Los Angeles - Homeward Bound

Had a great flight from Vancouver to San Diego - amazing scenery - layer after layer of mountains - and so dry.....
Very warm day....
San Diego was interesting.... Lots of homeless people there - obviously the climate is better there if you must live on the streets - not much likelihood of freezing to death in Winter I guess.

We walked about, down to the waterfront where supposedly all the life is! Absolutely deserted - there was an enormous cruise ship in port, and even then there was not much evidence of life in the place. Many cafes and eating places in prime waterside positions closed, and evidently had been so for a l-o-n-g time.

Chris Carter lives in San Diego, so I had sent him a message on Facebook that we were to be in town, so he, his girlfriend Lauren, and Angie - his mother who happened to be in town!, came and took us out to dinner. Had a lovely meal, and it was good to catch up - funny that I never see Angie in Camberwell, but life is funny!

Arthur and I bought a day ticket on the local transport, and went out to Sea World. That was a good day, and made even better by the fact that the place was practically deserted, and we never had to queue for anything - evidently, it's like Disneyland in the "season", but not the day we were there. Saw some more Polar Bears, this time lying contentedly in the sun snoozing, not pacing up and down the ice and rocks looking for a feed. Strangely, we didn't feel these guys were having a hard life!! Belugas were there too, and as we hadn't seen them in the Arctic, it was nice to see them, even if somewhat less than ideally!! Anyway, by the time we did that, and ate nearby, we were glad we were living in the middle of the city.

Spent the next day shopping, and took the trolley (like our trams actually) out to the extent of the line, for a look see - very, very desert-like... Half way back to the downtown stopped at a huge shopping centre - rather like Chadstone without a roof... Spent up a little!

Yesterday, Chris and Lauren picked us up and took us up to the northern beaches for lunch, and to see Chris' house. We ate at a gorgeous restaurant, high up on a hill, overlooking the beach. Very nice houses in this neck of the woods, and up a little further in a suburb called La Jolla - pronounced La Hoya!!! The poor people do NOT live here. Had a lovely few hours with them, before they took us home. They're a happy couple, and there's not much evidence that Chris intends to return home to Oz any time soon!

Our hotel is opposite another shopping centre, so after Chris dropped us back in town, we tried to spend a bit more money - not all that successfully.

Last dinner - found a very noisy "joint" run by Kiwis, had a scratch meal, a few drinks, and headed for bed.

Caught the Amtrak train from San Diego to L.A. Great ride - almost all the way, the track runs right beside the beach. Shuttle to LAX....

Now sitting in the Qantas lounge at L.A.....
This is the LAST POST.

It's been an absolutely fantastic holiday, so much interesting, never-done-before stuff, mostly totally unforgettable, and a wonderful almost nine weeks. Be warned people, we will probably be boring unless you tell us to shut up!!

Dying to get home now, and help Kirsten plan her wedding - we've missed all the excitement so far; dying to see everyone also - we've missed you all.

Saw a photo of the other 'kids' - Schimma and Lucy at Anne and Wallace's - they looked pretty happy, will probably be a bit cheesed off when we bring them home!!

Hope you haven't been bored to tears by my raving, and thanks for sharing our holiday.

See you soon....
Ann and Arch