Santa Maria, California to Arizona

Well, Dennis and I have made it to another state, but not before having a great time in California! After we left Santa Maria we went to Goleta, California to meet our friends, Ron and Pat Wharton (we have been traveling with them since we left Ocean City, MD) as well as Laura and Tom Miller who live in the area. We took a quick tour of Moss Motors--who supplies many of the parts needed to keep our British cars running--before going on a tour of Santa Barbara. I was amazed at how the houses were built into the mountain sides. People living on the mountains look out their front window to get a view of the roof of the house across the street, as well as a beautiful ocean view. The houses were beautiful, but I can see why so may burn if there is a fire, or why they might fall down the mountainside during a mudslide. I guess those are the risks you take to get the beautiful view--I'm not sure I could do it! After our tour we had lunch with

our friends at a marina in Santa Barbara. It was beautiful! Afterwards we went to a Spanish Mission for a photo op. Finally we drove through Montecito for a beautiful view of the ocean before we headed further down the Pacific Coast Highway on our way to Los Angeles.

The traffic around the Los Angeles area was terrible--all three days we were there! I don't think I could handle that much traffic all the time. I guess I am just a country girl! While in LA we went to visit the La Brea tar pits--well worth the visit. We had a great time learning about the animals that used to roam the area and we saw many skeletons found in the tar pits--really fascinating! Dennis and I then took a ride up into the canyons and around Mulholland Drive--terrifying, but beautiful. We saw the Hollywood sign, the homes of Meg Ryan and Ron Howard, and the Hollywood Bowl. The scenery was breath taking. After our ride around LA we headed out to Pat Wharton's sister's (Kathy) house in Fullerton. More LA traffic--very frustrating! However, it was worth the trip because we had a wonderful night of food, conversation and a game of Buzz before heading back to the hotel. The next morning it was back out to Fullerton because Bud, Kathy's husband, had arranged a tour of Jay Leno's garage--140+ cars--and later a visit to his show! Before the garage we were treated to a local fast food joint--In and Out Burgers--which was great! Then on to the garage and finally to the show. We really enjoyed the show and had pictures taken with Jay Leno afterwards. When we get those pictures, I will share them with you. In the meantime, here is a picture of our group as we left the studio.
After the show we went into Hollywood for dinner and then checked out the Grauman's Chinese Theater. Here are pictures of the star and the hand prints of two of our favorite movie stars.




We finally headed back to the hotel because we wanted to get an early start this morning. We found out the temperature in Arizonia would be over 100 today, so we got an early start. We left at 5:45 a.m. and still ran into some very hot weather. We were really wishing for air conditioning as we drove the last two hours today, but we got here around noon, went out to eat, and now we are lounging in this beautiful air conditioning. Tomorrow we will be having lunch with my nephew, Rob, and his wife, Christa before heading to Tucson to see our friends, Ann and Ned.

Oh yeah--a special shout out to Pat and Ron Wharton--we have really enjoyed visiting with you and will miss you during the remainder of our trip. Have a great time in Alabama. A shout out to Bud and Kathy as well--thanks for a great two days in California.

You will probably next hear from me when we get to my brother's house in New Mexico. That should be Monday. Until then, have a great weekend--I know we will!