Every year, the world comes to Orange County for summer: to lounge in a Laguna resort, to frolic at Disneyland, to shop at South Coast Plaza, to bar crawl from Huntington Beach to Old Towne Orange. We’re heaven on earth during this season because we have everything—even surf riots!
And yet . . . you want to go. Away from the crowds. To places unknown, places beloved, places where the vistas are amazing and the deals preposterously cheap. So do what this country historically did when home for the summer proved too much: Go West, young cabrones.
Over the years, our writers have learned to love different parts of the region: the green chile roasts of Albuquerque, the romanticism of the High Sierra, the anything-goes charms of non-Vegas Nevada, the ever-beckoning allure of Mexico. For this year, we want to regale you with our tales of Westcations, from Oregon to El Paso, Costa Rica to the California ghost town called Bodie. Don’t get us wrong: We’re going to be doing a lot of great things in Orange County this summer, too. But take a weekend and drive or fly or hitch a ride and discover the America you never knew until now. Just remember: You can’t hold it in until the next gas stop!
