Pacific Coast Highway to LA
Trip Start
Dec 26, 2008
1
3
13
Trip End
Jul 17, 2009
Los Angeles, California, United States
Monday, January 12, 2009
Somehow we made it to Santa Cruz (Lois' map reading skills needed a little work ha ha), but there wasn't that much there so after a quick toilet and snack stop (smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels - compliments of Auntie Paula) we continued on to Monterey. The scenery was beautiful - burnt orange heather covered the hills beside the road. As we approached Monterey we could see the ocean - the sun was beaming on the water. We have been very lucky with weather so far on our trip. We made it into Monterey in time to go to the Aquarium - it was nice, but for $30 each we were a little disappointed, although the jellyfish were awesome. After we had finished looking around we grabbed the car and found the youth hostel. We decided to ease ourselves in gently by opting for a private room before we have to share dorms in Australia and Asia - the room was nice and clean so we were happy. Auntie Paula and Ted had kindly given us some spendies for the trip down, so we decided to treat ourselves to a nice Mexican meal. We found a lovely place called El Torito which overlooked the ocean and the food was sublime even by my standards. We sampled some Mexican beer called Dos Equis which was yummy and made us a little tipsy.
We strolled down Cannery Row - thankfully the Ghiradelli shop was closed as we were in the mood for a splurge on chocolate. Not ready for bed yet, we were lured into a bar by the sound of some funky blues. We found a seat at the bar and got chatting to some locals ... people are really friendly in America. 2 guys from our hostel were in there too and after a few beers our curfew was approaching (they lock the doors at the hostel and if you don't get back in time, you have to sleep in the car). After a visit to the 24-hour shop, Lois snook some beers past the night watchman and we chilled in our room listening to our mp3 (thanks to the boys for some funky tunes). It was a very funny night - enough said!
Thursday we got up feeling slightly rough, devoured a pancake breakfast, followed by our first (and last) American MacDonalds. We needed to fill up the car - we had no idea what we were doing ... after I'd been stood there cursing the petrol pump for several minutes, Lois sought help and discovered that you pay first ... DOH!!! Back on the road we realised we wouldn't get chance to do everything we had planned for the day as the distance to Santa Barbara was a lot greater than we thought. Thus said we did the following;
The 17 Mile Drive - was really pretty but you can see much of the same on the Pacific Coast Highway for free.
Big Sur State Park - amazingly beautiful but a really slow drive as the roads were sketchy in parts and there had been a rock slide so we were sat for a while. If we had more time we would have liked to stop at Hearst Castle but maybe next time.
The sun was low so we pulled off the road at Morro Bay to watch it set over the ocean. Back on the 101 darkness drew in, so we blasted on to Santa Barbara through some thick fog. Thankfully we made it in one piece.
After driving around in circles for a while, we found our hostel and checked in. A guy called Kevin who looked like Whoopi Goldberg showed us around and was really helpful in pointing us towards the town centre. We really liked Santa Barbara - it has a Spanish feel and there were lots of young people around ... being a college town ... lots of pubs / bars ... we wished we had got to spend more time there. California Pizza Kitchen is where we grazed - very nice. To walk off the carbs, we took a stroll back through the town and down to the beach (just near our hostel). Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures ... would have been nice to see more in the daylight.
A slightly cold and uncomfortable night as with every turn the waterproof bedsheet rustled. Next morning ... another glorious day. I had driven from San Fran and Lois wasn't too impressed so I had to give in and let her drive ... much to my dismay (I'm a little bit of a control freak - stop nodding Mum) ... Lo has only been driving for 6 months .... but actually she was really good. It was nice as I got to see more of the scenery on the way down to LA.
We didn't really stop anywhere on the way down as we were conscious that we needed to return the hire car. Driving through Malibu we were gob-smacked at the size of some of the houses - perhaps a little excessive??! (our photos don't show the full extent of how the other half live here).
Our cousin David picked us up from the car hire place and took us back to their beautiful home ... it was great to see him and his wife Meghan. Dave had a business lunch to attend, but had arranged for us to go on a VIP tour of Sony Studios. The tour was really interesting ... we went on the sets of Jeopardy & Wheel of Fortune; saw the Oscars that they have won; visited the studios where some great films such as The Wizard of Oz, Men In Black, Rocky, Spiderman, Oliver, As Good As It Gets, etc were filmed. We also got to go onto an active set for a new Adam Sandler film called 'Funny People' ... our tour guide got us to act out a scene ... I was Director ... 'ACTION' doesn't quite have the same ring to it in a North East accent ... Lois played the older sister Kimberley who was cross with her younger sister ... she did a good job but hey she has had enough practice hasn't she!! We couldn't take that many pictures because many of the areas were restricted but we had a great time anyway.
Dave had made dinner reservations at Mozza Pizzeria. Dave ordered sprouts for starters and we looked at each other hoping they would not resemble Gran's (no offence) and thankfully they didn't. Never knew sprouts could taste so good. We all opted for pizza for our mains ... they were gorgeous ... we would definitely recommend this place ... no wonder there is a 30 day advanced bookings list. Dave treated us to dinner which was very kind. We got back to the house and being in the film industry, Dave gets a lot of movies to watch, so we relaxed with a bottle of wine and watched Quantum of Solace - what a load of crap!!!
Saturday morning we had breakfast in the garden as the sun was shining ... We were in for a treat as Dave and Meghan took us on a private tour of LA in their convertible Mercedes with the top down. Parked up in Hollywood ... went along the Walk of Fame; had a look at the hand / footprints in the ground outside the Chinese Theatre; went up to the viewing point to see the 'HOLLYWOOD' sign and then were treated to lunch at Johnny Rockets - a 1950's style diner (we wanted to pay but Dave was having none of it). We jumped back in the car and had a trip to Beverley Hills; drove down Rodeo Drive - we didn't get out because we certainly can't afford to shop there.
Dave had some work to catch up on at home, so Meghan took us to the beauty salon where we were pampered for the last time before we start roughing it. Feeling all lady-fied we headed home and started watching a film called The Reader with Kate Winslet which we stopped halfway through as we had dinner reservations at half 7. Before we left, Dave showed us his party trick of Sabring the Champagne ... very cool ... a Russian / French tradition done to wish people good luck ... a lovely gesture.
For dinner we went to a great Tapas restaurant called Cobras and Matadores - the food was incredible.
Yesterday Meghan was feeling really poorly with a cold so Dave took us down to Manhattan Beach ... 79 degrees it was another glorious day in LA. We walked down the pier and there were surfers and sunbathers everywhere ... there just happened to be a pod of dolphins swimming by ... OMG how cute ... I wanted to dive right in there with them. Thankfully I refrained as the water is very cold here.
Dave took us for lunch and again wouldn't let us pay for anything ... we went to a famous restaurant called Wahoo's and had fish tacos with spicy beans and rice ... we both loved it ... I am getting so much more adventurous with food already ... never know I might be up for sampling deep fried tarantula by the time we get to Cambodia!!??
A quick stop off at a hardware store and a grocery store, we made our last stop at a famous shop called Pinkberry where we were treated to their delicious healthy frozen natural yogurt topped with fresh fruit ... it was so good it should be bad for you!
Back at the house we drank wine in the garden, followed by crackers with pate and brie, then one of Dave's killer cocktails ... we have been spoilt rotten. Meghan cooked us a beautiful meal even though she was still feeling rubbish which was very sweet.
Dave and Meghan were due at a swanky after Golden Globes party, so not wanting to stay in, we got our 1 decent outfit on and got dropped of on Sunset Boulevard. We went to a few bars and ended up in The Standard ... a hotel partly owned by Leonardo Di Caprio and Cameron Diaz ... there was a funky bar where the drinks were ridiculously expensive ... needless to say we didn't have many. We got talking to a few guys from Sydney who were nice and they said to get in touch when we get to Oz and they will show us around.
Today we have been packing and getting ready for our flight to New Zealand; we are hoping to pop down to Venice Beach before we leave to watch the muscle-heads working out ha ha.
All in all America has been fantastic; great people; great food; great weather and lots of fun things to do. We would love to come back here and spend more time exploring (preferably with our own wardrobes and plenty of cash).
A big thank you to Dave and Meghan for making us feel at home, spoiling us rotten and making sure we had a great time in LA.
Not sure when our next update will be as we will be driving around New Zealand in a Spaceship for the next few weeks.
http://www.spaceships.tv/new-zealand-campervan-hire/
So long America ... we'll be back!!!
Love Sophie & Lois - AKA Sisters on Tour x x x
Comments
Safe Travels!
Hi girls,
Just a note to say, we love your blog and thanks for being such super house guests! It was lovely to see you both and we hope you have a wonderful trip! Hope the flight to NZ wasn't too bad. Keep us posted on your adventures :)
Love,
Meghan and David