Malibu.... "27 miles of scenic beauty", it says on a sign post by the road.... hmmmmm, OK? Crowded, small to 'non' surf, dirty water and chaotic traffic is what hit us when we drove into town.

We were quite chilled out due to the quiet life we had been living in small beach towns so we were not ready for too much city madness, just yet. Malibu is close enough to LA to be pretty busy, especially on weekends. Our first mission was to find a Thai restaurant, with the 'best Thai food in the world' as recommended by Odd Erik aka 'Erik-Enzo,' Ollie's Norwegian surfing buddy. We were to meet Odd Erik and his beautiful family there for a spot of lunch. By the way, the name Odd is a Norwegian name, and not a description of Erik, although sometimes it does make sense....
　
Navigating our rig down the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) was a bit of a nightmare. Beach houses sit right by the road so there is often parked cars or rubbish bins jutting out onto the road, that along with the uber rich impatiently honking horns and driving aggressively was a little too much on the nerves after a relaxing few weeks.

Finding Familiar Faces

It was great to see familiar faces. Familiar, yet extremely tired faces as they had endured a hell trip from Norway with a baby. The airline had lost their baggage and more importantly, the pram which was acting as baby Malin's bed whilst on holiday. It took us back to when we arrived and the severe jet-lag we had suffered. Poor Tonje had her own and also Malin's to deal with. Their holiday is combined with promoting Odd Erik's band, the Norwegian Fords, in the US market. Odd Erik, along with his band mate, Paal, were booked in to perform in LA during the month.
　
After lunch we drove around looking for a place to sleep. First we drove about 10kms through a steep canyon to the Malibu Creek State Park, but after a brief look around we decided we wanted to be closer to town, although the campground and park was lovely with some great hiking possibilities, this trip was about catching up with the Ognedals and surfing. We ended up at the Malibu Beach RV Camp, walking distance from the awesome apartment Odd Erik and Tonje were renting for the month.

LA LA Land

We pretty much parked the truck up for the next few days and joined the amigos on the public transport. Ollie managed to get in some boy/surfing time with Odd Erik, we purchased a long board for Shay, did a bit of sightseeing (Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice Beach) and we experienced a bit of luxury in the Ognedals pool and Jacuzzi. All in all we enjoyed a relaxing few days and by the end of it, as we took in the gorgeous view from our camper at the RV park, we were starting to see where the '27 miles of scenic beauty' had come from.

We could have easily dragged out the days in Malibu; it was comfortable, safe and had the added bonus of friends down the road. But Mexico was calling and we knew we couldn't put it off any longer. After a farewell lunch at Thai Beach with the Ognedals, we set off down PCH with San Diego in mind.
　
After what seemed like hours we finally started seeing the back end of LA and the scummy streets of Long Beach finally became the OC (Orange County) roads paved with gold. We had a pit-stop in Huntington Beach where we perused the abundant surf shops and took in an amazing sunset from the balcony of a fun Mexican cantina.

We decided to stay the night and look for a campsite but we were soon to find out that all the campsites were closed and the RV parks were asking a small fortune for a nights stay. Even camping in a parking lot was going to cost us US$60. Welcome to the OC, where people have money to burn! We admitted defeat after driving a further forty odd kilometres with still no luck and ended up checked into the Days Inn in San Clemente.

Final Days in San Diego

San Diego was close and in complete contrast to the evening before, we drove straight to the RV park, 'Campland,' and secured a campsite no problems. Relieved to be set for a few days we decided to relax and enjoy the campsites facilities, which included a selection of pools and Jacuzzi's. Oh yes, a hard life indeed!
　
San Diego, Shay says, is her favourite US city, that she's experienced so far. A lot more chilled and easier to navigate than LA, two amazing beach scene's, the cool, surfer/party vibe at Pacific Beach and the hairy biker dudes meets stoned hippies at Ocean Beach.
　
We ventured downtown and experienced the evening hub of diners and drinkers in the Gas lamp district, an area which has been preserved by the city but has always been the centre of the cities entertainment, although a lot tamer these days with strip clubs, opium dens, brothels and gambling halls replaced with stylish cafés, restaurants and bars.
　
We made the most of the luxuries at Campland while we could knowing that it might be a long time till we have the same again. With the last remaining items ticked off the list we were ready to move on and finally cross the border into Mexico. We were nervous about the unknown to come, with horror stories and warnings from people that had not been there fresh in mind. Mexico here we come!