Are You Ready for SPRING BREAK?

While the vacation season in California ebbs and flows throughout the year with spring break, summer, Thanksgiving and Christmas, the spring break is really the launch of the California beach vacations

All winter long the mountain resorts enjoy their peak season with snow attracting guests from all over the place. The primary ski regions are in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in places such as Lake Tahoe, Mammoth Lakes and Bear Valley, while Southern California's very own Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino mountains offers snowtime play and skiing that most snowboarders say you can get your thrils on.

But when spring comes along, stir-crazy Californians are ready to cut their teeth on some beach relaxation and much to the ire of the surfing crowd, those easy-to-find parking spots aren't quite as abundant. Well, guess what? It's spring now and the license plates from all over (yesterday I saw Missouri, Oregon, Baja California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona and Washington) are migrating to our hallowed shores of the Pacific Ocean for a little R&R.

What do I recommend for a Vacation in California this spring? If you are a skiier, you probably know that there's still snow in the Sierras, and the skiing is fine. Go and have a good time. If you're a flatlander, then you may want to check out some special treats that happen only once each year in California. One is the spring bouquet of flowers that hit the desert floor, the gold country hillsides and the central valley meadows. Go look at the colorful feast and take lots of videos.

If you are a beach junkie, the water temps in the Pacific are starting to rise ever so slowly. Along the coast the temperatures now range from around 52 in the north to 60 in the south. It's a little cool for a warm swim, but most tourists don't get in the water anyway. They go to Florida beaches for that. In California, they come to see the natural beauty, the open spaces, Big Sur and redwood coastal trees and enjoy the Hollywood scene.

Where should you go? Major airports to check into include LAX and SFO (Los Angeles and San Francisco). From there, the sky's the limit this spring.