Today we explored LA and it is massive. We went to Venice Beach, saw Bel Air and Beverley Hills including Rodeo Drive and had lunch at the Farmers Market. We drove past the film studios and prop stores up to Griffith Park where we had a good view of the Hollywood Sign and then down to Hollywood Boulevard and the walk of fame followed by Sunset Boulevard. I cannot get over the vast expanse that is LA, it would be impossible to explore on foot. Even the walk of fam...

We walked around San Luis Obispo and found the downtown area really charming. We found an amazing candy store which had a corner with seats where you could watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Andrew then suggested I drive the Dodge! I went from our motel down one road before I found myself on the 101(California here we come) first time driving a huge automatic sat on the other side of the car on the other side of the road scary! As I came to do a u-turn a co...

The day finally came when with heavy hearts we had to say goodbye to Marilyn and Carl. We headed from Castro Valley over the San Mateo Bridge towards the pacific coast highway 1. It was not long before we began to encounter stunning scenery. We followed the coast road to Big Sur where we stopped for our amazing picnic prepared for us by Marilyn and Carl. Big Sur stretches for miles and is absolutely breathtaking. We saw many Californian condors and some Pelicans....

Early start before driving into San Francisco to catch the ferry to Alcatraz. Exploring the Island was amazing and the audio guide really brought the history to life. We learnt about the life of the convicts and guards here as well as some of the elaborate escape attempts! We then headed home for a family bbq. It was wonderful Stacey and Mike came along with the lovely Maggie and Maria. We were treated to a proper American bbq including Carls amazing Hot links, T...

We are so relaxed here. I slept till nine then fell asleep for another half hour! We then drove out to a mall for some shopping. I also got my nails done! Yes they have grown a lot with no nibbling! We then had lunch at Taco Bell which was great, I have no idea why we do not have these at home. We then went to the supermarket for road trip provisions. We then decided to drive to Fort Point at the Golden Gate. The traffic was busy being memorial day weekend but th...