are staying at the Days Inn Hotel on Hotel Circle South (tourist centre by the sounds of it!). Any local caches?

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You'll have a lot to choose from downtown. There's a cute little micro at on the grounds of a mall close by (the cache name is Boogity Boogity Boogity!). Conventional View and the other caches near it are also nice (there are quite a lot of downtown microcaches if you're interested). If you want something a little more natural, there are caches in the Balboa Park area that offer a bit more of a hike (that's right by the zoo and museums, but you don't need to go in any of them to complete the caches, and there's a surprisingly large natural area there). I'd say perhaps just do a search on nearest caches from Boogity, since it will be very close to your hotel, and pick some with fairly easy terrain, and you'll be in business.

 

quote:

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I read about Poison Oak on a couple of cache logs - does it do a lot of damage? Again, we don't have nasties like that here! I shall do a search to get a picture I think!

---

 

I happen to be immune, so I'm lucky, but my caching partner, Hawkeye, sometimes gets a rash. It's annoyingly itchy, but usually it's just a small stripe on his leg, no wider than a scratch. Calamine lotion helps. We shower as soon as possible if we've been brushing up against plants -- it may help to bring some sort of wet wipes along and just wipe off your legs if there's been a lot of brush around. Poison Oak is fairly easy to recognize; it can vary in color from shiny green to red, but it's the only common plant with three leaflets. If you see clusters of three leaves, try not to touch them. Many caches are hidden *near* poison oak, but I've rarely seen one where you couldn't avoid the stuff if you tried. I'd have to recommend against our own "Bearly off the trail," though -- oak is quite thick in that canyon. You probably wouldn't venture that far north just for geocaching anyway, since there will be plenty closer.

[radical geezer]

OK, OK, I'll admit that Adobe Falls involves some scrambling around on rocks - certainly not a park and grab - but I'll still maintain that it's not that much of a hike and is worth it, especially sitting right up against I8 like it is. It's only about 4 miles from Hotel Circle.

 

Here's a thought: if you drive out 94 there are several easy caches along the way, including my aforementioned Lighten Up! There is also incredible scenery and you'll wind up within just three or four miles of the Mexican border at Tecate. Unless you have your heart set specifically on Tijuana, Tecate will give you all the flavor of Mexico without the insane border crossing lines at Tijuana. If you do this trip in the morning out 94 and down to Tecate, you can return via 94 and catch Marron Valley Road to the Otay Truck Trail. More fantastic scenery and you'll wind up down the other side of the mountain on 805, which will take you right back to the hotel. BTW, be sure to note where Marron Valley road is on your way out eastbound in the morning, because it's not marked when you're heading westbound.

 

I agree that the Wild Animal Park is a great stop - and at this time of year you can do it late and catch the Park at Dark, which is lots of fun. You can stay until 10 p.m., they have lots of music and stuff, and you can take the Wgasa train around the park at night (no extra cost) and get a glimpse of many animals in their natural setting. (Hey locals - how many of you know how and why the Wild Animal Park train came to be called the Wgasa?)

 

Peace,

Radical Geezer