Goodbye Spring and Hello Summer my fellow Californians! The first part of this years has been a blast, but I am sure it won’t compare to the good times we are about to encounter. The cities along the coast of California offer some of the most beautiful and fun spots in the US during the summer time. You can bet on the fact that we, CalActive, are most definitely going to enjoy the hot season. There are just so many things to do in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, etc.
Here are some of the activities we hope to do this summer:
Canyoneering in Los Angeles, California: This just sounds like such a blast. We haven’t gotten around to it yet, but we will soon. In the meantime, some of you should try it out and definitely let us know how much you loved it. “…hiking up a mountain trail that parallels a deep canyon, where down below you hear water flowing over the rocky canyon bottom,” need I say more?
Surfing Lessons in Laguna Beach: I have to admit, I still have never tried to surf, but this summer I plan to change that. Our good friend Jason does the surfing lessons, so it should be a great time. I’m pretty sure he can make me a pro!
Scuba Diving in Catalina Island: As a child I grew up in the island of St. Maarten and have always had a passion for under water life. I have done much snorkeling in my life, but not much scuba diving. I’ll be sure to start getting on that!
Do you have any good activity ideas for the summer? What are you going to be doing? Leave a comment.
So, you are trying to figure out exactly what you can do for father’s day this year. There are so many activities in southern California for you to do with Dad and possibly even the rest of the family. Let’s run through some ideas:
Boat Rentals - 65 Ft Yacht Charter Southern California has some of the best weather in the country, and we expect this Sunday to be a beautiful day. How great would it be to round up the entire family and cruise along the beautiful SoCal coast? You can charter a 65 foot yacht from Newport Beach, CA.
Flying Lessons - Biplanes or Helicopters
This is for those that are a bit more daring. You can take dad on an experience of a lifetime. You can take lessons for flying either a biplane (like the ones used in the military dogfights) or a helicopter. The biplane flying lessons are out of Carlsbad and the helicopter flying lessons are out of Long Beach.
Fishing You can never go wrong with a good fishing trip and California is well-known for it’s fishing along the coast. We have Newport Beach fishing and Dana Point fishing, and both offer trips that depart throughout the day. There are half-day, full-day, and all-night fishing trips as well. If you want to do something that is REALLY unique, you may want to go out with dad on a Kayak Fishing trip in Newport Beach, which is a unique and memorable experience.
Stock Car Racing If you and dad have a need for speed, Stock car racing is the way to go. You would be driving a NASCAR stock car in one of the finest facilities in Southern California (minutes away from downtown Los Angeles). You have three options: 10 Lap Stock Car Race, 20 Lap Stock Car Race, 40 Lap Stock Car Race.
You can also get other ideas by visiting our website, www.calactive.com.
Feel free to post other cool ideas for things to do with dad this father’s day!
CalActive.com has consistently grown more than 50% in traffic month over month. We recently achieved 5,000 unique visitors to the CalActive.com website in the month of May!
Congratulations to the entire CalActive team for their dedication and enthusiasm with the project. Thank you to all our visitors for the great interest in Southern California activities. We strive to offer only the best and we couldn’t do it without you.
There are some who’ve been anticipating a write up about my backpacking trip to Havasupai Falls, and I’m sorry to report that I couldn’t make the trip this year. The others did make the trip and had a blast, as expected. Here are some pics to share with you (I can’t believe I missed this), and I hope to share my version of this adventure with you sooner than later. Enjoy!
So we just added Canyoneering to our activity list and I’m dying to go. I love adventure so this will be the perfect outing for me. Canyoneering involves everything from climbing to hiking, jumping, scrambling, rapeling down waterfalls… you name it, you do it. Sounds fun, right?! I found a great story about a Canyoneering adventure. Hopefully I’ll get to view the video too (sounds like it was a great trip). What is Canyoneering? Come discover for yourself what this crazy activity is all about.
So for all you mothers out there, I’m sure you’re excited to be treated like a queen next Sunday, and for everyone else, you’re probably still thinking about what to do! It really is just around the corner, so you better come up with something good. After all, our mothers brought us into this world, and while they deserve to be treated like queens every single day, they definitely deserve something truly special and unique on their day.
While some moms are physically active and enjoy getting out there and doing something fun and outdoorsy, others just want to relax and be pampered on their special day. Both sound absolutely fun and fabulous! One thing I would suggest is maybe not taking her out to dinner. That’s one of the most common and expected things you can do, which is why it’s one of the busiest, money-making days of the year for restaurants. There are so many other fun and unique ways to say I Love You to your momma. In fact, I found an interesting blog with several cute and affordable ideas for Mother’s Day gifts.
Aside from giving gifts, take your mom out for the day and do something fun. We live in Southern California, for crying out loud, so why not take her out on a duffy boat or maybe a sailboat. It’s so relaxing, but at the same time, it’s exciting and a great idea for the whole family to enjoy. I know my mom would absolutely love going out on a boat because she’s never really been on one before.
Another idea is a brunch or dinner cruise, which we offer in Newport Beach, Marina del Rey and San Diego. Although a less intimate setting than a duffy boat or sailboat charter, brunch and dinner cruises are fun and come with an amazing, gourmet meal and beverages.
If your mom has a serious case of seasickness, take her up on a hot air balloon ride over Southern California’s wine country, Temecula Valley. How fun would it be to go ballooning and then wine tasting afterwards?!? Sounds like a fabulous day to me!
For the more adventurous mothers, get out and ride some jet skis around the harbor or out in the ocean. Although it’s still springtime, the weather is heating up and it’s the perfect time to start getting out in and on the water. Let your mom shine and show off her skills by ripping it up on a jet ski or waverunner. What a blast!
Whatever you decide to do, make it a special day that your mom will never forget. Give her something unique and surprise her by taking her out to do something she’s never done and would never expect. Taking her out to dinner and giving her flowers is special, but very common. Moms, expect the unexpected this year. You deserve to have a unique and memorable experience with your loved ones. You are all so wonderful and we love and appreciate you unconditionally. Thank you for being you.
Last Friday we received a visit from our friends and makers of the fantastic Go San Diego Card (click the link to order your very own card). Actually, they make Go Cards for many different destinations, such as Los Angeles, Boston, Orlando, Miami, Chicago and many others. It’s such an amazing idea, really. You purchase a card that comes with a free guide. The guide has tons of ideas for things to do locally and will get you in at no additional cost to about 50 different attractions.
The representative that paid us a visit was nice enough to leave us a couple of Go San Diego Cards to try out. At some point in the next couple of weeks two of us will be going to San Diego to enjoy the benefits of the card. Looking at the guide, there are so many different things to do, it will be tough.
Tour PETCO Park. I am a big baseball fan, and going to take a tour of the San Diego Padres home park sounds like a perfect thing to do. How could I miss this?!
Wine Tasting! Why would we not go drink some free wine?
You will have to wait to find out what we actually end up doing
On Saturday, Heather and I went to our Military Flight Simulator activity in Southern California. First of all, when I left my house it was nearly 100 degrees. HOT AS CAN BE. So I was happy we were going to be inside in an air conditioned room.
When you first walk in to the location, there is a mural with a totally cool jet scene and three jet fighter seats. Take a look:
The mural:
The Jet Fighter Seats:
Heather sitting on the Jet Fighter Seat:
Our activity started at around 12:15pm. We walked to the back room and got into our flight suite. It was totally TOP GUN!
Heather and I in our suites:
After we were suited up, we were brought into a class room to learn everything we needed to know about flying a jet fighter plane. All I remember the teacher telling us is that we had a throttle, a button to load our missiles, a button to launch the missile, a button to shoot bullets (that are basically harmless unless you are 2 feet away, and ready to crash into, the other jet fighter), and a button to speak to our assistant back in the control center.
Learning how to fly:
Great, now that we know exactly how to fly a jet fighter (yeah, sure we do!), we are ready to jump into the cockpit of our Jet Fighters! It was so cool to jump in and really feel what it’s like to sit inside such a small area with complete control of this huge piece of machinery that can fly faster that the speed of sound. After I sit down, I hold on to the throttle on my left (which also has a button that works just like the Nextel/Sprint Push-to-Talk feature whenever you have something to say) and what looks exactly like an Atari joystick on the right. There is someone there to walk you through every step of the way as many times as needed to make sure you have a great time. While you are flying, back in the control deck, someone is on the headphones talking you through any problems or questions (they also give you more missiles when you run out, so don’t be shy, and ask for more!).
The Jet Fighters:
The Throttle:
The Joystick:
Getting more help:
Control Deck:
Check out the Missiles:
If there are guests that are not going to be flying, there is a great area right outside with 8 screens for the visitors to see all the action while it takes place (see below). There are also some simple rules, which are listed on the photo below, but no big deal.
Waiting Room:
The Rules:
This is really an amazingly fun activity that does not cost very much. You will not regret doing it! Oh yeah, and before I forget… Guess who won the dogfight?
Sometimes fear stops us from doing some of the most exciting and adrenaline packed things in life. Ever since my friend passed along her copy of “One Month To Live: Thirty Days to a No-Regrets Life,” I treat everyday as the most important!
News or friends inform us about such stories that relate to life, and often make us wonder why things happen the way they do. For example, this morning there was a rare and freak shark attack in Solana Beach, San Diego. A 66 yr. old man in great shape was training for his next triathlon and was freakishly bitten by a shark and didn’t survive. And then I stumble upon a more uplifting story where a 96 yr. old former US Navy pilot took a trip to Knott’s Berry Farm so he could take in some excitement and ride the fastest rides there, regardless of being in a wheelchair.
His daughter mentioned that “He doesn’t get out at all, so sometimes I plan a day where we go out,” she said. “That morning, I told him, ‘If you get out of bed, I’ll buy you breakfast, and maybe we could take a ride up to Knott’s.’ He liked that idea.”
How I look at…we’re dealt with a deck of cards each day - you can play or pass. I’d rather play!
It’s nice when I leave my house in the morning to head to work and there is not a cloud in the sky and 65-70 degrees. A PERFECT DAY! So, a few days ago I am heading down to Laguna Beach (where our office is) and all of a sudden, as I drove down Newport Coast, it seemed as if I was driving straight down into the clouds. Seriously, it looked so weird. Take a look…
