I went out fairly early in the morning in search of both a new USA friendly mobile phone and a new adapter. The gentleman at the tourist info office was predicably, nauseatingly helpful. I wonder if they are programmed at school to be so cheerful & helpful to strangers. It seems that all Americans are the same, but I'll let you know if this is proved wrong on the trip. So adapter in hand, but no mobile, I set off along Highway 1 for the North. In some places the freeways are 4 lanes each side so can be rather disconcerting. However, I am so pleased that the speed limit is only a max of 65km/hour. That is nothing, as for example in South Africa their limit is 120 and in Oz its 110. The slowness suits me for sure as gives me time to change lanes if required. However I will say that they do not stick to the limit, nor are their lanes marked by slow or fast... weird!

What can I say except the views were spectacular. The mountains (snow capped) on my right were a sight to behold (not just because I have to cross them at some point), as was the wonderful ocean coastline to the left. It was all I had expected. I passed through Malibu and managed to peek a glimpse at some of those amazing houses seen on the telly... very nice! A lot of the mountain sides looked very dry, but then further along they turned greener & cattle could be seen.

I reached Santa Barbara and negotiated into a Parking area (free for first 75mins - nice!!). I had a wander around and the weather was very warm. The houses & buildings were so lovely that I decided to stay the night to explore more. My motel room was newly painted and the Ozzie guy was just putting the finishing touches to it (he was married to a Yank & had been there for 4 years).

By the time I was finished walking my feet were aching & I was full from my early dinner & pint of Stella (yes I just had to) from Joe's Cafe (yet another one). Santa Barbara is lovely & clean and seems to have a lot of wealth management companies in the town. People appear very affulent and the houses are huge. All in all a lovely place to visit.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention the awful lady that I passed in the shopping area... she had this awful high pitched nasally voice that made my skin crawl, and all she spoke about was her even more awful poodle, completely clad in pink diamante coat and I am sure that if the dog could speak, it would have sounded exactly like the owner... annoying!!!