Now we are in Cambria

Now we are in Cambria ... it's getting cooler

Hi from Cambria on the Central Coast of California,

We had yet another day at Disneyland on Thursday and it was an early opener. Because we had a special 5 day pass we were allowed in at 8.00am with a smaller group of people. It was great. Nicole went on Space Mountains 3 times in a row without having to wait. Rebecca went twice before her tummy, as she says, "fell out".

We then managed to go on Splash Mountain twice which is Kims favourite ride. Kim loved it. Nicole then went on Indiana Jones whilst Becky and Phil walked through Swiss family Robinsons tree house. Pirates of the Caribbean and a few other rides before the crowds, and did the crowds come on that afternoon! By midday it was minimum 30 minute waits so we decided to go on the less popular rides and just walk about.

By around 2.00 we'd had enough and planned to leave. Just then along came a Hunchback of Notre Dame parade and Nicole become a member of the parade. She had to stand on a pedestal with a mask on and shout "blahh". Was she every happy about that.

Final thing was Mr Lincoln in a theatre which was quite impressive plus a little more Disney shopping. That night we had mexican food at Del Taco. Nicole now has a new favourite food ... soft tacos ... she had 3 of them.

Friday was a day in the car. We drove through Long Beach then along the LA coast to Santa Monica. Santa Monica wasn't as impressive as we had read. Dirty, hot and expensive. We tried to pick up a tour to Hollywood and Beverly Hills but none we available so we decided to drive onto Beverly Hills. We managed to get a park in Rodeo Drive right near Lladros and opposite Guggi. Nice place. Clean but really, really expensive. Mercedes, Ferraris, BMW, Bentleys in the street and designer clothes and jewelry everywhere. We only spent an hour since the 10cents for 10 minutes meter was running out.

We then drove through some of the Beverly Hills residential areas and past a fews stars homes including Goldie Hawn and Olivia Newton John (did we tell you that Olivia Newton John was on our flight over to LA and celebrated her birthday onboard?)

Hollywood was disappointing .. again dirty and reminiscent of Kings Cross although the girls loved Mann's theatre. Particularly Becky when she found Arnold Schwarznegers hand and foot prints. We then walked down Hollywood Boulevard looking at the names of stars in stars in the pavement.

As we were driving down the street leaving as the sun began to set we were amazed by the number of police coming out to patrol the streets.

A quick drive home past downtown LA and then big Pizza and spaghetti dinner delivered to the room.

Saturday we left early for a drive to Santa Barbara. What a beautiful part of the world. Blue sky for the first time. We stopped at a beautiful park for lunch which has a play area designed by children for children. The girls really enjoyed it before the parents indulged in some big shopping. Stampa Barbara was amazing ... must have been over 5,000 rubber stamps ranging from Christmas collections to flowers and animal sections. Rebecca and Nicole loved the teddy bear section.

Onto Macys were Phil bought not one, but two pairs of slip on casual shoes. Bargain at $30 each. Kim bought boots she's been looking for for ages and has the bargain of the holiday with a pair of really nice blue shorts for $4.90 .. yes, $4.90 for a pair of shorts and can you believe a top for the same price. Amazing shopping. They give you 30% off then another 65% off that during the sales.

Shopping was so good Phil took the girls back to the hotel for a swim while Kim, Yarro and Clare kept shopping.

That night we had take-away, or should I say "to go", chinese and thai. Quite nice though a little milder than Australian versions. Game of cards then bed for the adults.

Sunday was beautiful. Started with a swim then breakfast on the balcony before driving into Santa Barbara again for a look through, you guessed it, the shops again. We didn't buy anything though except a coffee at Starbucks which Kim didn't like much.

We had lunch overlooking the Pacific Ocean and headed onto Cambria via a couple of nice places. First stop was an Ostrich and Emu, yes Emu farm near Solvang. Kim, Becky and Phil ate Emu Jerky which is dried Emu meat. Phil thought it was okay but not as good as Beef Jerky. Kim and Becky didn't like it at all. Onto Solvang proper which is a quaint Danish town . All the buildings look like they been transplanted from Denmark. Wish we had more time to walk the streets but had to move on.

Next stop was Harmony ... population 18. Tiny town by the side of the Pacific Highway, Highway 1. We tasted wine, bought a few trinkets and moved onto Cambria.

After a bit of difficulty finding the hotel we watched a magnificent sunset over the ocean from big wooden deck chairs sipping red wine we bought in Harmony. Mind you it was a lot cooler here so we had to drive into the bags for jackets to keep warm as the sun set.

Dinner was quick and cheap at a place the locals seem to like called the Main St Grill. Afterwards Rebecca came out with a classic line. She's had a few this holiday that make your sides hurts with how funny she can be in such an innocent way. She was sitting in the car after dinner including an ice cream and said "This is the life". Never a truer statement.

Anyway, it's getting late .. 10.30pm and we have a big day ahead. Hearst Castle, Big Sur and onto Monterey for dinner with friends, Brian and Anita. We plan to spend Tuesday morning at the Aquarium with them before heading onto the redwood forest before dinner with Peter and Liz in San Francisco.

Hope you are all well and the fish are surviving. We'll write again soon.