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Published: November 18th 2009
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Santa Barbara to Los Angeles - 2nd - 5th November
The morning was spent relaxing in the pool and hot tubs before heading to Santa Barbara to soak up the sun whilst lying on its white sandy beaches and playing backgammon, which Bowks won, grr! Santa Barbara was again a very pretty coastal town and actually had some form a of a high street which was nice as we’d noticed that many towns we had visited had no form of high street at all. After a walk down the marina looking at a variety of boats we would buy if rich, sorry should rephrase that will buy when rich! We headed into Santa Barbara town centre to look for a place to eat and came across a little Mexican bar serving half price appetisers and drinks. One hour later and stomachs fully satisfied and no room for main course we returned back to the car and with sandals off (I love driving bare foot) and Bowks navigating we set off to Los Angeles. We arrived at the KOA campsite just east of LA late that eve and put up the tent for what would be the last time.
Next
morning I awoke early and headed to the KOA shop top get milk etc for breakfast. On return, with Bowks up we ate breakfast in the LA sunshine planning our days activities most of which consisted of visiting all the major tourist attractions that could be fitted into one day. In preparation for our busy day we took a dip in the pool and hot tub which seemed a recurring theme with campsites along the West Coast. Afterwards Bowks got chatting to the cleaning lady in the toilets who was obsessed with marriage and wanted to know why we weren’t married and when we would be! A somewhat eccentric character to say the least but a very cheery disposition. We headed into LA by car, first to Hollywood to see the famous sign and to do the walk of fame. After finding a car park for $2 just behind the Kodak theatre, winner! We walked to Hollywood Boulevard where we could see the stars laid in the pavement.
Bowks taking over the writing…
We had all the obligatory photos taken, Doddys next to Chevy Chase and me next to Big Bird. Hollywood Blvd. didn’t haven’t the same glamorous
feel that appears on TV but did it still did have celebrity status as they were setting up for a film premiere that eve at the Chinese Theatre. We posed for a few more photos with some wax work models, Marylyn Monroe and Samuel L Jackson before having a look at the Kodak Theatre where the Oscars are held. Once we’d got our fix of everything Hollywood some retail therapy was in order so we drove to Rodeo Drive. Unfortunately Doddy had forgotten his credit card so we couldn’t buy anything so instead we window shopped at Tiffany’s and Cartier and admired somebody’s bright yellow Rolls Royce.
Some more star spotting was in order so we started to follow one of the ´Home of the Stars tour buses, but as we weren’t exactly sure where it was going or couldn’t hear any of the commentary we went on our own tour of Beverly Hills. The houses were massive with manicured gardens and protected with large fences and we figured the bigger the fence the more A-list celebrity. Especially when we got to the houses with blacked out gates and video entry systems. Feeling rather jealous that we were sleeping
in a tent that night and not in one of these houses we decided we would head to the beach, although the idea was short lived as very thick fog came in and made visibility very poor. The journey back to the campsite took a sickening 2.5 hours. A journey that should have been no more than an hour, twice as long but apparently that’s the usual LA rush hour traffic.
A lovely last nights sleep was had in the tent and emotions ran high as we took it down for the last time! The morning was spent in the pool, sunbathing and chatting to the guy who was away in his RV with his 5 Labrador dogs, now I’m beginning to understand why they need such big motor homes. The weather had cleared so we set off to explore the beaches of Orange County. When we eventually found a place to park after the original $15 shocker we strolled on soft white sand and dipped our toes in the sea whilst watching the buffed, bronzed beauties of Huntington Beach roller-skate and coast along the Promenade. We were invited to play some volleyball and Doddy jumped at the chance
playing with some local Californians. Doddy did the Brits proud and put in a sterling performance although he was on the losing team every game!
We then continued driving on through Laguna and Newport Beach (where the OC is filmed) then driving onto Escondido, near San Diego, home of my cousin and his wife, Simon and Nicki and their daughter Emma. We had a nice evening catching up with them, having a few drinks and eating Mexican food.
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