Blogs from Solvang, Santa Barbara, California, United States, North America

Wednesday - Day 4 Well we have moved on and started our road trip. Once again though, up at stupid o’clock, so got on the road early off to Malibu, to look at which ‘summer house’ we would like to buy, we wish! There were some stunners, but so many hidden from public view. Hubby has actually driven for the first time, but think I better put ‘L’ plates on him if he attempts driving again, & he had the cheek to criticise my driving when I started! I cannot believe the size of the ‘Outlet’ shopping villages here, they are the size of a small town, not a village, you know it is big when you have to drive the car between the shopping zones; got some bargains though, but would have needed all day ... read more

Arriving back in London after our epic weekend in Copenhagen, there was no chance for a rest as I had a mere 3 and a half weeks left of my time in London! In that time I had organised plenty of catch ups with people who I might not see again for ages, and a lot of tying up loose ends. One of these was doing my final Hapkido grading up to Brown Belt, which I passed. I also managed a quick trip away with Hannah as we went up to check out Warwick Castle. We were extremely lucky as the weather was superb - crystal clear blue skies in November! We wandered around the town of Warwick first then walked around the Castle, watched a hawking show and I had more laughs at Hannah's expense ... read more

Beautiful and charming place!... read more

We finished off the breakfast bars for breakfast and packed our bags to move on for the 2nd last time. We drove the short distance down to take a closer look at Morro Rock. It was an overcast (foggy?) morning and there was a chill in the wind again. We took a few photos from the roadside, then ventured down to the waterside to get a better view. To our surprise, a sea lion emerged from the water just a few feet below us! It was catching fish for breakfast, with an eager gallery of gulls floating on the water around it. I'm not sure whether the sea lion had to surface to actually eat the fish, or whether it was just playing with the birds, but it seemed to be a game where the birds ... read more

Saturday 27th September to Tuesday 30th September, 2007 I had every intention prior to my arrival in the United States of utillising what little spare time I was likely to have by exploring this vast country as much as possible. I still have those same intentions but as I perhaps should have expected a combination of other commitments allied to a ‘sod it, the sun’s shining, let’s go the beach’ have meant things haven't quite gone to plan. However, with Phil away for the weekend I was finally prepared myself for my first mini road trip. My intended destination was to be the seaside town of Santa Barbara, one hundred and twenty or so miles north of Long Beach, further north if time permitted via the renowned and ingeniously named Pacific Coast Highway and at just ... read more