In February of 2020, we took our five kids on an epic RV road trip all over California. Our trip started off with a visit to my sister, near Los Angeles, and then it was time for the real adventure. Our first stops were the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum and several sites along Route 1, traveling North.
La Brea Tar Pits
Our family was more interested in natural wonders than shopping on Rodeo Drive or visiting the Hollywood (although we did see it in the distance while driving). There was one place that we really wanted to see in the Los Angeles area, and that was the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum. Adult tickets normally cost $15 and kids tickets are $7, so we were looking at $65 in admission. However, I found out about “First Tuesday Free.” There are a number of museums in California that offer free admission on the first Tuesday of every month, and one of those places is La Brea (except for July and August, but every Tuesday in September). Luckily, we were already in that area on the first Tuesday of the month, so it worked out perfectly. Just note that you have to order these free tickets online AHEAD OF TIME and there is a limit on how many they give out, so make sure to pick those up as soon as you make your plans. We did end up having to pay for parking, but it wasn’t that big of an expense with the free admission.
The museum was big, with lots of interactive exhibits for playing. You can definitely do it all in one day. The actual tar pits outside are free to visit and there is a nice little park outside, with some sites of active archaeological digging. You can bring food and drink with you for a little picnic. One thing that I found surprising, is that there are actually spots outside where tar is coming up out of the ground. Goofball had fun pretending that he was stuck.
After a “see ya later” with my sister, we headed towards the La Mirada area. Mr. Smith found a spot to park for the night, on a street near the beach (which I’m sure only worked because it was February).
In the morning, we woke up and went to look for Monarch Butterflies and Elephant Seals.
Monarch Butterfly Grove
As planned, we only had a two minute drive in the morning to the spot where there were supposed to be tons of butterflies. We looked and looked, and only found one cluster of orange and black high up in the trees. It was disappointing, but we accepted that the timing must not have been right. There was a little beach right there, so we took an opportunity to walk around and play in the sand (hoping that the butterflies would magically appear on our way back to the RV). We were quite fascinated by the very different vegetation – it looked nothing like what grows in New York.
Elephant Seal Vista Point
We moved on from butterflies to Elephant Seals, by visiting a Vista Point in San Simeon. There was no disappointment here, as there were tons of seals on the beach, making their unique barking sounds. We had to keep an eye on our littlest one though, as he kept asking to go down to the beach to play with the baby seals. This was another free stop, and there were no issues parking the RV in the big lot.
Dennis The Menace Playground
Next, we traveled over to a huge playground in Monterrey. It was awesome and the kids did not want to leave. There were a bunch of typical playgrounds scattered in the sand; a really big roller slide that went under a bridge; a separate, super-long suspension bridge, tunnels, and a hedge maze. And, there were bathrooms.
As you can tell from the last photograph, we stayed until the sun was setting. After that, we made stops for gas and replenished our food supply, and it was time to hit the road again . . . headed North to San Francisco.
