Jackie traveled with her husband and children.

Re: California Trip-Christmas Week 2005

My family and I stayed at the Marriott La Merigot in Santa Monica. The hotel is centrally located and on the beach. Rooms were nice and spacious. A family of four can fit nicely into one of their bigger rooms. Pool was small but adequate. Only negative -the work out machines and gym were lousy. I guess most people chose to run on the beach.

We stayed in LA for 4 days - went to Universal. We ordered 'front of line' passes on the internet before leaving which was key- no lines - not even to get into the park. We also rented bikes on the beach and hiked in the Malibu mountains. All activities my kids (whose ages range from the 7 to 14) liked and were able to do.

After that we drove to Palm Springs. The ride took approximately three hours. We stayed at the Hyatt Grand Champion Resort in Indian Wells. Gorgeous resort. Very family friendly with kid clubs and movies. They also have bike riding, pool, ping pong etc. The town is boring so unless you are a big golfer I don't recommend it for more than a few days. For us it was great to relax there after touring LA.