West Coast

Although our southern neighbours are not always our favorite people to visit they do have a ton of fun stuff to do. Last summer I took a road trip down the west coast of North America. I started by visiting my family in Victoria, BC for a few days then headed south. I'm not going to bore you with details of exactly how we got down there but I will tell you about the highlights.

Photo provided by: Ian Britton

The first highlight of the trip was San Francisco! What a beautiful city. San Francisco is situated right off of the San Francisco Bay, often recognized by its extreme hills with rows of slanted buildings lining the sides and old trolleys dinging down the streets. Of course we can't forget the Golden Gate Bridge; such an amazing bridge to cross over. I just loved the atmosphere here and the people we met were so nice and helpful.

The best parts of the visit was the open top Double Decker Bus Tour which included going over the Golden Gate Bridge and the Aquarium of the Bay . I had been to San Francisco a few times with my family but we never went to the aquarium which is sad because it is so amazing. They have little sharks and manta rays you can pet and the best part is their 300 feet of underwater tunnels that let you see a huge array of ocean life, including some very large sharks. It was the best aquarium I have ever seen and definitely recommend it.

Next we headed towards Anaheim, CA which I am sure you have heard of since it contains some of the best amusement parks in North America! I'm getting excited just talking about it, being a total roller coaster freak. But before that we drove through the Red Wood Forest. It is the scenic route down the west coast which you can stop and look at some of the giant red wood trees. You can also camp and hike there as it is a State Park. We took a short hike there and drove through the famous Chandelier Tree, yes drove. The Red Wood Forest is an amazing park and a great place to stop and stretch your legs.

Photo provided by: ShawnaScottPhoto

Anyway back to Anaheim, the greatest place on Earth for a child and grownups like myself. Anaheim is the hub for Disneyland, California Adventures, Universal Studios and Six Flags. All amazing parks however, last time I visited I found Disneyland and Universal Studios to be a bit timid for my liking. Definitely directed towards a younger crowd, but my opinion could be bias as I have also been to Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando Florida which I found to be suited towards a much older crowd, finding it much more enjoyable. I recommend if you can afford the flight to Florida those are the better parks in comparison and both have a lot more to offer.

But I still really enjoyed California Adventures and Six Flags. If you don't know much about amusement parks California Adventures is another one of Disney's parks and Six Flags is basically a roller coaster park, you won't find much else there for rides so make sure you only go there if you like them. Otherwise Six Flags also has a sweet water park next door, however, I have never been there but it looks awesome. If you haven't been to any of these parks before I am positive that anyone would still be a great time, just enjoying the wonders they have to offer. Here is a list of my favorite rides/events at each park that is a definite don't miss:

Disneyland

1. Space Mountain (a classic)
2. Fireworks (over the castle)

California Adventures

1. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (scares the begeezes out of you)
2. World of Color (an amazing fountain light show, make sure you plan ahead and get in line for a good spot)

 Universal Studios

1. Jurassic Park Ride (prepare to get wet!)
2. Studio Tour (get to see the movie sets and how they do special effects, sound boring? It's not because it's a ride too)

Six Flags

1. Goliath (This was a tough choice because the X2 is awesome as well but this one almost makes me black out every time so it has to win)
2. Apocalypse (a wooden roller coaster that goes so fast and is so rickety that you actually are worried for your life)

Now I picked two rides for Six Flags because really that is what they do best and it was hard enough just picking two with so many good roller coasters to pick from. With this being said a Flash Pass is definitely worth the extra bit of money if you are a avid rider. This pass allows you to book a ride with an electronic device which you carry with you. You can book one ride at a time so while you wait in one line you generally can go straight to your booked ride with hardly any waiting afterwards. It works by holding your place in line when you check in on your device and generally takes no longer than 30 minutes. Once the time is up you get to skip half the line or more. I used it on my last trip and I actually got to ride every single ride there a couple of times, well worth it.

After Anaheim we headed to San Diego, CA. San Diego has the perfect weather all year round except during "June Gloom" which unfortunately I got to learn about by experiencing it. Although this dampened our plans a bit we were still able to salvage the trip by visiting the San Diego Zoo and Sea World. The San Diego Zoo is enormous and will definitely takes a full day to complete. Personally I thought it was a bit over rated as I find the Calgary Zoo to be just as good. But there is only so much you can do in San Diego when it's cold. Instead I would suggest seeing the San Diego Safari Park for something new as I wish I had done.

Sea World on the other hand was very cool and had some amazing shows! The whales and dolphins danced to music while acrobats flew over top, it really was extreme! I definitely didn't expect it making it an awesome surprise, that along with the few rides they had. Who knew that a park made to see marine life had water based rides and roller coasters? You definitely get your money's worth at this park.

Photo provided by: Simon

Next, Las Vegas! Ya Baby! As we were nearing the end of our trip we only had a few days left to explore Las Vegas which definitely wasn't enough time. There are so many things to do in Vegas: shows, gamble, walk the strip, rides, check out the hotels, shop, sun bath and clubbing are just a few to mention. The only things we were able to get through was shopping which was kind of disappointing as we were told to go to the outlet mall a little further from the strip but we didn't find much. Clubbing wasn't really what we expected either however, maybe it was just the club we went to. Plus we went on a Thursday when the best clubbing is still on the weekends, even in Vegas. However, the show did not disappoint, we saw KA a show done by Cirque Du Soleil, just amazing! The show was one of the highlights from my trip and I definitely want to see another Cirque Du Soleil show. Plus you can't put a price on sun bathing by a gorgeous pool with a Pina Colada in your hand.

That was basically all the highlights of the trip other than stopping to enjoy the extravagance of the Grand Canyon and driving through the beauty of Yellow Stone National Park on the way home. I think I have made my point. The west coast has many amazing and wonderful things to see, besides who doesn't like a road trip? Next time, east coast.