Look behind you ...............................

The Big Sur was suitably amazing - we had lunch in a restaurant that used to be an old log cabin owned by Orson Wells when he was married to Rita Hayworth - well that what's the blurb said but there was no pictures of them anywhere…..

Artichoke Capital of the World !!!!!

We escaped from Salinas (artichoke capital of the world) In one piece and the next stop was Santa Cruz. Our couch surfing hosts were delightful - they are new to couch surfing so are far too generous and not jaded like the rest of us........give it time. Santa Cruz was a groovy beach side university town - with some very cool vintage clothes shops  - Rich now has a new wardrobe and we need to send some gear home. The pier in S.M. was really interesting - we spent quite a bit of time watching seals trying to jump onto the underside of the pier for a rest out of the sun and dodging crack pipe admirers.

We returned our car to the airport and flew to LA - all very painless and arrived on Saturday at our cute little apartment. We have been having a holiday from the holiday and doing a lot of slobbing  and sleeping in…....... lovely. 

Our apartment is a couple of blocks from the beach and Main St - where mosts of the shops and restaurants are located. So far we have wandered up and down the beach to the pier and 3rd Street,  driven into LA to see the hand and footprints at the Chinese Theatre;  visited Griffith Observatory; ate at the Tuesday night gourmet food trucks (queued for an hour in the cold for very average food); caught a comedy show in a local pub; visited the local farmers market and hung out in more than a few pubs.  

We also spent a day at Universal Studios. It was too much fun - the drive there was horrid - people drive like maniacs on the freeways here - no one gives way and if you miss your exit you're stuffed. Anyway we made it there and back in one piece so all good.

I loved Universal - I felt like an overgrown 10 years old! It was great to see so many people having so much fun. The first ride we went on - The Mummy was basically a roller coaster that runs indoors, in the dark - it was revolting - I hate roller coasters - it took me about 15 minutes to unscrew my face when we got off (and I won't mention how long to unclench my buttocks!).

But things improved after that - we went on the Jurassic Park ride next - which was okay - it had a big water slide at the end but it wasn't too steep - with your eyes tightly closed anyway. The Simpsons ride was great - pretty sure it was the old "Back to the Future" ride just revamped a bit. The Studio Tour was also really good - again with some old rides revamped - but Jaws was very funny. The Shrek and Terminator shows were okay - they herd about 700-1000 people into a big space  for a pre show speil - that's not too comfortable - standing with 1000 people in a closed in dark space - or maybe it was just me.

The absolute best was the Water World show - full of stunts, and jet skis and the 1000 strong crowd participation and everyone getting soaked - great laugh. It was a great day - we were knackered from the driving, laughing and screaming by the time we got home. Today we are being much more civilized and going to the Getty Centre.                        

We leave our little pad on Friday - when we catch our first  train to San Diego and have to be nice guests again.