Final Leg

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November 11th 2010

Published: November 11th 2010

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IanMcL

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So, two days in one again!

Last night we stayed in a nice fishing village called Morro Bay around half way between San Francisco and LA, and while we organised a motel that included wi-fi, no-one could get it to work and we had already moved in. Oh well.

No trouble getting out of San Francisco, but these GPS’ are magic. The come into their own when you are in unfamiliar territory - and even more so if you stray from the chosen path (either accidentally or on purpose) they are great and setting you right.

So the 900 km drive over two days was uneventful and the stay last night was otherwise very nice - eating in a fish restaurant on the pier.

A stroll in the somewhat icy conditions after dins was rewarded by the sight of an elephant seal on the rocks near the boat harbour - 5-6 feet from where we were standing. Fascinating - but too late for pics so we have to keep that one for ourselves.

The drive yesterday was in rugged coastline whereas today we initially moved inland a little only to rejoin the coast and a more

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‘beachy’ setting.

We also drove thru the Los Padres National Park and that was a beautiful drive - and a nice change from the freeway standard roads we have been on.

We decided to stop over in Santa Barbara, visiting an old Catholic mission, then some historic adobe buildings. Santa Barbara is a beautiful place built almost entirely in Mediterranean style because earthquakes kept wrecking the joint.

WE had lunch then in Ventura Beach and came into LA on Ventura Hwy (for you music buffs) now unfortunately known as HWY 101 SB!

Handed the car back in the same condition that I picked it up - so that was cool notwithstanding a couple of near misses. Luckily, the Marriott that we are staying at (we booked it late and got a good price) also happened to include a Hertz agency so that made it a whole lot easier.

So tomorrow is our last day on US soil and we have booked a standard LA tour to fill in the day and suss the joint out. Unfortunately you will have to await our return before the next (and last for this trip) episode.

With that