Luv the pics of the elephant seals. We saw them at Pt. Reyes but were not nearly as close. They may look lazy but they can move quickly if they decide to charge.

Glad you are enjoying your trip! Hearst Castle is closed because the road up to the castle was damaged and is being rebuilt. You were lucky to see the elephant seals during pup season. The place in Cambria where you had great ribs was maybe Firestone Grill?

Yes, it was indeed the Firestone Grill!

Morro Bay made a nice stop off on our way down to Pasadena. In some respects it reminded me of Cornwall, the county of my birth back in England.

Had stopped here mainly to see the sea otters that are supposed to frequent the bay. We parked up near the big rock in the bay were they were supposed to be but no sign of them only a lot of strange rodent like animals:

it was only as we were driving past the harbour that Carolyn noticed a bunch of people looking at something so we stopped and there they were. We have been so lucky with the wildlife on this trip!
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Morro Bay
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Squirrel maybe??
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Sea Otters atbpaly
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Who you looking at?
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Really wish I had brought my proper camera!

Your timing was lucky... Hwy. 1 is currently closed from a few miles south of Carmel Highlands to a few miles north of Big Sur Campgrounds due to a wildfire. Dramatic flames visible from Bixby Bridge.

Yes, the critters at Morro Bay are California ground squirrels. They can be pretty aggressive if you have food.

Santa Barbara was very much what we expected. A very upmarket, clearly wealthy beach town. Why else would Prince Harry and Meghan chose to settle in nearby Montecito? We did plan to pop in to see them for a cup of tea but sadly we ran out of time!

Unfortunately for us, much of the town seemed to be closed, whether because of covid or because we were there on Monday and Tuesday I am not sure (many of the shops had signs indicating they were closed on those days but many seemed to have closed permanently.

We stayed at the Lavender Inn by the Sea which was in a great location but not up to the same standard as the previous two place we had stayed. More like an upscale motel than the quant B&B that the name implied. It did however have some very nice, friendly fellow guest that we got chatting to during the evening wine and snacks session, something all the places we have stayed at have offered. A great idea!

Our two nights here really only afforded us one full day of sightseeing so we decided to spend this on a self directed walking tour (aka wandering around).

Our walking tour commenced down by the beachfront. We walked along the "boardwalk" alongside the wide sandy beach to Stearns Wharf, a long wide pair stretching out into the bay. We strolled along to the end of the wharf from where there were great views of the city, the bay and the mountains beyond. A seemingly idyllic place to live, though still a lot of homeless people around.

During our time on the wharf there we squadrons of pelicans circling endlessly around. Huge ungainly things, they seemed incapable of flight but at the same time , quite beautiful and fascinating to watch. Reminded us of squadrons of bombers in those old WW2 films.

We spent a lot of time on the but time to move on so back towards the beach and off we head up State Street with a short diversion to the "Funk Zone". Short because everything was closed up either because it was Mon/Tuesday or we were too early. Either way it didn’t seem too funky!

Back to State Street, parts of which are pedestrianised with outdoor eating areas up the middle of the street. I can imagine it is really buzzing in the evenings.

Two of the key sights in the city , the Mission and the Court House were both closed to visitors. We didn’t get around to the Mission but did visit the outside of the Court House. What a wonderfully pretty building. If ever I was on trial for anything, I would want it to be here! There was a couple posing for their wedding photos in the very pretty gardens at the rear of the building. What a terrific place to tie the knot.

Starting to get hungry now and one of the things we always make a beeline for wherever we are is a fish market. So , having seen Santa Barbara Fish market marked on the map, we head off to the harbour area for a late lunch. Turns out the "market" is a small shop so we just grab a couple of poke bowls of salmon and tuna and, at the suggestion of the shop owner, buy some sushi rice from the place next door and sit down at one of the tables outside. We love raw fish at anytime but this was just so fresh!

We return to the harbour for dinner later that night to Brophy Bros. a place recommended to us by the hotel reception. The restaurant was really buzzing. Great views, friendly service and amazing food we shared a cold platter of crab, mussels, oysters, prawns etc which was superb. I followed this with the fish and chips which was off the scale delicious. Fish and chips may well be England’s National dish but believed me, it just doesn’t compare!

We have thoroughly enjoyed our trip down California Highway 1. Tomorrow we head to our friends place in Pasadena.

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Across the road to State Street
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The avian version of a stealth bomber
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Incoming!
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So many pelicans!
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If you have to go to court, this is the place….
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Great pictures. Glad you enjoyed my little corner of the world. Morro Bay is a very special place since it is one of the last remaining true fishing towns in California. Glad you didn't miss the otters. Tourist seem to like the ground squirrels but trust me, no local does!

Yikes! We were lucky to miss that. Saw quite a lot of evidence of wild fires as we drove down H1. lots of charred Redwoods. I read somewhere that they should recover. Hopefully that is the case.

loved your little corner of the world, as I mentioned, it very much reminded me of the place where I was born.

The inside of the courthouse is truly spectacular. Really too bad it’s still closed. Tile work that rivals the Alhambra and lovely murals in different rooms. I did have jury duty in that courthouse, luckily I wasn’t picked but spent the day inside one of the courtrooms. Lots of people get married there in the big grass courtyard. Yes, we have homeless because of temperate climate and a somewhat sympathetic local government. Montecito where H & M live is a bit more strict.

I'm so glad you were past Big Sur well before the fire began.

Glad you got to to see the Elephant Seals they are amazing!

Tdiddy and I enjoyed meeting the crellstons on Saturday in Downtown LA. I don't want to spoil his report so readers may want to hold off clicking on this link (TDiddy missed this). I had no idea this guy had a fan club.

https://twitter.com/dtlaviking

When I lived in Santa Cruz, Cannery Row was actually that. A long row of Canneries but after the sardines left, it has turned into the new Cannery Row. At least they didn't tear it down.

Street Crazies/characters in downtown LA



I have been remiss in updating this TR in recent days, partly because my attention has recently been focused back home taking acre of a few things and partly because we have just been so very busy on this trip. Will try and get back on track soon.

However, a brief diversion following on from mlgb’s comment above. More about our mini gtg with mlgb and Tdiddy will follow but for now:



We parted company with Tdiddy following his highly enjoyable tour of downtown LA and the three of us were walking back to Union Station. We stopped to cross at one of the many intersections. At said crossing we noticed a bike riding, masked, bearded guy dressed as a Viking complete with horned helmet circling around the intersection yelling and apparently trying to sell baseballs??



We have met a number of street characters/crazies on this trip and for some reason they always seem to make beeline for me. Maybe I just have that sort of face or, perhaps, in this case, it was the way I was dressed?



As this guy circled around he notice us and rode straight over first offering a baseball for sale and then stopping right in front of us and yelling in my face "you LAPD ****, why are you with the LAPD you ********. **** off you LAPD ****"



I paraphrase, but you get the gist. The response of all of us was to laugh it off but this guy would not go away, her circled around and kept coming back. At one point mlgb put her arm in front of me and said "stand back", I am protecting the tourists! Eventually, lights changed and he seemed to follow us for awhile but soon found another target and on we went unmolested.



I can only assume that the reason he thought I was with LAPD was that I was dressed, indeed as I usually am, in black tee shirt and jeans and wearing Raybans - maybe the normal apparel for LAPD officers?



An entertaining end to a grey day - more to follow on the rest of that day

I assume crellston meant 'great' day it has been beautiful weather, hardly grey! My friend of the broken light bulb knew that character.

It is nearly 20 years since I worked downtown, and probably 5 since my last visit so I've lost practice on the best pathways to avoid homeless encampments. But this guy is apparently randomly spotted all over the region..just crellston's lucky day.

"At one point mlgb put her arm in front of me and said "stand back","
And here all this time I figured mlgb was a he. Not that it matters.

I wondered what MLGB meant when she said the "Tdiddy missed this"! In my years of giving tours downtown I have ran into a number of "elevated" individuals who were living on a planet unseen by the rest of us. Once on a tour I was by the Central Library explaining how the library sold the air rights above it, long story there, and one of the "enlightened" heard me and said, "You can't sell air!!" and he would not let it go. He followed us around the library grounds berating us about the theft of the air above the library until I called a security guard who led him away.

DTLA Viking was probably the most "elevated" individual that I can recall in 20+ years of Downtown experience. At first we were laughing, but I started to worrry he would get aggressive if he believed crellston was LAPD. Can't have our beloved crellston falling victim to one of LA's wackiest!

Yo Crellston,
Another merci for posting this TR. Fave shot: the sunny courthouse. I too initially wondered about your timing and that fire. Glad to see that you dodged that bullet, if not some homeless characters. Btw, I thought your choice to cycle those specific areas was brilliant! And you referenced Neil Young--he still has had that ranch in Santa Cruz, no?
Btw, on my sabbatical year while we were visiting Gorda, I was offered a permanent teaching job at a Big Sur school--the head of the Parents Council was also the owner of the yurt hotel where we were staying.
Waiting for your next installment here. In the meantime, some associated musical accompaniment below:
I am done. the surf

I will be brief. TR halted due to wifi failure at the house! Will try and catch up on the flight to London tomorrow! Over all too quick!

Took the metro to Hollywood today. More street crazies than than I ever imagined!

more later but suffice to say, we LOVE California👍👍👍

I'm so happy you enjoyed California and thanks for including all the gorgeous photos! Can't wait for more.

Superb early Saturday reading material :blush:

His ranch is above Redwood City/Woodside. I saw him once at his nephew’s little league game in Portola Valley where we lived for many years, Another great sighting was Joan Baez who also lives in Woodside area.

Glad you enjoyed your stay. You were lucky to have great weather, although it's a bit dodgy today. Have a safe and pleasant flight home.

Back in England now. What better way to get over jet lag than to make a start on resuming this TR, albeit at four in teh morning!

Thanks all. Sadly we missed out on meeting Neil Young, Joan Baez or those other, more recently famous Santa Barbara (Montecito) residents, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (aka Harry and Meghan). We were going to pop in for a cup of tea but you know how time flies by…..


The "road trip " part of our journey reaches its conclusion all too quickly. What an amazing experience. California, why did we leave it so long to visit? Californians, how do you ever bring yourselves to leave? However, end it does and we are now looking forward to living like Californians in our friends house in Pasadena, if only for 10 days.

it has been a pleasant drive, mostly winding ( and I do mean winding!) our way down Highway one. Then a major change as we hit Los Angeles. One and two lanes become three, four, five, six!!! A major change in driving style is called for. Fortunately, years of driving around London’s orbital motorway, the M25 is good preparation so it is not entirely alien (though passing on either side, certainly is!) . One thing we do notice is that the further south we get, the more aggressive the driving becomes - survival of the fittest /fastest I guess? Praise be to the person that came up with the idea of SatNav!

Passing through/around LA, I wasn’t too sure, we arrive at our friends place in Pasadena, home to one of my favourite US sitcoms ( along with Frazier) The Big Bang Theory. First impressions of Pasadena as we drive along the palm lined avenue - wow! What a beautiful city. Their lovely housekeeper Ros, helps us settle in and shows us around the place. It has been quite a drive so we decide on a quiet night in but not before we take a walk out for something to eat.

Friends have provide a lot of eating suggestions and we settle on one of the closest, a Taco truck, which sets up every night on the forecourt of a garage 10 mins walk away. We order a couple of tacos apiece, then a couple more…. These are so good, definitely the equal of anything we ate in Mexico (and we ate a LOT of tacos in Mexico!

We have been very lucky with the weather so far. We have had blue skies the whole way so far AND we managed to avoid the wild fires on the way down. Will our luck hold??

For our first day in Pasadena, we decide to take a drive from the house out to Runyon Canyon which we are reliably informed is a regualar haunt of jogging celebrities. Though to be fair I am there more for the views of LA from above and the iconic Hollywood sign.
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Sure enough we get great views of downtown LA but exercising celebrities are thin on the ground, indeed non-existent.

We do get to drive along the famous Mulholland Drive. What it is famous for I am not sure, but as is the case with many places in California they all sound very familiar probably because they are always being featured on TV, movies or in songs. Such is the power of the media!
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Although we see no one famous, plenty of people are up here, exercising, meditating, or just hanging out. Not surprising reall6 and it is a beautiful park with stunning views and very easily accessible from the city. Reminds me in someways of London Hampstead Heath only more dramatic.

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You were probably within proximity of some 'celebrities' but didn't recognize them because not all are seeking Kardashian-level attention. Where I live (Manhattan Beach near LAX), there are dozens of famous residents who walk among us daily without being noticed. Covid masks help the disguise...

You were lucky with the weather!

You are probably correct Jean, though my interest in "celebrity" is such that Kim Kardashian could be standing right in front of me and I would have a clue who she was. Right about the mask thing though. We did see a couple jogging along dressed head to toe in black Lycra bodysuits, black masks and sunglasses. Wasn’t too sure whether they were trying to disguise or draw attention to themselves!

There is a U.K. TV comedy series "Episodes" starring Matt Le Blanc as himself that frequently featured location scenes of a couple of the characters jogging around Runyon/Mulholland area great show!

Oh, I'm sure the jogging couple were dressed for attention... If not (already) famous, hoping desperately they'll be noticed.

In the standing-right-in-front-of-me category, that happens to me a lot. It's after they walk away that I finally figure out who they are... or more often someone tells me!

"Episodes" airs here. I haven't watched it much, but the character played by John Pankow is an amalgam of real people. In fact, the whole show has a layer of accuracy... "Hollywood" is a strange workplace.

Happened to me once in a hotel in Paris. We were in a lift and this enormous black guy, got in and started chatting to us. Seemed very familiar but couldn’t work out why. Later that evening as we were going out for dinner, the E Street Band were waiting in reception for their limos to take them to the concert they were performing. It was of course, the late great Clarence Clemons, Bruce Springsteen’s sax player. I have been a life long fan! if only I had remembered I would have scrounged some tickets!!!

Later that night when we return our whole floor was locked out of our rooms. we were down a small lobby waiting outside our door with Andre Agassi and Steffi Graffi , there for the Paris Open!

I loved Episodes. The two British actors are so great in it and Matt LaBlanc is very self deprecating in it. Really funny. The Runyon hike is practically a costar in the show.

Great report! We moved to Carmel 8 years ago after living in LA for 26 years and still comment on how slow everyone drives here and what's considered "traffic" ;) My husband used to work for Paramount Studios and we love Episodes! Glad you made it through Big Sur before the fire.

Thank you Patty "We moved to Carmel 8 years ago” Lucky you! I can understand why. It reminded us of a place in Argentina where we were very tempted to settle, San Martin de Los Andes.

macdogmom - "The two British actors are so great in it “ Tamsin Grieg is a highly regarded actress in the UK . Loved her as the Mom in “Friday Night Dinner” a very funny comedy about, well, a north London jewish family’s Friday night dinners.Hilarious!

California features strongly in my musical adolescence. I read somewhere that the music you listen to around the ages of 13-16 cements ones musical tastes for life. In my case at 13, I was too young, just, to participate in the Summer of Love. Nevertheless I grew up loving the music that evolved from that time and , to an extent whilst my musical tastes have evolved, those tastes still remain. So it was the especially curated California playlist on my iPhone that I forced Carolyn to listen to our drive down to Santa Monica. Amazing how many of the titles and lyrics keep cropping up as we drive. We start off on Chuck Berry’s Route 66 which is just at the end of our street in Pasadena on our drive down to our first destination of Sheryl Crow’s, Santa Monica Boulevard (All I Want to Do Is Have Some Fun). In between, the Beach Boys, Mamas and Papas also feature pretty frequently.

Our plan was to drive down to Santa Monica, spend some time on and around Venice Beach before driving along the coast to Malibu for lunch. We arrived at Venice Beach seemingly just as the place was waking up. First impressions? A bit touristy and a lot of homeless people. Not wishing to make light of the plight of homeless people, but I guess if you have to be homeless, a beach in California is better than a lot of places we have been.
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On the beach at last
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Pamela Anderson where are you?
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A joint smoking shark - seems appropriate somehow
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A bit too early for Venice Beach

We park up at a vastly overpriced carpark by the beach, take along walk along the beach and return along the promenade. A beautiful day and seeing the lifeguard towers dotted along the beach I am reminded of Baywatch (not that I ever watched it) The town is by now is beginning to liven up with a number of street musicians performing. We stop awhile to listen to a very good country rock band and a lady singing a number of Aretha Franklin’s and Otis Redding songs. These people are good! Vendors are selling all manner of trinkets and souvenirs and teh smell of incense and hash is thick in the air - thanks, but a little early for me!

We drive along the coast to Malibu, famous I am sure for a lot of things but the first thing that pops into my brain is that it is home to Charlie Harper, in Two and Half Men - way too much time watching American sitcoms!

There are some amazing properties in this neck of the woods, no doubt owned, if not lived in by the rich and famous. Not hard to see why. Ocean to one side , mountains on the other. Our primary objective is to have lunch at a restaurant in Paradise Cove which was highly recommended by our friends. Apparently beloved of celebrities as evidenced by the many photos hanging on the walls. Jack Nicholson, Marilyn Monroe, Merryl Streep to name but a few. I guess even the rich and famous need a local hang out!

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The cold platter and ribs
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Paradise indeed!
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Piers don’t get anymore Californian than this
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Looking back towards Santa Monica
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The Beach Boys Surfin Safari apparently started here!


We check in with the Maitre D and score the perfect table on the beach right at the front. We grab a cocktail for Carolyn and a beer for me and read through the menu for some time before deciding on a cold seafood sampler and a rack of Kobe beef ribs. Seafood was superb but the ribs were not up to scratch and, having eaten a lot of Kobe beef in Japan, didn’t seem much like Kobe beef to me. But I nit-pick, overall it was a pretty good meal in an unforgettable location, worthy of our (unofficial) 25th wedding an anniversary celebration.

Crellston, this is a great TR, one that combines interesting imagery and interesting commentary. But I'm having difficulty: are you the shark shown, or the guy with the glasses?
That seafood shot!
*MacDog and Crellston: Neil Young's above-mentioned Redwoods ranch gets a fairly-detailed description in rocker Dave Grohl's recent memoir 'The Storyteller'.
I am done. the end.

Yes, I’ve seen the both in a few things. Tasmin in Belgravia and Stephen Mangan in The Split and Hang Ups. Both great actors. I’ll have to see if I can watch Friday Night Dinner in the US.

When we first moved to Los Angeles in 1989, I was trying to impress on my wife that this was a good move for us, so I took her on a trip to Malibu. Loaded up the cassette player with the Beach Boys greatest hits, had the sun roof open, beautiful day. We were driving down a small road in back of some beach front condos with the window down and we heard this very distinctive voice talking to his neighbor and it was Dennis Weaver of Gunsmoke and McCloud fame! It was so cool...then we drove back to our little one bedroom apartment in North Hollywood! Welcome to LA!

if you have a VPN , switch it to U.K. and download it on the All4 app.

Clearly I am the dope smoking sunglass wearing shark! 😎

Didn’t realise Dave Grohl had published his autobiography. I must look that one out. Thanks.

Really enjoyed your report and beautiful photos! As another poster said, your report is filled with great commentary!