Our last few days in California have been far less extravagant than our previous couple of weeks, but just as enjoyable.

We left San Francisco having had a great time there and with a bit of time to play with before heading southwards to LA, we spent the day in Napa Valley, also known as, Wine Region! Napa itself was fairly uninspiring but we moved on to the town of Sonoma which was thoroughly charming.

The streets were lined with trees turning shades of gold and brown and the centre of town surrounded a small park which too was benefitting from the effects of the 'Fall'. We amused ourselves by popping in and out of various shops offering anything from the local delights of wine, cheese and chocolate to more peculiar boutique offerings.

We visited California's oldest winery and sampled some of their offerings before heading south back past San Francisco and on to Santa Cruz. As we approached San Francisco again Cooper questioned whether we'd packed everything into the car that morning...

Err...I think so???

We pulled over and examined the boot, all present and correct...except we were missing the programme from Wicked and Katie's Sea World backpack (you may've spotted this from our pics...it has penguins on the back and we think it's EXCELLENT!)

After a couple of inconclusive phone calls to the hotel, we returned to have a look around in the room. Unsurprisingly, we found nothing and woefully continued on our way to Santa Cruz.

A phone call the following morning cryptically revealed that the backpack would return in seven hours. From where? We're not quite sure, but have some suspicions regarding the housekeeping staff, also, quite where the programme went we'll never know, but relieved to hear about the return of Cooper's beloved backpack we went out hunting for breakfast.

As we wandered along the wharf perusing the various restaurants offerings we began to overhear an unholy racket coming from beyond the pier. Curious, we looked over the edge and were somewhat surprised to see a jetty jam-packed with sea lions!

What a noise they were making! Some were being well behaved and sleeping, while others would clamber over each other and get the others cross. It was great fun watching them though odd to think these were living in the wild and yet we could watch them so closely.

We peeled ourselves away eventually and explored more of the town. After eating, we headed up along the coast road - Highway 1. This drive is famously scenic and we got some great photos of the coastline and the Pacific.

The lost Sea World backpack saga reached a happy finale that night after we drove into San Francisco one final time to pick it up after the seven hours was up. Though sadly there was no sign of the Wicked programme.

Our next destination was further down Highway 1 past plenty of photogenic vistas leading us nicely to Santa Maria, our last destination before returning to Joan and Eric's in LA.

We rocked up at lunchtime and were greeted by Eric mowing the lawn. It was so nice to come across a friendly face and over lunch we enjoyed catching up with them both.

We can't believe our three weeks exploring California (and a couple of extra bits) has come to an end, time really is flying and so will we be! Although we're leaving behind some very nice sunny weather and heading for a rather cooler climate of Minneapolis, we're VERY excited. We're thoroughly looking forward to our stay at the Millers' and all that's planned for while we're there, not least - Thanksgiving!

We'll keep you all posted!

Love to all (back soon!)

Nick and Katie

xxx