The Coastview Inn Santa Cruz

... colour in the sun, very exciting! Then found a half price jewellers and got a new ring to replace Charlotte's lost one yay. Then went on the 17 mile drive around the Monterey peninsula, saw big waves and the famous Lone Cypress Tree. Charlotte then fell asleep during the Day After Tomorrow, which was very exciting having now been to New York and LA!   

... of the waves...(don't think it was Talon though).<br><br>05/11/2009 - After a lovely lie-in, we woke up to a gorgeous breakfast of berries and porridge. We headed back into town and found a 'secret walk' along a river. The houses along the path had private little gardens right on the rivers edge. It looked like such a lovely place to live. <br><br>After grabbing lunch at a cafe (Jim had a Philly cheese-steak and ...

... great for a first impression of a Cali beach...but then again I've always kind of considered Cali to be gross with city side-effects...kind of like the ones I had in front of me. I'm sure they get better...<br><br>Randoms:<br>-Super tall skinny trees<br>-Christa and I singing "Anthem" by Good Charlotte? surprisingly still knew the words<br>-Shotgunning beers in the sink at 9:30...a.m.<br>-"Going to California" Led Zep<br>-Conversation with Brits about Jaegerbombs. They had just heard of ...

Had a good day exploring the area. Started off first thing with a run, well, more of a walk, right the way along the coast from Monterey up towards Pebble Beach. It was a beautiful morning, and the sea lions were basking in the sun just down the road from the aquarium. We did have every intention of visiting the aquarium, but never got around to it.<br><br>After our walk we hunted out a Starbucks to get coffees, and then headed for 17 Mile Drive. The scenery really is stunning ...

... leaning back just a tiny fraction would make in the perspective of the person standing there... Anyway, it's full of things like that. And they enhance the illusion by having a building that is horribly skewed off the vertical. So it's a fun house trying to walk around inside. But there were two things that were confusing beyond being purely optical illusion. The first was one particular point on the floor where all of a sudden things ...

... to Santa Barbara. We haven't discoverd how to put photos on here yet but as soon as we have, we'll share some with you! Will update you when we can but we're not sure what facilities we'll find here..... Hope you're all ok - keep sending the messages! Lots of love from us x x

... the length of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk which was a series of rides, games and shops. A tip, eat before you go as the food prices are ridiculous ($12 for 2 skanky cheeseburgers and a coke). The Boardwalk was just like a large version of Codonas Beach Amusements in Aberdeen or any other seaside town. We didn't bother partaking. We headed up the road back past the hotel ...

... Park before Big Sur. The only problem with it is that it's a long drive and so after a few hours, the incredibly pleasant scenery becomes a bit samey and the end of the road is more desirable than another vista point. We stopped a few times but the main food stop was at Cambria where the GPS disappointed us once more by leading us to a place that was shut. No problem though as there was another place down the road and I had my first fill ...

... in comfort, without the heat and humidity of Malaysia. At the weekends, Adam showed me some of the sites, and during the week I pottered about exploring the city. My pottering included visits to Alcatraz, visiting the cathedral and city hall and going for swims. It was all lovely, although I felt very disorientated at times - I think the effect of not having been in a developed city for a very long time.

... and a "salad" respectively and plenty of hot chocolate after a long wet walk across the bridge and back. Waves must carry tiny pieces of glass or metal here-- so small and yet so loud as they turn over within the wave and hit the shore. And we finally have heat again after days of freezing to death in the room: Eliot makes it happen! I also discovered a way to get hot water. It's not easy and takes some fine-tuning, but it works.