Los Angeles and beyond!

 

LA baby!!!  I was warned not to expect too much and that was about right!  Went exploring from Redondo Beach we headed to Venice beach and watched the skaters for a while playing around at the skate park and walked along for a bit past all the psychic s and fortune tellers of which there were many!!  We then headed to Santa monica and walked along the pier there which is the end of route 66.  Then it was off to see the tourist sights, Beverly Hills, Hollywood and Universal Studios where we had dinner at Karlstrauss Brewery and watched them filming a show below us which was interesting entertainment!!  The next morning we started our Road trip up the coast to San Francisco.

 

 

Our first stop was Santa Barbara which was a beautiful city where we stopped for a wander around the designer shops there and had lunch and then hit the road again onto San Luis Obispo where we were staying for the first night.  Here we found a quaint little wine store which did tastings so we stayed on there for a while and sampled some of the local wines which were extremely good, check it out if ever you are there, Central Coast Wines where Greg will be happy to sample you some of Californas finest selections :)

Then to Morro Bay to visit the rock which was formed about 26 million years ago by a volcano (and who says America has no history ha ha), saw some crazy squirrels which were fun to watch and very curious, as well as seals and more surfers braving the cold waters, it was not warm here at all.  I am very surprised at the differences in the climate here along the coast, all due to the marine layer which is like a thick fog which usually burns off through the day, although that was not always the case.

Next stop Big Sur National Park for lunch followed by a small hike to Pfeiffer Falls which was well worth the walk.  We then ended the day in Carmel, a quaint little town famous for its golf course and beaches.

Monterey was next on the agenda, famous for its marine life and aquarium where we spent most of the day before heading into San Francisco!!!