See the Instagram post below for more pictures.
After the bus got into Mission Viejo, the bus was way too crowded with students going to Saddleback College for their classes. At first, I thought I was at my bus stop to get to the Shops at Mission Viejo, however, I was off by a mile, which was okay for me to walk (not like I jogged four miles from Dana Point to San Juan Capistrano already). There was a long line of cars going down the road to go on the ramp to I-5 or heading to Laguna Niguel, which I was glad that I didn’t have to drive, I only needed to worry about making my bus and trains on time.
The Shops at Mission Viejo is an indoor shopping mall owned 49% by CalPERS & Miller Capital Advisers, and 51% by Simon Properties to a majority stake. It is also managed by Simon, gaining the “A Simon Mall” moniker & logo. Built in 1979, it encompasses 67 acres with 159 units of higher-end shops and restaurants, anchored by Macy’s, Nordstrom, and Dick’s Sporting Goods. It features high-end outlets such as Tesla, Apple, Pottery Barn, LEGO, William Sonoma, and more. It features chain sit-down restaurants such as Cheesecake Factory, Islands Burgers, P.F. Chang, Ruby’s Diner, and more. Along with a food court with Blaze Pizza, Chipotle, and more.
I walk around the mall to kill time and rest up since at that point. I burnt nearly 900 in thanks walking around Dana Point Harbor and jogging to San Juan Capistrano and walking the mile uphill from the bus stop to the mall. It was December so they had photos with Santa, however, he was not out yet since it was 3 pm on a Monday, and kids from school and their parents are not fully ready to head to the mall right now. I looked around the mall and found two of my favorite stores, GameStop, which can be found at most malls, and a rarity for most indoor malls, a LEGO store! And I bought nothing from either store, nothing of interest at the moment or too expensive.
I was getting tired and needed something to eat and drink. In the food court, they had Paradise Cafe, a counter-service cafe with sandwiches, bagels, cookies, coffee, and iced tea. It seems to have their regulars as the staff said to one of them “Back for another batch of cookies?” “Always, my coworkers always love them!” It must be good if they have their regulars. I got a white chocolate chip macadamia cookie and an iced tea, and both were good!
After resting a bit, I headed to the Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo Metrolink station. To get to the train station from the mall, I walked a mile down Crowne Valley Parkway, a busy street road with 11 lanes, yikes. The sidewalks were narrow and many drivers did not pay any attention to any pedestrians if they were turning right to the parkway, forcing us to walk behind the car to cross the crosswalk. Even worse is when crossing the freeway since signaling took forever to cross each of the ramps. There are bike lanes but are just painted really narrowly, which is not safe to ride. At least there was a nice sunset…
AntSol Travel 