END OF THE ROAD (WELL, ROUTE 66 ANYWAY)

DAY 4: Santa Monica to Santa Barbara

Sunshine at last! We headed straight for the beach to catch some much needed rays after checking out of the hotel.

After an hour or so we decided to take advantage of the long stretch of cycle paths along the beachfront, so Jen hired some roller boots and me a tricycle chopper. I want to get one. I felt like I was a kid again, it was great fun. I didn't get a flag though. Jen held on to me as I peddled which I thought was a bit cheating but then also returned the favour by pushing me on the straights. A great way to see the area.

Feeling peckish we headed on to Santa Monica Pier, where Route 66 ends, and had a tub of vanilla ice cream (one of our 5 a day - vanilla pods are natural you see) in preparation for our journey on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) towards Santa Barbara.

The PCH really is an incredible drive which I'm sure will only get better in the next week or so. After a short detour through Oxnard (we think we missed the turn off) we arrived in beautiful Santa Barbara, which is so different from anywhere we'd been so far - it's very quaint and very Spanish colonial (if that makes sense).

With it nearing the weekend the prices of all the accommodation were starting to rise, so we opted for a youth hostel that offered us a central location and the cheapest rate going. The tourist info place on the front were really helpful - thanks June. We booked a private en suite (sounds better than it is) just off State Street - the main strip.

As it was the first Thursday of the month, all the local shops were open late offering wine tastings, viewings of artists' work and performances by dance groups and bands amongst other very cultural things. So naturally, we dived in the first bar we came across (a really nice, good value Mexican called Sandbar) and took advantage of happy hour - Jen had four margaritas, I had four beers and we shared enough food to sort us out for a week. All that and it was only 6.30pm by the time we'd finished.

Feeling a bit tipsy, we had a quick look around the shops and headed back for an early night. At this rate we were regaining our jetlag.