Once again the weather turned it on for us. The sun was shining and we were among stars. Santa Barbara is where some of America's famous people live. The Neverland Ranch is just north and star's like Ellen Degeneris, Tim Allen and others live in the foothills above town. Mum discussed with one of the staff how close the fires came in the middle of the year. You could see the line on the hill which was very close to town. It brings it home what damage fires do and what it will be like when we get home to Oz. They have started to realise how big the issue is in Australia, the radio said the fires are 3000 time bigger than their fire in June. I saw a map of Australia put over a map of America and the fire marked on it. We hear the rain is coming so hopefully it will bring some relief.

We parked in town and wandered the street under the expert guidance of Dr Penny's tours. It was a red tiled roof tour as Santa Barbara has alot of history around the Spanish/Mexican settlement. It was a nice walk around the streets finishing off with a stroll down State Street, the main shopping area. We did some shopping and then coffee and iced chocolates for the walk to Stearns Wharf at the end of State Street. I got the car and met the girls there as there was free parking on the wharf for 1.5 hrs. We had fish and chips and sat looking out over the bay being annoyed by seagulls. After picking up a gift from the shops we drove off the wharf and along the waterfront. The girls wanted to go for a run in the sand so we had a little break as the next drive could be long. They ran in and out of the water. It wasn't cold they said, just refreshing, They are a bit crazy! After running through a big mob of seagulls just for fun we hit the road to LA. Exact travel time unkown, but supposedly 2 hrs.

It was smooth sailing until we hit the outskirts of greater LA. Google maps gave us the option of an alternative route which would save us 15 mins, sweet! As we started to head back to Santa Barbara we thought this might take us the long way round but it would be faster. Not long after turning onto Ronald Reagan Freeway the traffic started to bank up and slow down. Google maps gives you live updates of congestion. Blue for no congestion, orange for moderate and red for high. We started with an orange which we thought was slow - until we hit a red patch which was pretty much not moving. I don't know how they deal with it everyday. We would move and then stop and move then stop. The time of arrival started to increase rather than decrease. This was going to be annoying. Good thing we had apples, banana's and headphones to keep the troops happy.

We eventually arrived at our hotel opposite to the happiest place on earth. If you are not familiar with this term it's Disneyland. Checked in and once again the kids found the pool. A swim, dinner and then bed before 4 days of mayhem begins at Disneyland and California Adventure Parks.