Just wanted to say hello and thank you all so much for all the helpful information! We did in fact go to Disneyland and the San Diego Zoo, as that was the consensus opinion. They were both awesome and we were very glad we went. We also spent a day in Hollywood, visiting the Kodak theater and Hollywood and Highland area. We drove up into the Hollywood Hills and also up and down Rodeo Drive and through all the fancy- schmancy homes in Beverly Hills. There we were, sitting at a stop light in Beverly Hills in our little Chevy rental van and we were surrounded by Rolls Royces, Bentleys and a Ferrari. I'm not sure if it was the van or the fact that I was taking pictures out the windows that made us look like tourists. We hung out around the condo one day and then had a pool/beach day. We were absolutely exhausted but had a wonderful time. The flower fields in Carlsbad were breathtaking. Laguna Beach was really pretty, too.
Traffic wasn't really as bad as we thought it would be. There was a ton of it but usually people make it sound like you sit on the highway for hours and hours on end and we didn't run into any of that. We did have a hard time getting used to the fact that motorcyclists do not actually drive in a lane but rather on the line dividing the lanes. That was new to us.
We stayed right at the base of the pier in Oceanside in the new Wyndham Resort. We purchased time share (or vacation ownership as they now like to call it) several years ago with Fairfield and they changed into Wyndham over the last year or two. The resort was beautiful and we loved the view of the pier and the water. Just breathtaking.
Definitely a beautiful place you all call home! The mountains, the water, the blooming flowers......sigh
Thanks again for all the helpful comments and suggestions. They really helped us to make decisions regarding our itinerary.
P.S. I'm ashamed to say that Wienerschnitzel was one of our favorite stops while we were there.