Saturday, April 08, 2006
The last days in the OC
Well, here we are, time is running out on our Californian holiday. It's been fantastic, and this will be my last blog entry before the flight back to the UK tomorrow.
The margaritas of last night took their toll, so our morning started slowly. But the weather was fabulous, and after a breakfast of cheesecake leftovers we headed out for a picturesque walk to a waterfall. The road to the trail was classified "suitable for most vehicles", and as most vehicles in the US are monster trucks I suppose this was true. Unfortunately we had to abandon Jim and Gen's small SUV (bigger than any car you can buy in Britain) before the water filled potholes became waist deep, and take our life in our hands as we dodged mad drivers testing off-road vehicles that drive up freeways and to malls 6 days out of 7.
The walk was lovely, in hot sunshine, but we gave up when we got to the second river crossing and couldn't be bothered to take our shoes and socks off again. The great outdoors is fine as long as it doesn't get too uncomfortable. So an hour later we were sat in an exclusive coffee shop by sea, eating cookies.
Hannah and I then wandered down to San Clemente beach for an evening stroll. We came back via the supermarket for a final stock up on junk food, and enjoyed a dinner of even more leftovers from yesterday's dinner and a discussion about politics. It ended in agreement over the futility of it all. That sounds like a good sentiment to take back to work on Tuesday morning.
Orange County isn't all irrigated deserts. Here's some water not stolen from the Mexicans
Hannah assesses her options at our first river crossing
James, in Californian hiking gear
The eventual solution to the river dilemma (just before a monster truck stormed through and soaked Gen)
James follows...
Defeated at the second river crossing
Down on San Clemente beach
The pier
Looking back at San Clemente
The Pacific ocean. It's big
Ahhhh...idyllic beach view
Arty shot of palm trees. I'm quite pleased with that!
Today's cute furry creature: Gen, rarely seen outside of her normal shop habitat. Note the designer distressed jeans and handbag, useful as a pouch to carry provisions
And that's it! It's back to rainy Newcastle tomorrow, via Paris where we have one-and-a-half hours to make it across the airport from one terminal to the other. So thanks to Jim and Gen for being such wonderful hosts, and an especial thank you to my assistant, navigator and photographic model Hannah.
And to my international readership (of three?):
