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California dreaming

February 2022
  • Ceri Chaplin
A trip down memory lane with mum Read more
  • Ceri Chaplin

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  • Ceri ChaplinTravelerCalifornia dreaming
    Griffith Observatory1Obligatory selfie with the Hollywood sign in the backgroundDowntown LAView from our seats1Looking back from the stage area

    Griffith Observatory & a theatre trip

    February 9, 2022 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    We left the Dodger stadium and drove a short distance for a quick pit stop at Walmart and also to get some fuel. From there we headed off to the Griffith Observatory which gives a great view of the whole of Los Angeles and the Hollywood sign.

    The weather was really warm and temperatures around 29° C and despite it being a Wednesday there were lots of people enjoying the grassy area around the observatory. The observatory itself was closed but we were still able to wander around and get some great shots of the area and have a look right over Los Angeles.

    From here we headed back to the hotel as it was now mid-afternoon and spent a couple of hours relaxing by the pool. We got us all ready for the 'wine hour' and after that walked out of the hotel and towards the place where we were going to eat this evening before our trip to the theatre.

    Carmine's is based in the W hotel and we had a lovely meal before needing to head across the road to the Pantages theatre where we had booked to see Hamilton.

    After showing our Covid passes we were letting in to the theatre and were impressed by the opulence of the decor. The Pantages theatre used to host the Oscars ceremony in the 1950s. The seats had a great view, but the air conditioning seemed to be an overdrive!

    It was an interesting experience seeing a live production in the USA. The audience were far more interactive than you might get in the UK and I for one. I'm not entirely sure that it enhanced the experience!

    The musical itself was well produced but by half time we decided that it wasn't really our thing and so we headed back to the hotel for a nightcap.    Read more

  • Ceri ChaplinTravelerCalifornia dreaming
    Rush hour traffic LA style
    This is one way to use an old buoy!Paradise cove cafeBreakfast!1Stop along the road to VenturaVentura

    On the road again - LA to Ventura

    February 10, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We left the hotel just after 8:00 as we knew that we have a couple of long days of driving and sightseeing. Mum grabbed a couple of coffees to go and we got out on the road .The traffic predictably was quite heavy until we got beyond the main parts of the city after about half an hour. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my return trip to LA and it was with some sadness that I pointed the car north as I'm really not sure whether I'll ever manage to return and certainly not in the very near future.

    We headed along the freeway to hit the coast at Malibu where the plan was to stop some breakfast. We got to Malibu just before 9:30 and found an amazing spot on the beach where we could have some breakfast. Paradise cove cafe really did live up to its name. The setting was superb right on the beach in a cove and the food was amazing. I had a salmon omelette with potatoes and a breakfast smoothie. We both left the table feeling absolutely stuffed.

    The next section of the journey was about 40 miles to the town of Ventura. Route took us along the coast and we were treated to some amazing views of the beautiful blue see and some of the small islands in the bay and of course not a cloud in the sky. Frontier was a curious little place which felt a bit like it could have come right out of a western, but we stopped for a quick coffee before getting back on the road.    Read more

  • Ceri ChaplinTravelerCalifornia dreaming
    Paddling!Madonna InnSeals in the lagoon

    Solvang to Morro Bay.

    February 10, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    It took about an hour to drive to Pismo beach. As its name suggests this is a beach town and our impression was very much of one being similar to a tourist resort in the UK.

    Just along the coast from here there are huge sand dunes that you can drive over and rent all-terrain vehicles. We didn't do this! However, we did get to the beach and were amazed to see that not only are vehicle's allowed on the beach but also the size of the vehicles that were being driven. It appears that people will take their motorhomes and drive along and spend the night on the beach and presumably messing around on the sand dunes. Once again the views were stunning and we both paddled in the Pacific Ocean.

    We grabbed an ice cream and drove the short distance to our next stop which was the Madonna Inn. This is a gaudily decorated roadside inn where you can stay or just have food or drink. Now it was after 5 and the sun was starting to go down and so we had a quick drink before our final section to Cambria, with a quick stop at Morro bay.

    The town of Morro bay was really pretty only let down by a large factory that is situated right on the waterfront. We had a quick wander around the wharf area and watched as the sun got low in the sky listening to the barking of the seals in the lagoon.    Read more

  • Ceri ChaplinTravelerCalifornia dreaming
    Down from San Marcos pass

    Ventura to Solvang

    February 10, 2022 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    From Ventura we headed north and pass through the town of Santa Barbara, although we didn't actually stop. Just after that we turned off the interstate and onto a road that took us way up into the hills and over San Marcos pass. The pass is over 700 m above sea level. So coming immediately from the coast we seem to be going up forever.

    The views were stunning and completely different to those of the coast with rolling mountains. The reason for leaving the main interstate was to visit the Danish town of Solvang. We pulled into the town and were amazed too see that the buildings were all built in a Danish style and there was even a windmill!

    We pop the car and had a wander around the town and a quick drink before getting back on the road knowing that we still had around 100 miles to go to our hotel.

    We continue to descend back towards the interstate and yet again the scenery changed and we found ourselves driving along a tree lined main road.    Read more

  • Ceri ChaplinTravelerCalifornia dreaming

    Morro Bay to Cambria

    February 11, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    The final leg of our trip today was the short journey from Morro bay to Cambria where we were staying. The sun had now set and the light was just amazing. We arrived at our hotel just after 6:00 p.m. and found that it is a gorgeous lodge right on the front. On arrival the remnants of the sunset were still visible giving an amazing site.

    The Cambria beach lodge is a lovely motel style hotel and the rooms were perfect. All tastily decorated and with all of the amenities that you could possibly need. The town itself closes relatively early and so we were advised to head out for food pretty quickly. In the end we decided on a short walk along the seafront to the sister restaurant of the hotel that we were staying in. Having been used to the relatively high prices of Los Angeles, we were pleasantly surprised by how relatively cheap the restaurant was. To say that the food was of a poor quality and we had a lovely meal with more coconut shrimp to start and some sweet potato fries and then fish tacos for me and a crab sandwich for mum.

    We wandered back to the hotel and then had a night cap in the lounge area at the front of the hotel before calling it a night.    Read more

  • Ceri ChaplinTravelerCalifornia dreaming

    Cambria beach hotel

    February 11, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    We were up early and had breakfast at 7:30 so that we could make sure we had enough time to do the whole of the trip and be in San Francisco ready for our evening boat trip at 5:30 p.m.. It's breakfast at the hotel. Was lovely continental breakfast with eggs, homemade cake, coffee and fruit. We have more great views of the coast and after having our food we grabbed another coffee, packed our bags and headed north.

    Elephant seal point    Read more

  • Ceri ChaplinTravelerCalifornia dreaming

    Elephant point seal sanctuary

    February 11, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Not far at the coast. Our first scheduled stop was at the elephant points seal sanctuary. As is usual with these sorts of places, I didn't really expect to see anything and thought we would just get some good views of the coast.

    We pulled into the car park and started to walk along and were really excited to see a handful of seals just in small little coves relaxing in the sun. We spent ages looking at them and then carried on wandering. It turns out that the seals that we saw there were just an amuse-bouche for the main course which was a huge long stretch of beach. Absolutely packed with seals of various shapes and sizes; male, female juveniles and babies.

    They were absolutely mesmerising and we spent a long time. Just standing and watching them laying around barking. Annoying each other and fighting. There was some huge, great big male seals and the time that we're visiting is right at the end of the breeding season.

    Colony of seals apparently only started coming to this beach and stretch of coastline in 1990, but they're now regular visitors and spend 3 months at this time of the year breeding and the females giving birth and then 3 months around may time for the molting season and the rest of the time they spend a solitary existence in the water.

    Eventually we are realised that we just had to move on And so we reluctantly got back in the car and restart start journey.    Read more

  • Ceri ChaplinTravelerCalifornia dreaming

    Monterey to San Francisco

    February 11, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Beyond Monterey, the roads became less windy and therefore faster, and we bypassed Santa Cruz with our next stop at Pigeon Point lighthouse. Test itself is now not accessible because it's in a poor state of repair, but the views were incredible and this part of the coast seems to have changed compared to the last part where the hills rose deeply from the coast.

    We had one more brief stop before heading to San Francisco as a point where the waves are crashing against the rocks.

    We successfully negotiated the roads into San Francisco and found our hotel with little problem thanks to Google. We left our car to be parked and checked in good time to allow us to get to the sunset cruise.    Read more

  • Ceri ChaplinTravelerCalifornia dreaming

    Sunset cruise & evening in San Francisco

    February 11, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We caught an Uber down to pier 43 where our sunset cruise was setting off at 5:30. The timing of the cruise at this time of year is perfect because you leaving the lights and the sun sets whilst you're on the cruise, meaning that you arrive back in the dark.

    No Sunset cruise would be complete without a drink and thankfully there was a bar on board. First stop on the cruise was out to the golden gate bridge where the boat slowed and then stopped just beyond the bridge to allow plenty of time for photographs.

    The boat then headed around the east side of the island of Alcatraz before continuing on to do the same under the Oakland bay bridge.

    It was difficult to believe that we were actually there when we were under the golden gate bridge and whilst the light didn't lie to see the colour on the way through, once you the other side the red rust coloured metal was clear to see.

    The journey back from the Oakland bay bridge gave lovely views of downtown San Francisco the boat arrived back on time at 7:00 p.m..

    We gained another Uber to get back to the hotel, we're after a quick shower. We headed to the restaurant at the top of our hotel called the Top of the Mark had cocktails and appetizers as our meal for this evening. The restaurant is on the 19th floor and so gives spectacular views out across the city.

    We decided it wasn't quite time for bed and so I headed out to an off-licence to pick up a bottle of wine. When I got on Google it didn't look very far. What I hadn't counted for was the very very steep hill that I had to go down and then back up in order to get to the shop. However, mission accomplished and we had a final drink of the evening before retiring to bed.    Read more

  • Ceri ChaplinTravelerCalifornia dreaming
    Dining room

    Intercontinental Mark Hopkins

    February 11, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    The hotel that we're staying in San Francisco is the intercontinental Mark Hopkins which is a grand old hotel situated on Nob Hill.

    The rooms aren't as modern as some of the ones we've stayed in and are much more classically furnished. My room was upgraded but both were on the 10th floor and had great views over the city.

    On the 19th floor there is a restaurant and bar that they call Top of the Mark. With the current restrictions because of the pandemic, this meant that drinks and canapes were served here each evening.    Read more

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