This posting has been much delayed. A more immediate source of news can be found on my Facebook page, the link to which can be found below and to the left in my Blogroll.
From Monterey we drove to Santa Barbara where we stayed overnight. There is no such thing as a cheap place to stay in Santa Barbara on a Saturday night. Even the cheap motel we stayed in (and it was a place in need of a lot of care and attention) cost us over $140. For not much better we could have paid an awful lot more – if we could have found any place with empty rooms.
The next day we set off for San Diego, passing through the vast expanses of Greater Los Angeles. We were impressed by the mountains in the north of the city – some of the scenery is quite impressive.
Eventually we got to Oceanside, a small dormitory town for San Diego, where my cousin lives. As expected we got a warm welcome and were told to stay as long as we liked. But as we had a booking in Las Vegas we could only stay two nights.
My cousin and her companion took us on a guided tour of the San Diego area. San Diego is very much a coastal town and has a lovely coastline. The San Diegans love it and so does the wildlife. And the wildlife tend to get the better of the deal.
Seals and pelicans on the San Diegan shore
In particular there is one beach, which used to be mainly a children’s beach, but has now been taken over by a colony of harbour seals as a breeding and nursery area.
Seals have taken over the Children's Pool!
On a nicer day it would be a good beach for children, but the seals think it is great for their children, in all weathers.
The Children's Pool, San Diego
Characteristically, in the Land of the Free, there is a law which applies.
Laws regulating man/seal interaction
But San Diego is not only for seals – it is also a big naval base. There is an old aircraft carrier preserved.
Preserved aircraft carrier
And there are other manifestations of naval culture
The sailor is home from the sea
Between the harbour and the sea is an offshore island which is connected to the mainland by a high bridge. From the island you can get good views of Downtown.
Downtown San Diego from across the harbour
And on the island is the hotel which starred in “Some Like it Hot” – the film with cross dressing Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. Also with Marilyn Monroe. It was set in Florida but San Diego was cheaper and nearer to Hollywood. So the Coronado Hotel is in the film. It is now a rather splendid place.
The main building of the Coronado Hotel
We were shown many other places in San Diego and saw places which we would not otherwise have seen. We can only thank my cousin and her friend for giving us so much of their time and hospitality.
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