28 June - ah the delights of a Californian Summer - soup in front of an open fire to warm ourselves after the heaviest June rainfall since 1979! Total consternation from the locals that it should rain in Summer. Sat in the car looking out across the Pacific as the rain lashed against the windscreen made us feel truly at home - just like August in Wales/Scotland/Devon... The 17 mile drive around the peninsula between Carmel and Monterrey was opened up in the 18...

Today we left San Francisco for the next leg of our US adventure. Neil was so chuffed when he saw that the convertable we had ordered was a Mustang, big and black. Somehow we forced our luggage in the boot and we were off to drive the Californian coast. First stop Santa Cruz which did not fail to delight as we sat by the harbour on a fantastically clear day eating lunch and watching people messing about on the water in all sorts of different ways. Now in Carmel, ...