Our first morning in Ventura saw us Sea Kayaking in the harbour with an array of wildlife to see. We came as close to wild dolphins as is possible as they blew their spout a mere 5 meteres from the side of our kayak. Pelicans flew above, skimming and diving into the water whilst one far and distant Sea Lion sunned himself on a buoy too far for us to reach. From here we took a ride north to Goleta where we planned to cycle to Santa Barbara.... or so we intended.
The bike ride took us along the coastal cycle path and across the highway where we rested at the half way point of our 12 mile cycle at yet another American fast food destination named Habit. It was here we had the pleasure of meeting Matt, a Santa Barbara resident who informed us we were approximately 6 miles from our end desitination. With sore bottoms and weary eyes we were able to convince Matt to chuck our bikes on the top of his People Carrier and drop us off at the finish line. This is possibly the laziest thing either of us have ever done. The car ride was a pleasure as we laughed and joked about our English cheek and Matts American humour. We shared stories of our adventures and discovered that Matt was quite the traveller also. This guy was an absolute joy to meet :)
Whilst at the beach in Santa Barbara, we were distracted by a chap who aptly called himself 'Solar Bryan' we took up a spot next to him on the sand, mesmerised by his ability to use a magnifying glass and the sun to make the most beautiful and intricate of pictures by focusing the heat on to pieces of drift wood.
All in all Ventura provided us with a good bit of nature seeing and we hope to visit Santa Barbara again in the not too distant future for beverages on the pier and perhaps to visit Matt and hear more of his own travel tales.
We left Ventura on Friday morning bright and early to avoid Presidents Day weekend traffic and make it in good time to meet our next host, Wendy, a friend of a friend who kindly had agreed to allow two strangers in to her house and provided us with a welcoming place to rest our heads. We went for a walk to the pier with Wendy and hit the old traditional 50's style diner called Ruby's for giant burgers and peanut butter milkshakes before heading to the Californian Coffee Company for an Irish open mic night, enjoyed next to the bonfires with a herbal tea in hand.
We had a great time with Wendy and Chris talking late in to the night about all sorts of things.
We went to Old Town San Diego the following day and strolled around the aged Mexican style shops looking at the overpriced trinketries, the weather was warm and very shortly we were all reaching for the spf 70. Chris cooked us a traditional Irish dinner, a welcome respite from the relentless consuming of burgers and the dreaded 'high fructose corn syrup'. In America, Cola without corn syrup in is labelled 'throwback' cola.
After a lovely weekend in San Diego feeling very safe and cared for we headed up to LA - the city of Angels.
Love,
Jan and Sooz.
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