Lego Coast

Lego Coast
Where would you stay when going to California Disneyland and all the other parks?

My husband and I will be driving down the coast from Washington and going to Disneyland, Universal Studios, Sea World, Redwood forest, lego land and all that fun stuff! Anyhow i’m trying to plan it out and am not sure what order I should do things or where I should stay…I’m not quite sure how far apart all the parks are so some input would be great! Thanks!

someplace cheap, day’s inn is generally nice, had some good times there. I seriously doubt anyone has fat wallets and extremely deep pockets during the recession. the parks already cost like $100 a day and the cheap, useless junk you buy is like another $100. rather then go broke with all that spending and $150 a night hotels, the “cheap” motels can help you save some money.

route: pacific coast highway or 5 fwy
direction: south
order: universal (1 or 2 days)
disney 1-2 days
seaworld 1 days
redwood forest 2 days to 2 weeks, reserve early, camp if you’d like, however a hotel is recommended. there’s like only 2 hotels so no possibility of a cheap motel 8 or something. Redwoods also found at Yosemite national park too.

distance: down from WA state to Universal Studios, CA: 700+ miles (I don’t know, its a guess)
<30 miles SOUTH Universal to Disneyland
approx 110 miles SOUTH from disney to seaworld, San Diego, CA.
>200 miles NORTH from sea world to Sequoia or Kings Canyon National park.
>100 miles NORTH from Kings/Sequoia to Yosemite Park.

I’ve had many great experiences at motel 8, holiday inn and day’s inn.

Gas in Southern California is $2.80 to $3.20, please drive a fuel efficient car, otherwise you’ll be broke from the gas cost.

avoid driving into cities in the morning,and leaving them at the evening.
morning rush hour: 7.30a to 9.30a, noon rush 12p to2p, evening rush: 3pm to 8pm.

avoid the 110 freeway in Pasadena, 710 most of the route, 710 has construction from the 405 to the 91, avoid this route. there is a choke point in traffic flow at where the 91 and 5 freeways cross, there is a construction area a bit north of that for some odd reason people like to slow way down and cause a jam.

near downtown LA freeway speed limit is 55 for all vehicles and 45 for trucks and heavy vehicles.
California #1 in the USA for speeding tickets/speeds, so don’t speed too much and don’t get road rage is someone appears to nearly hit you while passing at the high rate of speed. It happens a lot. don’t travel in the carpool lane if you can’t drive up to 85. People get pissed and tailgate you if you drive 65 (speed limit) when traffic is light.

I recommend post 2005 maps of the LA/Orange County/Riverside and San Diego county maps, there’s been lots of change on the freeways and roads.

Lego land is in San Diego, as so is this really wilderness big zoo. all within 30 miles of seaworld.

while Mexico is real close to San Diego, do not go into Mexico. Do be careful in San Diego, some Mexican gangs have taken to kidnapping Americans for hostages or ransom. Its Extremely Rare, but still be careful.

you can visit universal studios, see Hollywood, see downtown LA, disney, and Knotts berry farm (amusement park like disney but more for teenagers) all going south on the 5 freeway.

other parks I recommend
Six flags/Magic Mountain
Disney California adventure
Knott’s berry farm
Long Beach Aquarium
San Diego Zoo
See Hollywood,
Visit downtown LA
Visit historic San Diego and Visit downtown San Diego
Visit historic Santa Ana, Orange, LA.
Visit downtown Long Beach (more tall buildings than downtown LA)

Lego City – Coast Guard Minifigure – Orange & Blue w/ Cap $5.98

LEGO City Coast GUARD TRUCK WITH SPEEDBOAT 7726 $39.50

Lego Yellow Life Raft Rescue City Town Coast Guard $1.25

LEGO City 7736 Coast Guard Quad Bike MISB $9.90

white Flag on Flagpole Coast Guard Pattern LEGO #6387 $3.75

LEGO World City Coast Watch HQ 7047 $9.99

2003 Lego Baseplate ONLY From Set# 7047-Coast Watch HQ $24.99

Lego World City Town NIB 7047 Coast Watch Doctor figure raised baseplate RARE $79.95

Lego City Coast Guard Truck with Speed Boat (7726) New $129.95

Lego Rare White Dolphin Belville Animal Paradisa Coast Guard Pirate 5845 2555 $13.59

Lego Black Coast Guard Watch Decorated Brick Sign $1.75

LEGO Sawfish Shark Lot White Gray Animal Divers Pirates Coast Guard Aquazone $5.99

Lego 6437 Beach Buggy Coast Guard Brand New $7.95

Nib Lego Limited Edition # 4210 Coast Guard Platform – Sealed Rare! $199.99

Lego Set 7047 COAST WATCH HQ Mostly Complete, No Minifigures With Base $31.99

NEW Lego City Coast Guard – ATV Driver Minifig $1.00

Lego Minifig RESCUE COAST GUARD MAN BULLHORN Town City $5.99

M007C Lego World City – Coast Guard Minifigure with Gun NEW $3.98

LEGO CITY 3537 COAST GUARD 4WD & Jet Scooter $7.50

LEGO CITY COAST Guard Quad BIKE NIB $18.00

Lego Rescue COAST Guard Minifig Boat Town City 6518 $2.95

Lego RESCUE COAST GUARD Minifig Boat Town City 6334 $2.95

LEGO World City: Coast Watch HQ #7047 100% COMPLETE $59.49

LEGO 5621 COAST Guard Kayak NEW IN SEALED BOX $25.95

LEGO 7736 COAST GUARD BIKE NEW IN BOX Never Opened $6.99

Lego City 7737 COAST GUARD 4WD. $4.99

Lego City #7738 Coast Guard Helicopter & Life Raft NIB $95.00

Lego City Emergency Rescue Coast Guard 4WD & Jet Scooter #7737 + original box $13.00

Lego Coast Guard Airplane Aircraft Fuselage Curved Aft Section w/ Orange Base $8.99

Lego Coast Guard Orange Life Boat Raft $5.65

Lego City 7736 Coast Guard Quad Bike NEW NIP $12.99

LEGO COAST GUARD Set Lot 7737 7738 7739 HELICOPTER PATROL BOAT TOWER JET SKI 4WD $149.99

LEGO 6433 POLICE BOAT COAST WATCH & Mini Figures PART BOXED RARE EX COND FLOATS $37.90

HUGE Lego Lot see pictures– Coast Guard – Star Wars – People GREAT Deal $24.95

Lego Coast Guard City Minifig Mini Figure #1 $3.99

Lego Coast Guard City Minifig Mini Figure #2 $3.99

Lego Coast Guard City Minifig Mini Figure #3 $3.99

Lego 7739 Coast Guard Patrol Boat Hull only $12.00

1 Pair Lego Orange Flippers Diver Coast Guard Rescue Minifig Accessory $3.65

Lego City Coast Guard 1 Yellow Legs Blue Cap Minifigure res001 $4.41

Lego HELICOPTER Pilot Minifig Coast Guard City Town Boat Rescue 4210 7738 $2.95

LEGO 7738 City Coast Guard Helicopter & Life Raft, NEW! $139.99

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Concrete Homes – your Fortress in a Natural Disaster

If the area you lived in was subject to earthquakes, insect infestation and wildfires, and you could live in a type of housing that could withstand all those perils, why wouldn’t you? Concrete homes have an amazing resistance to all of the above and are commonly used in Florida and other hurricane ridden locations, but their popularity hasn’t spread to the west coast.

Due to their unique construction, a number of homes have survived the wildfires in California. Pat Callahan owns a concrete house outside Escondido that only suffered smoke damage during the October Witch Creek fire. Although the vinyl windows were melted, the house remained standing.

Another success story was that of Lorraine Aledort and her 5,500 square-foot concrete house near Ramona. The upgrades in her home included:

Concrete Roof Tiles, glued-down to resist high winds.

Interior fire sprinklers (now a local building requirement).

Oversized wood beams to withstand exposure to heat longer than their smaller counterparts.

An emergency power generator.

A 10,000-gallon water tank to be used in a fire emergency.

Commercial grade aluminum windows with extra thick tempered glass.

Exterior walls were one foot in thickness including reinforcing steel placed in the concrete forms for protection against earthquake damage.

After spending 3 1/2 years building their home, Lorraine and her husband had only lived there a few weeks when the wildfires struck. The landscape was blackened, but the house withstood only minor smoke damage. The cost of building compared to a comparable wood home was about twenty percent higher; Lorraine considers this money well spent

Structural engineer, George Easton describes concrete construction similar to assembling Lego Blocks. “The “blocks” are polystyrene forms, called insulated concrete forms, into which the concrete is poured. The forms then are left in place to serve as insulation and the backing for stucco on the exterior or drywall on the interior.”

The walls can provide up to an R-50 energy rating and require approximately 44 percent less energy to heat and 32 percent less energy to cool compared to a traditional wood home.

If concrete houses are so effective against natural disasters, why aren’t they widely used? Part of the problem is the lack of knowledge in the building industry regarding concrete construction. Even though concrete construction has national code approval, there are many inspectors with little knowledge of how to inspect the structures.

Many builders feel that the future of widespread concrete housing requires a dominant player in the building industry to come forward and say “we can do this”, and others will follow suit.

About the Author

This article was written on behalf of Doug Jones, an award winning San Diego REALTOR