Holiday Inn Express Suites Carpinteria

... visit to the city (the 2 previous were with the National Tour of Footloose and the National Tour of Sleeping Beauty the Musical) and I recommend going to Brophy Brothers Seafood, the Santa Barbara Arboretum and exploring all the amazing shops downtown.

... the **** US reality TV shows (which over the course of the last ten weeks I had somehow, slowly become addicted to, but Jim hated with a vengeance). So we settled down and watched a video from the collection - Four Weddings and a Funeral, which reminded us of a home a long, long way away.

11/11/2209 - After a bit of a sleepless night being too scared to go the loo in the dark, we woke up and ate breakfast on the deck overlooking the foothills. After eating, we ...

We got back on the bus at 7:45am for the penultimate time on our way for our last night in Carpinteria. To be honest its quite a while ago now as ive been pretty slack over the last month keeping the blog but we stopped off at a beach on the way at Santa Barbara for a few hours before getting into Carpinteria at 6pm. We had dinner in the bar all together and had some quiet drinks whilst reminiscing the past weeks events ...

... our first. The original ranch house from the 1800's was first. Awesome texture and just so unique. Antonio was photographed here in numerous poses before flipping around to shoot with the jukebox, Nycole in 60's garb and a red velvet throne. The throne itself was a key component to our day.

... on and pushed north through Santa Monica, Malibu and north of LA towards Santa Barbara.

Enentually we finished at Carpentiria at the State Beach where we pitched camp.The beach is overlooked by many oil rigs about a mile off sure. For some reason it does not seem to distract ones eye from the beautty of the beach. At night the rigs are lit up and seem to add to the skyline to make it more picturesque.

... Francisco for the weekend. They were really friendly and were amazed to hear about my travels! When I managed to get on a cable car I ran into two boys from the tour and ended up spending the day with them. We started at the Sea Lion Cafe where we could see into the bay and watch the sea lions, which was fun. We then went to the Ghiradelli Chocolate shop which is some of the best chocolate outside of Europe. While we were walking we saw a ...

... wonderful people who all seem to rollerblade everywhere - we even seen a 'roller dad' pushing a pram and a roller dance off! We took the bus into Hollywood one day and saw the Walk of Fame, Manns Chinese Theatre, the Hollywood sign and a Tour of the Stars homes! I also went to Universal Studios (Carla's already been) and absolutely loved it, there were lots of great rides and I also took a studio tour where you see all the ...

... 12.25pm Got to Venice Beach, found a suitable patch of sand, laid down on towel. Watched people surfing. They made it look so easy, just stand up for a bit, then fall off. I could do that. I will have a go someday. 3.00pm Got a bit peckish, so ate an apple and two plums. Fruit is very cheap here. 5.00pm Went for a swim in a very rough sea. Found a dollar floating in the surf. 6.00pm ...

... The kids and DH spent the day at the beach. I spent a little time there, but also went shopping in the quaint, sleepy little town. Found some goodies at an antiques store and knicknack store. We ate lunch at a great burger place at the edge of the beach (end of town). (Next day we headed to Santa Barbara...)

... and took a Bay Cruise past Alcatraz, and up to the Golden Gate bridge. We walked back to Lombard St. (the crookedest street in the world), and walked up it to get to the cable car stop. This is one of Frisco's desirable addresses, but the residents must get fed up of the constant stream of tourist rental cars driving down it. We just got back to the hotel in time to find that they offer complimentary wine between 5 and 6pm. Some compensation for the parking charge, so we ...