We set off on our city adventure by catching the Hop on / off bus just opposite our hotel, and take the red route. Our first notable point was in Melrose Avenue which is the fashion area of LA and provided much of the fashion for Friends. We then continue on, past Pinks Hotdogs and Paramount Studios into Vine St. This leads into Hollywood Boulevard and the walk of fame, stars on the floor all names, yes we did know some, certainly not all.

We then switch bus onto the Downtown LA bus, re tack our steps a little and into Wilshire Boulevard and then into the downtown area of LA. On this round trip we see many Skyscrapers of different shapes, colours and design. The main thing they have in common is their height, it makes a different and interesting city view. We go past the Walt Disney Concert Hall, into China Town, past where Robert Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, into Olvera Street Pueblo and then onto Little Tokyo. The massive LA civic centre comes into view, the Jewellery and Theatre districts followed and then the fashion district, then the huge Convention centre and Staples Centre, where Michael Jackson's memorial service was held. We then leave Downtown LA past Echo Park, for a very, very windy trip up the freeway back to Hollywood Boulevard.

We stop and grab something to eat and its then onto the bus again for the remaining three quarters of the Red Route. We go up Hollywood Boulevard and onto Sunset Boulevard and see all the key things and places the stars go on route, but no stars, not that we would recognise them in any case!!

We then progress up market and enter Beverly Hills on Santa Monica Boulevard. All the mega posh and expensive places are on our right hand side, with silver water hydrants as this was felt more appropriate than the normal yellow ones for the area! There are service lanes for refuse etc, as well, so as not to spoil the ambience of the area! Not sure of the prices, but lots of noughts involved I am sure!!!

We have a good tour around, down Rodeo Drive with all the posh very, very expensive shops and names, one even is by appointment only and $100k a go!!

Leaving Beverly Hills behind, we go back onto Wilshire Boulevard pass the La Brea Tar Pits, bubbling tar from below the surface, back past the street lights exhibition we saw the night before and into Fairfax Avenue. The bus goes to the Farmers Market where we get off.

We have dinner in the hotel and crash out!

Day 19 - Los Angeles to San Simeon California

Top of Page

We leave just after 8am to get ahead of the LA traffic, which certainly worked. We drive up to and follow Santa Monica Boulevard to the Pacific Ocean, and find somewhere to park by the beach and Santa Monica Pier. The number of people already there and on the beach before 9am on a grey and chilly Sunday morning is quite incredible, loads more than we imagined.

So up onto the pier and find the official end of Route 66, and take the obligatory pictures and purchase souvenirs. We walk around the pier, enjoy the sights and look down over Manhattan Beach towards Long Beach and north towards Malibu. As its grey and misty we could not see that far. We walk up off the pier to photograph the entrance sign etc and back on. By this time its about 10:30am and the pier is getting quite crowded and lots of little stands appear selling a vast range of food and souvenirs.

We make our way back to the car, and after driving around Santa Monica take Highway 1 out of the area north, as intended.   We follow the coast through the Malibu area, some 30 miles and continue North. Highway 1 and the Highway 101, a larger road then merge, through Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and we finally rejoin Highway 1 at San Luis Obispo.

The scenery on route was good, interesting and varied, from coastal small towns, ocean, to hills and lots of fruit growing, lots in very large poly tunnels, and Vineyards.

We stop off at El Capitan Beach and have an ice cream and enjoy looking at the Pacific and also at Cambria. Neither place were we tempted to paddle, just not warm enough!

We then move onto San Simeon, which is on the coast although the motel has the road between it and the coast. Tomorrow we hug the coastline to San Francisco, let's hope the Sunshine state shows its warmth!!

Top of Page

We leave a bright and sunny San Simeon, firstly going to see its beach, which is very nice with good waves. We make our way north hugging the coast line, beautiful scenery, with the sea, waves, rocks and cliffs one side and the Californian Hills on the other.

We stop after a short while at Point Piedras Blancas and to our great surprise, in the sea and covering the beach are moulting Elephant Seals, so ungamely on land but quick in the water. The noise was incredible, as was the sheer numbers here. I think the photos show this well, and the Seals fighting, we could not make out if this was in fun or serious.

We go on further stopping and taking pictures at various points enjoying the magnificent coastal scenery. At one of the spots there was a commotion and we go and see what's happening. Just out in the Sea is a Whale playing around, we watch and enjoy this.

We continue north, what lovely scenery and eventually get to Monterey Bay and Santa Cruz. We park on the pier, thinking we would have a 10 minute walk around. Well the pier is very long and bends two thirds of the way along. The cross winds were very strong making this quite a chilly walk. We go out and hear the distinctive sounds of the seals again, firstly to the side on a platform, some in the water and others on the pier rafters, where they must have perched when the tide was higher. This was an incredible sight as were the seals in the sea and the birds, mainly Pelicans flying around and diving bombing into the water.

We get to the end of the pier and there again was a Whale playing around, we spend some time watching this and photos of course. It was about 2:30 now so we pop in for some lunch, on the pier. Just as we finish another whale is spotted, this time closer to the pier and nearer the shore line. This was really great to see this massive sea creature so close, closer than we did in Iceland on a boat! We have some great pictures, including one where it raises its head out of the water, birds are everywhere as are the Seals and perhaps Dolphins.

After quite a while we leave Santa Cruz, keeping to the coast and make our way into San Francisco. The traffic certainly was heavy, although not too bad to negotiate and get to our hotel. All settled in and fine.

What a day, scenery fantastic and the added bonus of the wild life display, Whales, Seals and Birds

Top of Page