Month: August 2018

PanIQ Room

One of the members of our Staycations crew is a Groupon hunter. In her search for new things to do she saw that the Paniq Room was opening on July 27^th in San Diego.

The Paniq Room is a live escape game that pits players against clues and puzzles to help them break out of a series of rooms before an hour is up. In San Diego there are three different themed rooms: a graveyard, a Voodoo shop, and the one we played which was a drug cartel room. In our case we had to get out of the room within an hour as the DEA were on their way to bust us.

The Foggy Graveyard

One of the rooms in the VooDoo scenario

With a big IQ in the name of PanIQ room, I assumed that your logic, puzzle solving, general observance, and math skills might be of service. So five of us that in my humble opinion are pretty smart set out to attempt the drug cartel room. We had a few Masters degrees in our bunch so I felt pretty confident of our chances.

Room One
Ready to tackle the game we were led to the first room with some basic instructions and were then handed a walkie talkie in case we needed help. As the door was slowly shutting, the facilitator’s last words were, “Find the clues to lead you to the next clue.”   Then came a small clinking sound and the door was shut. All master degrees and smarts aside, we looked like five lost and clueless children.

As we looked around the room we noticed we were in a chemical room or, in the case of our scenario, a drug making room. We desperately started looking for clues and soon found some obvious puzzles. We set out to solve the first one which ultimately was the combination to another challenge.   This is a hard story to tell because I don’t want to give anything away for those who want to try it themselves. So everything will be a little vague.

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When I said I was going to Oxnard for the weekend, everyone went, “Oxnard”? Where is Oxnard? What is Oxnard? No one knew much about it or heard of it. So here it is, my weekend in Oxnard , Port Heuneme, and Ventura. No one heard of Port Hueneme either. Hopefully after you read this you may consider taking a weekend trip, it is worth it.

Oxnard is a coastal city in central California located approximately 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The population of Oxnard is 203,585 as of 2012. A nice note, Oxnard was ranked as one of the safest cities in America with violent crime rates well below the national average

From Oxnards history I got this tidbit of the naming of the city:
Oxnard’s founder, Henry T. Oxnard, intended to name the city after a Greek word for “sugar”. Finally, frustrated with trying to communicate his desires to the state bureaucrats, he gave up and named the city after his family.

Oxnard is home to the beautiful Channel Islands Harbor and where there is a harbor there will be all sorts of water activities including whale watching, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, surfing, charters, fishing, etc.

Continue reading “How about a visit to Oxnard?”

How to get there
I was approaching one of the highest sections of the road coming into Lake Tahoe and as if on cue the snow began to gently drop on my windshield.   I had traveled this route a few times before while on my way to visit my Sister who resided in South Lake Tahoe.  However, I wasn’t thrilled with my upcoming lack of visibility especially in this most intimidating part of the road.

In addition, the sun had already set and the sky was turning darker by the minute.   I am a beach girl and have seen snow fall maybe three times in my life, so I am not an experienced driver in these conditions.

Luckily my friend, who is from the Mid West, noticed my white knuckles firmly gripping the steering wheel and informed me that she had driven in snowstorms way worst than this.   I saw a pull-off just ahead and I couldn’t get out of the car fast enough!  I happily let her take over the driving duties.

The route we took was one of a few to get into Lake Tahoe and each one has its pluses and minuses. In the way we came, which was coming down from Echo Summit, it was very scenic and only had one area where you drove on what some people would call scary, because of its height.  But that part doesn’t last long, most of the time it is easy driving.

Besides this route, I have driven in two other ways through the years.   The longest approach from the southern part of the state is coming around the Truckee side.  If my memory serves me, it wasn’t one of those winding, switchback roads but rather a gradual incline until you arrive into the northern part of the lake.  In contrast, from the Reno/Nevada side, you are traversing through plenty of switch backs and ‘S’ turns.

The road to Tahoe

Regardless of which way you decide to take, all of them will amaze you with the picturesque scenery.

Sadly, it has been many years since I had been to Tahoe, so when a friend and her family were spending a week at an Incline Village cabin, I asked her to take some photos while I brushed away the cobwebs from my memory to write this story.

A big thank you to Stephanie Moore for the photos.

About the Lake
Lake Tahoe is a huge fresh water lake with a surface area of 191 square miles and at an elevation of 6,225 feet.

The lake is 2/3 in California and 1/3 in the state of Nevada and is the largest alpine lake in North America as well as one of the deepest in the United States.

So what is there to do in Tahoe?

The question should be what isn’t there to do in Tahoe?

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Redondo Beach Pier

Redondo Beach is not exactly one of your sleepy coastal California towns. Located minutes from LAX airport in Los Angeles County, it is one of a few beach towns that comprise of what is called the South Bay. Along with Hermosa and Manhattan Beach, Redondo is where L.A. goes to the beach. As you can imagine it can be incredibly crowded in the summer.

On one extremely warm day in early March, you could have sworn it was smack in the middle of summer. People flocked to the beach that day as if it was a boiling hot July weekend. With parking often a problem in these Los Angeles beach towns, it was nice to find a space in the first parking lot we drove through. Because of the crowds, the pier offers multi level parking and additional lots are scattered around the nearby area.

The Pier
The Redondo Pier is a hub of activity with all the shops, restaurants, arcades, boat rentals, and more. Seafood was abundant as local vendors were selling it out in an open market, or you could dine at one of the many sit down restaurants. I am not a fan of seafood so my face scrunched up a few times as a plate full of sea urchin or crabs passed by on its way to a table of anxiously waiting dining guests. I was in the minority though as the restaurants were packed full and the lines to buy the fresh seafood were especially long.

Small shops selling various items were lined on one side of the small marina while on the other side sat the gaming arcade which was alive with all the usual sights and sounds of video games old and new. At the entrance of the new cement section, you can rent kayaks, SUP’s, paddle boats, book a boat tour, or take a ride on a glass bottom boat.

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Just about 26 miles from the Southern California coast and it took most of my life until I visited this wonderful place. Some people have never been even though they have lived in So Cal all of their life.

I hope this story will inspire you to go visit!

Catalina Island
The adventure to Catalina Island begins with the boat trip that ranges in length of time depending where you depart.

Boat trips are available from most of the harbors in Southern California so we decided to leave from Dana Point Harbor for the hour and a half trip across the Pacific.

The newer and larger boats get you there a lot faster these days and most of the time it is smooth sailing which helps to keep the sea sickness at a minimum.  However, just to be sure we loaded up on the Dramamine.

About 30 minutes out of port, we were treated to a visit from a pod of dolphins about 100 strong. A few were jumping the wakes of the boat so the Captain slowed us down to watch them frolic for a few minutes.

On a typical cloudy morning in California we couldn’t see Catalina from the shore so it was a thrill when we first spotted land as the sun starting peek out of the haze.  On a clear day you can see Catalina from most coastal cities  in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego Counties.

Continue reading “Catalina Island, Why did it Take so Long to go There?”