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Sunday

Driving down to San Diego was going to be a leisurely affair as there is no rush to get anywhere - holiday mode!

We decided to stop in a mall in Orange County - we do like a bit of retail therapy and we've been 'so' deprived for the past few years - but it didn't open until 11am so we had to wait around until it opened.  We had to go to the Apple Store to sort out a small problem that we were having the the iTouch, it didn't want to connect to any wi-fi spots.  This caused some confusion in store, puzzled looks and it took a while but it was sorted.  Good job too, I can't imagine someone back in SA being able to figure it out (some of the technology is very behind and having checked, the 32MB version of the iTouch isn't even available over there) and even if they could fathom what was wrong with it, chances are I'd lose the will to live before it was sorted out... okay, I'm a bitch and I admit it.

Carried on down to San Diego, via a branch of Michaels where I had to get some necessary threads and also managed to do a bit of stitching in the car.  I've managed to get a bit done what with long distance drives (well, passenger rides) and plane journeys but I really want to get this sampler finished as I'm seeing S when we are in the UK so I want to give it to her then.

We got to the hotel/motel, which very much reminded us of one of the places we stayed in Orlando when we were on honeymoon - all those years ago!  The Garmin had a few problems getting there, it was confused by the parallel roads, roads above each other and things like that, but all in all, it's been extremely useful and I can see why some people swear by them.  I can also see why some people swear at them, because if you don't pay attention, notice the map on the machine and work it out according to the roade layout you can see, you can end up taking multiple wrong turns or worse!

A bit of housekeeping to be done here - washing and drying to re-extend the wardrobe and took some time to write some postcards.  Also took some time to do some more stitching, a very pleasant environment all around - good facilities with a pool and a spa but rather a lot of kids we thought for the time of year!  Worked out what we would do for the next couple of days, sorted out dinner and chilled out.

Distance: 118 miles

Saturday

It seems that everyone goes out for breakfast on Saturday as everywhere was manic and crazy!  We didn't really have any choice though so had to find something, which we did eventually...

We asked at the hotel about pricing a cab to take us into the city and it was ridiculously expensive!  We asked if there was parking around the Chinese Theatre and were told no but I know I'd read something about parking close by as the tour we wanted to go on left from that area so we decided to risk it.  Drove into the city, up to Hollywood to get the tour and parking was no problem at all plus you got two hours for free with validated purchases from the mall or even with a ticket for the tour that we were going on.  Even after two hours, it would only be $10 maximum for the whole day - much cheaper than cab fares.

Looked around the Chinese Theatre, read all the inscriptions and some of the stars along the street.  This is one of those really iconic places that has been seen in so many films, on tv, on the news, so being there is quite surreal.  However, it's not as glamourous as one might think it would be but even so, there are people who have been there, the messages that have been left are almost legendary.

Took a hop-on-hop-off tour which covered all the major things that we wanted to see within LA.  These are so handy - took the whole tour with all the commentary, decided where we wanted to return to later.  Surprise, surprise, we went back to the shopping - The Grove - which was very nice, with lots of bits and bobs, including an Apple Store.  So, we took another look at the iPod Touch and decided to buy it.  The price for the 32MB was excellent compared to even the UK plus it has internet accessibility so that would be useful on our travels.  That meant that R would have my original iPod when we got home and I get the upgrade!  Went on to have a nice lunch, headed to Barnes and Noble and bought yet more books as there were things I'd not seen before and of course, things are much cheaper.  Have to be careful now due to luggage restrictions.  The weight allowance from the US to the UK is great, each person can have up to two cases, each of which can weigh up to 32kg but the allowance from the UK to South Africa is only 22kg!  So, that's the weight we have to work with.  Still couldn't find anything I wanted in Victoria's Secret - oh well.

Then I had to take R to a place that I had told him about after my trip to Chicago some years ago... the (rather scary) American Girl Place, where they seem to practise socialisation at it worst.  It seems to encourage conformity, leading to cloning of the American girl into the American woman/housewife or something?  It felt like Stepford Wives for young girls!  Maybe we just don't get it but, personally, I'm not into all that socialisation thing, maybe it's because I was a tomboy or maybe just because I am different and happy to be so!

Back on the bus, took the rest of the circuit and then looked around at the drop off point again.  Headed back to the hotel to crash for a bit then headed out for a quick dinner before packing things ready to leave for San Diego in the morning.  Tried out the iPod and found that it needed to be initialised before it could be used, and that meant to plug it into a mac - bit tough at the moment!  So, we headed back to the Grove that night to have them do it in the store or we wouldn't be able to use it!  Caused a bit of confusion at the store from a couple of people but finally someone understood exactly what we meant, that leaving it until we got home was not really possible because if anything was wrong with it...  They simply plugged it in, initialised it and we were ready to go so we could use it to check emails and stuff when in a wi-fi hotspot.  I love it, I love my Apple stuff and it's very swish so I'm a happy girl!

Friday

Left very early for us when on holiday and had breakfast at Denny's again to set us up for the day.  This is one disadvantage of a long trip, moving from place to place - you are eating out and in hotels all the time and although that doesn't sound too bad, after a while, the novelty really wears off.  That's why we've said that we prefer the idea of two centre holidays - having a base for a week at a time or something like that, especially if you decide to go self-catering so you can please yourself and cook what you want when you want it.  Maybe next time...

We drove up to Hearst Castle, which was a very pretty drive.  The mist was coming in over the coast as we drove and this gave a very odd impression of the land just falling away from you, like the edge of the world.  We stopped to take some pictures and at some point I'll either put a couple on here for the trip or at least link to our webshots albums.

Arrived at Hearst Castle quite early, way ahead of the time that we had booked the tour so went to find out whether we could change our time and go a bit earlier.  Great, we could get on the tour about to go, which was an hour earlier so we'd have more day to do what we wanted to.

What to say about Hearst Castle - it's completely over the top and that's an understatement!  The amount of money spent, the ostentatious decorations, the amount of time it took to build and complete, the stories of the history and all that, does not detract from what it is and the fact that it is worth seeing.  It reminded us a lot of the placed we saw in Rhode Island when we were there years ago and the stories about Americans having a lot of money but no class - according to the Europeans - as it's something you can't buy.  That and real history! LOL  It certainly was an amazing building with a colourful history and a breath-taking view.

Started the drive down to LA and stopped for lunch at Red Lobster, nice little seafood chain and the lunch menu has the size portion that we are more used to!  However, the bits and pieces you get for free make it more than you can handle really!   At the moment, we feel that we prefer the East Coast of the country to the West Coast.  This is for various reasons but perhaps for the feel of the place and the history - there's more of it on the East Coast really.  Perhaps also the fact that it's closer to home!

Headed into LA and even though we spent a great deal of our lives driving in London, busy, manic city that it can be, driving in LA is mad!  Even the Garmin got really confused at times!  Don't know who designed the road layouts or what they were thinking (or perhaps what they were on) but there is much confusion and very little logic!  Anyway, we found the hotel okay, very nice, especially after the last place.  Settled in and relaxed before heading out to get some bits to eat - not that we wanted much.  Tomorrow we will sort out a tour of the city.

Distance: 279 miles