[TheNewGirl]

I just got back from a wirlwind tour of SoCal.

Bang for your buck, we had very good luck with the Red Lion hotels (I stayed at the Red Lion airport in Seattle too which had good park and fly rates to mind the car while we were gone, cheaper then using the airport park and fly). They're a chain much as Best West and so on but the ones we stayed in were all very nice, highly recommended and we had good experiences in them.

I liked the San Diego and Newport Beaches south of LA better than the ones closer. Probably cause we were their during their hottest temps ever and it was a fair bit cooler down in San Diego then the insane 47C in LA while I was there. In general I actually really did like San Diego better than LA though. It's an easier to navigate city in general... kinda reminds me of Vancouver with better beaches and palm trees.

I will give you this advice though: If you leave LA proper at all CARRY YOUR PASSPORT (typically I leave mine locked in the hotel safe once I'm in a country but I had prior warning her that came in handy). They have these customs checks randomly smattered along the highways that they activate at random. If you're in a car with multiple people and you hit one of these you will be asked to provide proof of your Canadian Citizenship or could be detained by customs. Because of the problems in Mexico that have been spilling up into Southern California these stops are being activated much more frequently than I remember on previous visits.

Which brings me to point # 2. Don't go to Mexico. Currently the northern boarder is not safe for land crossing, there's a Canadian Travel Advisory against it. Last time I went down there we went down to Mexico and had fun but on this visit my friend in LA suggested we heed the travel advisory and not. It's not a pretty thing atm.

Airfare wise we flew out of Seattle to Orange County via Alaska Airlines... 4 people for $720 Canadian Return. Would have been cheaper to fly into LAX but... well LAX is a massive pain in the ass where as Orange County is a nice little airport that's a breeze to travel through. The other nice perk flying out of Seattle or Bellingham is you can pick up your duty free and such in Washington so it won't be hampered by luggage restrictions. There's a billion little domestic only Airports in the Greater LA area that you can land in if you fly domestic that will save you time and hassle.