8th January

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Today we would be driving for the first time. This was exciting in itself and having the freedom to stop when we feel like it. First we picked up our car, they tried selling us every insurance under the sun and just felt a bit dodgy, almost like the dad from the Matilda story. We did lash out and upgrade to a car with GPS which after driving was possible the most sensible decision we have made all trip. When every taxi has a GPS it makes sense to be a first timer in the city to have a GPS. Once we got the car, on about the 4th corner Theresa freaked out when she thought Ryan pulled onto the wrong side of the road. We punched in Santa Monica into the GPS and headed for the beach. We made it here fine experiencing our first drive on the freeway, a fairly intimidating experience. At the beach we pulled into the first advertised car-park. Of course they didn't miss the wallet as they charged us a day ticket even though we I my stopped an hour. We got some sushi for lunch with was nice to eat something fresh and non deep fried. After that we decided to head south and look at Venice. While driving through Venice we passed some friends from our tour. Even though we are in the same place, there are a few million people and so many places to go we have ran into more people from the trip than we every expected. After a quick chat is we headed to the freeway and south to San Diego. The freeway was crazy. They are 6 lanes wide with entries and exits everywhere. We headed for a middle lane and sat there. Ryan was doing well but would naturally stick to the right side of his lane, sometimes too far where Theresa was almost in the next lane. After about half an hour on the freeway Theresa saw a sign for Laguana Beach and suggested we have a look. This was a great idea as it got us off the freeway and Laguana Beach was seriously stunning. Think of great ocean road with smaller cliffs and towns sitting on he beach. The whole town was relaxed as we stopped to have on the beach. A local was to happy to have a chat and tell us a bit about the area, in a super chilled way, just what you would expect. After a quick walk we continued down the coast road and went through another few small towns then where forced back into the freeway, as it was the only option. Upon arriving in San Diego we were surprised with just how different to Los Angeles it is. It is pretty, easy to get around and actually had some public parks near the city. Like Vancouver and Sydney it is set around a bay which provides a picturesque setting. We are very spoilt with our motel as we look over the water and are a 5 minute walk to the Main Street full of places to eat and drink and watch sport. Here we found a Spanish tapas place and enjoyed another non deep fried meal. Two in one day is a record for our trip. We were happy to walk up the Main Street by ourselves feeling safe before retiring to home. So far San Diego has reminded us a lot of Vancouver.

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