Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita

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No breakfast in this hotel unless you wanted to pay $14 for a waffle. Got up early and went to the fitness centre for a work out. I did 17 minutes on the treadmill which i was quite pleased with. Nick and Andy both had a good workout. Afterwards went to the outside pool which was heated and had a swim around then went in the hot tub. The morning was overcast which was a shame as it would have been nice to have a sunbathe, we haven't seen much of the sun since we have been here and it certainly has not been as hot as we expected. Left the hotel and walked up to the main street and then got the shuttle bus up the main Street and went to an IHOP restaurant. Had the best meal yet, steak with cheese and onion and mushroom sauce, wedges and broccoli. Nick had the breakfast combo, Andy had steak and Steven had chicken. It was all delicious and we will definately go back again as there was lots on the menu we fancied. The sun came out while we were there so we sat outside which was really nice. Forced some room for a pudding and had pancakes filled with cheesecake with banana, ice cream and toffee sauce. It was the best pudding ever! Walked down the main street and looked in the shops, they were some of the most beautiful shops i have seen and stretched for miles back. The boys found the shop they were looking for - Abercrombie and Fitch and bought all the gear they wanted. Steve has now spent all his holiday money and has asked for an advance! Santa Barbara is a lovely place, it has a very Spanish feel with lots of palm trees everywhere and huge big Agaves and beautiful flowers. I keep finding myself using the word beautiful but that is how America is to me! Got the shuttle back to the hotel and then continued our journey south. Had a good run down and found our next hotel really easy with the help of Nicks google maps on his phone ..who needs Sat Nav. Wow do we love this hotel, The Hampton Inn, really classy, it is in the Hilton chain and it has these funny lumpy duvets called cloud nine. It is the only one we booked ourselves so were quite pleased with our choice which for $100 a night including breakfast is a good deal..and there is a waffle maker!

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