Saturday 2 July - another airport another delay! Due to leave at 10:25 no sign yet of us boarding at 11:35. Just now updated to 12:05 - but they've changed the time three times already and not hit one of them... Many things work very smoothly in the US - our flights it seems are destined to be the exceptions that prove that rule. Goes from bad to worse - flight cancelled at 1pm. Rebooked onto 7pm flight - let's just hope it goes and they manage to put our bag...

Friday 1 July - Santa Barbara (and it's harbourer as seems inevitably to trip off the tongue) provided a beautiful setting for a relaxing day. The port is still an active fishing community with over two hundred boats fishing for shellfish, crustacea and red snapper. This is independence day weekend and the roads and parking places down the Pacific coast are thronged with huge RVs (Recreational Vehicles) most of them the size of a double-decker coach). Temperatu...

Thursday 30 June - amazing experience walking along the boardwalk next to the sea in bright sunshine this morning when fog rolled so quickly in from the sea that the view literally disappeared in front of our eyes. There is a sign a little down the road from Cambria saying 'fog's end' where it always stops!

Wow, we made it. The drive down Highway 1 on the Californian Coast. "Wow" is what we said all day as we moved from driving beside the coast with it's rugged coastline to driving high above the water and all the time exceptionally high hills rising to the left of us. We have landed in a delightful Inn (we think these are upmarket motels) and have for the third time this holiday had an upgrade. Big spacious room and big spacious jacuzzi. Dinner was in a restaurant ...

Thursday 30 June - there are officially only 18 people living in harmony in California - there's a sign to prove it - Harmony - population 18, altitude 175 feet! The guide books would have you believe that sitting in a Santa Barbara cafe is the place to watch the beautiful people of the city walk by - what you actually see, of course, is an endless parade of other tourists and the semi-derelicts of Santa Barbara - at least the food and weather are good!