Strawberry Fields to Elephant Seals

Venice Beach
Not quite what you see on Baywatch!
The top photo is of a Bordello, so it says on the front anyway.

This was our first stop in the Mustang. We found a parking spot, (not easy) and went for breakfast and a stroll. When we got back to the car at ten past eleven, it was alone, with a ticket on the screen. Damn! I looked at the sign, yeah yeah, I know, should have looked at it before, and it said no parking between 11am and 1pm on Tuesdays for street cleaning! Two hours in the whole week and we snag it. 60 buck fine.

Heading out of LA we go through miles and miles of strawberry fields, as far as the eye can see! It must be the season, with pickers all bent over the plants. I noticed them running to get more boxes and work as fast as possible. What a great job............

We stayed in a lovely motel in Cambria, just across from the sea. Breakfast was included in the little dining room, with EVERYTHING sweet and EVERYTHING disposable. Plastic plates, cutlery etc.

I finally plucked up the courage to drive. My head is still in the southern hemisphere and I just can't figure driving on the wrong side of the road. It's a weird feeling. Turning intersections is the worst. Anyway, we went up the coast to an elephant seal colony. Absolutely amazing, dozens of them sleeping on the sand, ocassionally lurching themselves over the top of someone else to get closer to the shore. Apparently they don't eat for the entire time on the beach (months).

As we came into San Francisco it started raining so we had to put the top up to go across the Golden Gate bridge. That thing is huge!! I really think the bridge in Taree should be painted the same colour, would look great. We stayed in a suburb called Sausalito, on the north side. Equivalent of Woollahra, but on the water. Our hotel room was called 'Artist's Loft' and it was great, i'll put a pic in.

We left the motel and went down to the iconic 'Fisherman's Wharf'. They're doing a lot of remodelling there so it was a bit messy, dingy really. But we checked out a WWII submarine at the dock and spoke to Ed, a guide and veteran of the tin can. He was very informative and loved Aussies. Tells us he lost his virginity in Brisbane in 1945, ha ha. I couldn't imagine spending one day in that sub, let alone months, with lots of other people, (shiver). But the engineering was fascinating.

On the pier near the sub is the Musee Mecanique, a museum of penny arcade machines. What a hoot! There was one there called the 'French Execution' Not sure how old, about 50 years. You put the quarter in and the little curtain goes up, a bell rings and the guillotine comes down on the little model's head. That's it. How bizarre. There were lots of really unPC things like that.

Well we are in Hollywood now, will tell you bout that tomorrow. Off to take back the Mustang (awww, I want one) and put Tim's bike on the ship.

Sorry it's messy, haven't worked out the layout of this thing yet.

Love youse all