A fond farewell to Los Angeles this morning (we were just getting used to all those freeways.) We headed for highway One heading north, much to the distress of our onboard navigator, who kept trying to turn us around and put us on 101. Faster the expressway might be, but Highway One is the scenic route - and scenery is what we wanted.
Down at the edge of the beach, Pacific Palisades literally has sand at the doorsteps, though I hate to think of the cleaning bills and the pricetag on the real estate :-). Further along, Malibu has 27 miles of coastline and much of it reminds me of a hippie village with a mix of architecture from the most modern concrete and glass to adobe designs straight from Mexico. As usual the coastal colours are fantastic.
Breakfast in Paradise - Paradise Cove that is, where Gidget and other movies were filmed and where breakfast at an outside table means sand between your toes - and under your table... the beach terrace is unique and the food delicious - the ultimate California beach breakfast and worth the drive from LA!
Heading further up the coast the names of places we have read about, heard of in songs or seen on TV come alive. Yesterday I was singing 'Hotel California' and cruising Sunset Strip, today it's 'Ventura Highway' that springs to mind. Strawberry farms lin the sides of the roads and the orange orchards must smell divine when the flowers take over.
We arrived in Santa Barbara in time to check out the old Mission that still functions as the local Catholic Church - beautiful architecture and handpainted borders, massive beams and long verandahs are cool and shady with a courtyard massed with flowers. I saw a tiny humming bird for a few seconds before it darted away out of my camera's view. Then we headed for the Courthouse in the centre of town - terracotta tiled floors have been worn to a high gloss over the years and painted walls and tunisian tiling gives an almost festive feel to a very serious place. The names of the presiding Judges are painted outside their chambers, with patches of slightly different colour showing that these are changed every now and then.
How can you tell you are in State Street, Santa Barbara? Because there are flags lining the street in a patriotic display of red, white and blue. It's the Rodeo Drive of Santa Barbara, with beautiful shop fronts (rip curl is there for the Aussies) arcades and cafes - I spotted a fabulous book shop - but the weight of bringing home all the books I 'need' makes ordering over the net a more attractive option.
Stearns wharf is a huge old shipping wharf that now has tourist shops and restaurants - and parking! It felt very strange driving out along the wide old boards to the parking area near the end of the wharf. We checked out the seals while we ate our fish and chips, watched carefully in return by some very large seagulls and even larger pelicans.
The until now reliable Chrysler was showing a very hot engine and a quick check revealed very little coolant. We fixed it with a plastic bag of water from the rest rooms and crossed our fingers that the leak isn't a fast one. Time will tell!
An afternoon cruise up highway 1 via Vandenberg Airforce Base and Guadalupe (always wondered where that was...) is interesting. Our hotel at Shell Beach is on a resort strip just out of Pismo. There's a cliff walk along the top of the bluff and several stairways down to the dark sands. Today the surf is small and the wetsuited surfers only get a few seconds of ride for all their effort. The seals are having a much better time. We are assured that it is different on other days when the swell is larger. Tonight Sean looks after us at the bar at the hotel and expresses his own wish to surf the Australian beaches. We fall for the clam chowder and go to bed happy and tired.
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