Angela, Fitz, and I recently celebrated my fortieth birthday with a relaxing trip to Southern California. We spent our time enjoying the beautiful weather while walking along beautiful trails and through San Diego’s largest park. It was yet another trip where we made great memories as a family.

Bookings

Hotels

• One suite for four nights at the Park Hyatt Aviara for 105,000 World of Hyatt points with a Suite Upgrade Award

December 5, 2025

After enjoying our morning coffee, we packed our duffel bags and Fitz’s suitcase before loading the car and heading towards San Diego. Our first stop was Yermo, CA, where we charged our car at one of the most depressing Tesla Superchargers that we’ve ever visited. Fitz needed some exercise, so we walked down an abandoned road before eating some snacks and continuing our journey.

Our next stop was a Tesla Supercharger in Menifee, CA. Luckily, this was a much nicer location inside of a well-developed shopping center. After walking around a bit, we had a late lunch at Taco Bell. I was quite hungry and I’m not sure I’ve ever been happier to devour a Crunchwrap Supreme.

The final stop before heading to our hotel was Sidecar Doughnuts. We wanted to grab some tasty treats for the evening. I ordered the huckleberry and Saigon cinnamon doughnuts while Angela opted for an apple pie doughnut alongside an apple fritter. As always, the doughnuts were delicious.

Unfortunately, our trip hit a bit of a snag here. We got caught in horrendous traffic caused by a suicidal individual threatening to jump off a nearby freeway overpass. Our projected twenty-minute journey to the hotel turned into a two-and-a-half-hour slog through stop and start (mostly stop) traffic.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by a very friendly valet who helped me load our bags onto a luggage cart while Angela took Fitz for a short walk around the property’s exterior and lobby.

At check-in, I was informed that the suite I had booked, the Fireplace Terrace Suite, was non-operational due to an emergency gas shutoff order. I was quite disappointed and let the manager on duty know as much. I had specifically booked that room type because Fitz loves sitting by the fire. I asked her if there were any other options available and she eventually upgraded us to the Blue Heron Suite for the duration of our stay.

Angela went looking for a water dispenser and took a few pictures of the gym while she was doing so. We didn’t end up making use of it, but it looked very well equipped.

After our longer than expected drive, we took it easy and ordered room service for dinner. I opted for the Wagyu burger with fries and Angela ordered the Caesar salad with chicken. My burger was cooked correctly, but it wasn’t exceptionally flavorful. Angela’s chicken breast was delicious, but the Caesar salad was mediocre. I wouldn’t specifically recommend in-room dining at the Park Hyatt Aviara, but I’m still happy we took the easy route upon arrival.

The best part of dinner was the birthday brownie the hotel provided me.

At this point, we were all pretty worn out. We went to sleep around 2030, an early night, even for us.

December 6

Unfortunately, Fitz woke up at 0015 because he needed to go outside. I got dressed and carried him downstairs so he could do his business before returning to the room and putting him in his sleep pod. He woke up again an hour later and wouldn’t settle back down, so I spent some time walking him around the resort to burn some energy before returning to the room where he hopped up on a chair and promptly fell asleep until 0715. I slept on the couch nearby in case he needed attending to.

After all that nonsense, we enjoyed a couple of cups of coffee on the balcony before getting dressed and walking over to breakfast. We asked if Fitz could join us in his stroller if we sat outside on the balcony, but we were rebuffed and told that only service dogs were allowed to join their owners for breakfast.

That led us to formulate our daily breakfast plan where one of us would head to the restaurant and eat before texting the other so we could swap places. This way Fitz would be appropriately attended at all times. Angela insisted upon me eating first while she took Fitz for a walk.

As a World of Hyatt Globalist, we had complimentary breakfast included with our stay. On the weekends, the Park Hyatt Aviara offers a somewhat limited, but high-quality, buffet. On weekdays, breakfast is limited to a la carte options.

Eventually, we swapped places and I took Fitz back to the room while Angela enjoyed her meal.

I watched college football until Angela returned. We headed to La Jolla Cove so that Fitz could see (and hear and smell) the sea lions and harbor seals. The drive there was smooth and we were lucky enough to find a parking spot right by the coastal path.

We walked along the coast, half with Fitz on lead and half with him in his stroller. Fitz attended his first protest as a newly minted activist and I took pictures of birds, firmly cementing my old guy status.

After finishing at La Jolla Cove, we popped back in the car and drove to Balboa Park. After finding a parking spot on the eastern edge of the park, we walked to Mnemonic Coffee to grab a quick pick-me-up. Angela headed inside and informed me that they only served drinks made with oat milk, a concept that is completely unacceptable to me. We went to find coffee somewhere in the park.

Luckily for us, our visit to Balboa Park coincided with December Nights. While we were there, the pedestrian walkways were lined with food and merchandise vendors. We stopped for a gyro which, unfortunately, was not worth the price of admission. Fitz seemed to think his small bite was delicious, though.

After our snack, we walked to Daniel’s Coffee. We ordered a mint mocha and a raspberry mocha, both half-sweet, and they were absolutely scrumptious. We found a log to sit on so Fitz could lounge in the grass while we sipped our beverages.

We finished our drinks and walked to the Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden where Fitz repeatedly tried to jump into the flower beds while Angela took photos of the beautiful flowers.

We tried to avoid some of the craziness on the way out of the park as Fitz was a little tired. As we made our way to the car, though, we stumbled upon an organist playing Bach and sat to enjoy the end of his performance.

After returning to our car, we drove back to Sidecar Doughnuts to grab dinner at The Melt, a local burger chain. I ordered a Double Melt Burger while Angela chose the single patty version and added grilled onions, jalapeno-pickle relish, and spicy sauce. We also ordered a small macaroni-and-cheese to split. Uncharacteristically, I purchased a fountain drink because I noticed that all of the choices were locally formulated sodas with real sugar. I sampled every flavor, eventually deciding that root beer is the best.

We enjoyed our burgers, but we likely won’t return to the restaurant because there was nothing special about the patty or toppings.

There was a Ralph’s next door to the restaurant, so we stopped for some milk and snacks before heading to Sidecar Doughnuts to pick up a single doughnut for dessert at the hotel. I opted, once again, for the huckleberry doughnut. Angela took a chance with the pecan pie doughnut. They were both, as expected, delicious.

Upon returning to the hotel, we took a few pictures of the gigantic Christmas tree the property put up at the back of their courtyard.

After watching the Big Ten Championship Game, we made up the pullout bed in the living room and placed Fitz on the adjacent couch cushion. This worked pretty well. While Fitz didn’t sleep until the morning, he made it more than halfway through the night before crawling into bed with us and sleeping until 0515.

December 7

On my birthday, we woke up early and enjoyed coffee on the balcony while the sun rose. It was an absolutely beautiful start to the day.

We performed our breakfast dance. Afterwards, we went for a long walk around the nearby Batiquitos Lagoon. Fitz walked five miles without any extended stops along the way, the longest continuous walk he’s done in quite some time.

When we made it back to the hotel, Angela and I played some board games before the Bears-Packers game started in the early afternoon. We watched the game (unfortunately a Bears loss) before ordering dinner from The Taco Stand. We each ordered a burrito and I ordered a couple of additional tacos for myself. While good, the items definitely didn’t live up to the superlative reviews we saw.

We took a chance and had Fitz sleep in his pod again. He slept through the night, presumably due to the increased activity from the day, gifting me a complete night’s sleep on my fortieth birthday.

December 8

After our normal breakfast routine, we walked from the hotel to the nearby Eucalyptus Grove trail. The trail was enjoyable, running through a residential neighborhood. It was well-shaded and graded with only a couple of spots of any difficulty.

We returned to the hotel, loaded Fitz in the car, and drove to Mesa Rim Climbing Gym Mira Mesa where we spent three hours tackling the towering walls. Angela, in particular, absolutely crushed it, tackling difficult routes requiring endurance, technical climbing skills, and strength.

For dinner, we visited Pitfire Pizza. We were quite hungry after climbing, so we ordered a Caesar salad, “leveled up” chicken meatballs, a Zoe’s pepperoni pizza, and a burrata pizza with sausage. Everything was absolutely delicious. This was, by far, the best meal we ate on the trip.

We returned to the hotel to relax and were lucky enough that Fitz slept through the night once again.

December 9

After another delightful breakfast, we packed our things, checked out, and started our drive home. We really enjoyed our time in Carlsbad at the Park Hyatt Aviara and will likely return in the future if the times call for a relaxing getaway.

Our first charging stop was Victorville, CA. The city has two Tesla Supercharger stations, and we went slightly out of our way to go to the one with more amenities. It is right next to a Starbucks, so we ordered some coffees alongside a puppuccino and sat outside with Fitz while the car charged.

We couldn’t manage to get all the way home, even with a full battery, so we stopped in Primm, NV to charge. As a bonus, I went to the Pinkbox near the Supercharger and retrieved my free birthday doughnut.

After that, it was smooth sailing home to finish our trip. We had a great time in Southern California for my birthday. The hotel we stayed at was beautiful and, other than Fitz’s wonky sleep schedule, everything was wonderful.