Sunny California!

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After leaving New Zealand I had one final stop before coming home to England… the USA! My Mum, Dad and I visited friends and family in different parts of southern California, but mainly in Orange County (not far from L.A.) where we used to live 15 years ago.

The highlight of the week long stay was obviously spending quality time and catching up with our close family and friends out there, who unfortunately live so far away. A pleasant addition was the relatively warm and very sunny Californian winter weather, as an introduction back into the northern hemisphere, delaying our inevitable experience of the cold English winter.

The other highlights mainly centred on our stomachs and some lovely sights. Formerly being a part of Mexico and having a large Mexican population, means that the Mexican food in California is excellent to a degree which simply cannot be found back in the UK or in most other places for that matter. As it happens to be my favourite food and the fact that I’m told I’m now too thin after my travels, I promptly gorged myself on as much of it as I could get! Another particular gastronomic delight turned out to be a roasted cut of beef called “Prime Rib” which looked like a huge steak. It was delicious!

We did take a really nice two day trip out to the Palm Desert area through the San Bernardino Mountains where we stayed with some relatives. It’s a lovely spot surrounded by mountains with much wealth and many golf courses present. We also spent some time on the beautiful OC coast, variously at Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach and a cliff top spot at Laguna Niguel. What was really nice was being able to see the San Bernardino Mountains through the beautifully clear weather, whilst being right next to the Pacific Ocean.

It was a great week to round off the trip, and it was very sad to say goodbye to my much loved friends and relatives. I’m now back in Herne Bay, England with its wonderful pebble beach washed by the tropical waters of the North Sea!

I’m also very sad to say that this will be my final dispatch from what has been a truly amazing, enlightening and life-enhancing trip over the last 7 and a half months. The experience will stay with both Kirstie and myself forever. Although it’s easy to be sad that it’s over, it is also important to look back on it positively and realise how lucky we were to have the opportunity and support to do it, as many of the people in the places we’ve been to are unlikely to have such a chance. Thanks once again to all the people who’ve helped us along our journey.

Finally… thank you all for reading and your input into these blogs, I believe that you’ve enjoyed reading them and I know we’ve certainly enjoyed writing them. Our final hope is that reading them will have encouraged people to travel and have amazing adventures of their own.

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Photos

Mountains and Palm Trees!
View of the San Bernardino Mountains