Postscript

Travelling in style, more comfortable than sitting in LAX airport

Yes, we have finished our trip and I will reflect on it in a final blog when I get home but we decided to be true to form and put right our cheating on the way down by going back on the Pacific Highway (US-101) or as it is called in Southern California by it's ancient name, the Camino Real. Route1 (Ca-1) has been swallowed up by Interstate 5. It's hard to stop writing and it can become as jacqui suggests addictive or obsessive but I wanted to finish the tale in the same way that I started.

We had the best breakfast on the whole journey at Solona Beach. This small unprepossessing  caffe was full on a Thursday morning in October. It must be good and it was. As usual breakfast becomes brunch with such large helpings!

The naked Cafe, Solona Beach. Best breakfast on the trip

Even the dogs are left to their own devices in Solona Beach

A bit sunnier than our Cardiff

Oceanside is the biggest city between LA (County) and San Diego. There isn't much to see there but it does have a historical remnant of the old Highway system. The 101 Cafe is the last remaining traditional eating places on the Camino or US-101. In recent years it has developed a bit of glitz and certainly worth that coffee and ? a snack.

 Cafe 101 with a new mural being painted

Hasn't changed a lot since the old days.

We wanted to visit Laguna Beach. Another iconic Southern California place name. It is certainly beautiful with many beaches nestling under the rocky cliffs. The town is quite trendy but the arty flavour has changed with many surf and tea shirt shops muscling out the bookshops and cafes.

 The beautiful Victoria Beach at Laguna Beach

Still some authentic bits to take a soda in

I went for a walk on Victoria beach and met two photographers who live here and were taking some beach pictures. We talked about the colours and the uniqueness of the light. Its not the light of the Impressionists as they often painted in Northern and Central France but it was the light that was captured by French painters such as Duffy and Matisse in the South of France. It was certainly captured by the likes of David Hockney in the 20th century.

I have not mentioned the election in this blog. It certainly is the elephant in the corner and you are reminded about it all the time on the roadsides, on the television and in general conversation. It's going to be close and we will know the result by the time that I conclude my blog. I heard one commentator exclaim, that whoever wins will have to face "a fiscal cliff, trouble abroad and a polarised political landscape at home" The other mind-bogling issues is the number of propositions that the electorate need to vote on is immense. How can you know who and what to vote for when you have to elect a president, congress member, senator ....etc and propositions A-Z in addition.

So many decisions to make!

The real reason for the postscript was to describe our return to the Queen Mary at Long Beach. We stayed in one of the State Rooms looking over Long Island. A memorable experience and a great way to spend our last night in California. She is somewhat faded but what a wonderful old lady. We stayed in the Phinney Suite between the King George and the Winston Churchill Staterooms. It just doesn't get any better!

Faded glory but still a wonderful old lady

 Our Stateroom

 The Slender of the Promenade Deck

 On the Bridge

 The 3 unmistakable funnels

 The radio room where my uncle Will worked

 Jacqui and I in the Radio Room

 Art Deco Slender

Amazingly, you can see the propeller

Long Beach at night

I am just about to board my flight. A lot more to say and it will have to wait. We have seen and experienced so much.

I finish with a eerie picture of a deserted beach close to LAX airport. It reminds me of the motto of the US Marine Amphibious Landing Service, "No beach out of reach". This certainly is the case in Southern California.

The last picture on the blog. An eerie empty beach. So un-Californian.

The End

Mexican Tiles

The end of our trip

The Waterfront

Naval ship arriving in the bay

At last we set out for the last 10 miles to finish our West Coast trip.  This is a cool city, which is worth visiting. San Diego is the second largest city in California and the eighth largest in the US, yet the downtown area is small and it’s easy to walk and visit most of the main attractions by foot.

The historic waterfront

San Diego was the first place on the West Coast that Europeans set foot on in 1542 when Juan Cabrillo sailed into San Diego Bay. The city is ideally situated near the Mexican border with a deep harbour that became crucial to the American Navy after Pearl Harbour. It’s now a major naval base, which has had an important impact on the nature and culture of the city.

The waterfront is crucial to the city and the face it shows to the world and it’s a great to walk along it. Wealth is apparent as you pass the Marina, which is jam-packed with expensive boats but next to them is the old Tuna Market area. Sadly, this is yet another place on this coast where resources have been stripped out without any thought of future sustainability. The old dock is empty expect for a few old boats (and the Tuna have gone as well!)

The old Tuna Market area. Another empty over fished resource

Further down the monster retired US Aircraft Carrier, USS Midway towers above the old dockyard. This was where the sailors disembarked from their ships during the war and it was an ideal place to moor this old ship. You just don’t realise how big these ships are until you get next to them. It’s sad to think that we spend so much money on military hardware!

The Midway towers above everything else

 This is where sailors disembarked during the war

Big ship

It blocks out the sun!

The only reason that the famous Gaslamp area survived is that it became seedy and rundown. The great and the good wanted to live and shop elsewhere, so this part of the city became the no-go, red light district. Its all a bit like Haight Ashbury in San Francisco and then the planners discovered that this was one of the only historic parts of the city left and it was worth preserving. Funny how things go full circle if you leave them alone. It’s now the place to go and be seen in San Diego. Nice place!

Still some risqué places despite the clean up

 The Gaslamp buildings

 Angels on the streets of San Diego

Some cool wheels in the Gaslamp

Everyone tells you that you must visit Baiboa Park when you go the San Diego. This place is a revelation and it's very beautiful. The Park is huge and covers over 1,200 acres of valuable real-estate in the middle of the city. The park was established as part of the Panama-California International Exhibition in 1915. A series of magnificent pavilions were built in the Spanish style and they now  house most of San Diego's museums and galleries. The museums are open every day of the week, except Wednesday and guess which day we visited. If you take a positive spin on this, then at least its quiet and restful walking around the closed buildings! 

 Busker at the Baiboa Park

 The Botanical House

 Wonderful Spanish style architecture in the pavilions from the 1915 exhibition

A very peaceful and beautiful place to be

A few were open including the Botanical House, the Photographic Museum (not very good) and a small but marvellous collection of European paintings and Russian Icons at the Timken Museum. The gallery houses the Putnam Foundation Collection. If Getty bought cheap and in bulk, this collection is small and its a jewel. Its defiantly worth a visit!

Lady in a Green Dress: Bartolomeo Veneto 1530: Our favourite!

Francois Boucher: Lovers in the park 1758

Jacques-Loius David: Portrait of Cooper Penrose 1802

Pieter Bruegel the Elder; Parable of the Sower 1557

Frans Hals: Portrait of a man 1634

Rembrandt van Rijn: Saint Bartholomew 1657

Sir Anthony van Dyck: Mary Villiers, Lady Herbert of Shurland 1636: Just wonderful!

The Zoo and Sea World are both worth a visit and are world class exhibits but we have seen a lot of really free wildlife on this trip and decided to leave them this time.

Back to La Jolla for a meal at an Italian Restaurant on La Jolla Shores thats worth a visit:

Osteria Romantica, 2151 Avenida De La Playa (between Avenida De La Ribera & Calle De La Plata), La Jolla, CA 92037

Rest, Relaxation and the Beach

Cliff Walk at La Jolla

We are indulging in a little rest and relaxation after our long journey and doing what Californians do by enjoying the sunshine and the beach culture. One one the most delightful treats is taking breakfast overlooking the sea followed by a cliff walk along this beautiful coast. And a little shopping therapy!

This is just below where we had breakfast. It doesn't get a lot better!

One of the most enduring memories of the diverse wildlife on this coast will be the Pelicans that are found along the whole coast. I just love the way that they fly is such tight formation, hovering just above the waters edge. They are developmentally primitive birds that need to dry their plumage in a similar way to out Cormorants in the UK.

 "Strictly Come Flying"

Pelicans and Cormorants at La Jolla

On one of our walks on the cliff edge, we came across what must be one of the coolest Bridge Clubs in the world.

This one is for Jacqui's Bridge Group

The Torrey pine is a rare species of pine tree, which used to be common on this part of the coast. The pine is unique in that it has adapted to the dry, sandy and rocky soils found on this area of the coast. These small gnarled stunted trees have been under threat for the last 100 years from human encroachment and their use for firewood. An extraordinary man called Guy Fleming (1885-1960) started in 1919 to campaign to save the trees north of La Jolla, which had become the only surviving grove on the mainland of the USA. A sign at the State Park states “Guy Fleming is to Torrey Pines what John Muir was to the High Sierras”. Fleming’s work eventually lead to the establishment of the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve where a trail bears Flemings name. he went on to head the State Parks Department in California and establish many other parks and protect crucial rare habitats.

 The coastal Torrey Pine

He once said, ““This will be your park. Its object will be to teach the conservation of all of nature’s works, to use them and enjoy them in such a way that all of the people for all of the time may know of their beauty and usefulness”

Guy Fleming (1885-1960)

 These rare trees have managed to survive in this arid environment

 On one of the trails overlooking the sea

The colours seen in the eroded soft Sandstone along the coast

Jacqui and I walked a number of trails at the park. We have hiked in 4 State parks across the length of the West Coast in very different habitats and climates. From temperate rain forests to arid pine groves. It’s only on trips such as this that one can appreciate the range and importance of climate, the environment and the diversity that exists in our world. We had our first swim in the Pacific Ocean.

 Walking along coast

The San Diego Museum of Contemporary Arts hosts a branch I La Jolla. Their recent exhibition is called “Behold America”. It uses 20^th and 21^st century works by American Artists from the their collection to analyse how Americans see their own country, their people and their culture. Great exhibition in one of the galleries bathed in a fantastic white light. You can see what Hockney saw in California now.

Deanna Thompson 2011

Sorry not a great photo but she paints deserted homesteads. These are emotive images for Americans. Its a huge picture with massive impact.

Mark Dion 1999-2000

He contrasts the destruction of nature against the tradition of American landscape painting

Sam Durant: Southern Hospitality 2010

Nancy Rubins: Pleasure Point 2006

Finally I was fascinated by this church. Interested to hear what you thing of the strange gothic experience.