Day 12. Sunday 4th October
After a light breakfast of fruit and coffee, I returned to the Travelodge to prepare for the 226 mile journey to Los Angeles, specifically the Anaheim suburb, near to Disneyland.
Returning to US101, we drove the 60 miles to the quiet, picturesque Solvang. This town, with its windmill and half timbered buildings comes as a complete contrast to the other cities and towns we had visited. Two thirds of the townspeople are of Danish descent and the shops clearly exploit this. There are shops selling everything from danish pastries to leather goods and souvenirs of the area.
One important thing to remember came from our visit here. I went into a shop with the intention of purchasing one of those belts with a large buckle, and saw one exactly right - with a football motif. Unfortunately, not being able to make my mind up instantly, and deciding to wait until later on in the holiday, I didn't buy anything. The moral of the story, as I never saw another like it, is, if you see something that's right, buy it immediately, the chance may never arise again.
Anyway, back to the diary ... Leaving Solvang for the 40 mile drive to Santa Barbara, Hilary passed round a tub of biscuits she'd purchased from one of the pastry shops, and enthused about the quality of the danish pastries she'd eaten earlier.
Before reaching downtown Santa Barbara, we stopped at the Santa Barbara Mission, still a Catholic church and the best preserved of the chain of 21 missions founded on the Royal Road, El Camino Real, in California in the 1700's by Spanish missionaries. The mission building, the flowers and general surroundings combine to give the impression of the Spanish influence. This being Sunday, the area was thronged with church-goers. Reaching the city, Marvin stopped the coach in downtown, at the side of the magnificent Santa Barbara Courthouse, a building that, once in the public areas, seems to have no trappings of the legal system whatsoever. In fact, passing quickly the tiled halls and through the chapel gives the impression more of a church or cathedral.
On the way around downtown Santa Barbara, on the way to eat, we had to make a slight detour to avoid a cycle race. Reaching Cabrillo Boulevard, the main road along the side of the harbour, we stopped in front of Stearn's Wharf, complete with resident pelican, at the end of which is a car park for the various attractions, mainly eating places, that the pier has to offer. After we walked along to the end, had a look around and decided that we didn't like the look of the mainly sea food produce on offer, we walked back to Cabrillo Boulevard, to a Mexican-style cafe. There, we had a couple of ice creams, watching the television, on which the National Football League teams of Miami against Buffalo and the Los Angeles Rams versus San Francisco were playing.
All too soon, we had to leave on the last leg of the day's journey, that to Los Angeles, Anaheim. Reaching the Ventura and Malibu area, we left US101 for a further section of highway 1, driving along the coast for a great deal of the way. Hilary pointed out the large number of past and present film and media stars' homes along this highway.
Eventually reaching the Holiday Inn Anaheim Center, we were greeted by the hotel's representative who had arranged for the provision of drinks and light snacks to greet us. Most welcome. This evening we decided to have an early night to prepare for the long day ahead of us.