We just posted about 70 photos from our recent journey along the Pacific Coast Highway from Los Angeles to the Napa Valley. You can view the album by clicking on the image below.

Taking a few moments to document the annals of our trip before I forget. I’ll build this post out and add pictures once we get home.

» Read more: Santa Barbara to Half Moon Bay in 6 days

Three days into our California adventure, we’ve had a great time already.

We flew out Friday on an uneventful flight; our checked bags even arrived with is in LA! We took a cab from LAX to Tom’s place in Santa Monica which Sarita noted could spell Sarita Monica-her and her sister’s name-with a slight modification to the N. The cab was $30 just as Tom predicted, though the driver did not like my suggestion of taking Lincoln instead of the freeway which Tom also suggested to save time and money. We walked around Santa Monica for a few hours putting some blisters on our feet but enjoying the sites and stopping for a Mohito and a Pineapple Breeze to cool is down. The ocean air was so nice especially since it was already heating up in Cincinnati when we left that morning.

Tom to us to a restaurant in Venice called Chaya where we had some excellent sushi (Tom and me) and rissoto (Sarita). We met his friend Tyler after dinner at a pub near his house where we also got to sample some Ukranian vodka from a vendor trying to launch his new brand. Tom and Tyler ended up heading out after the pin but Sarita and I were tired already so we went home to bed.

The next day we went to Manhattan Beach to chill (I ended up with a gnarly sunburn on my back and left side) and see Tom in a flip-cup tournament with a bunch of the USC Business School kids. Sharkey’s, the bar hosting the tourney, was thoroughly unprepared for the size of the crowd though so Sarita and I ended up spending most of the time walking around on the beach. Eventually we have up on the tourney and left Tom to fend for himself. Searching for food that night we happened upon a police barricade with a whole bunch of police cars and a helicopter searching for someone or something. We ended up at a tasty Indian restaurant not too far from his house.

Today we went with Tom to the airport, he was on his way to Portland, ME, to pick up our rental car: a silver PT Cruiser convertible. We drove top-down to the Cheshire Cat, our B&B for tonight, in Santa Barbara. We’ve walked around downtown which has lots of boutique shops mixed in with the mainstream chains you could find in any mall. The chains blend in well though so it’s not too obnoxious. We just had a glass of wine and are relaxing before dinner.<\p>

There is so much to see along the PCH that we should have many more interesting posts to come this week. Stay tuned.

So far Australia in the winter is just OK. The temperature is mild; only once have I felt like more than a light jacket was necessary though it is quite humorous because my teammates from Manila are all in winter coats because this is “really cold” for them. The office down here is really slick and has technology out the wazoo.

The only downside is that it is kind of lonely in the evening. The hotel is pretty much in the middle of nowhere and last night I had nothing to do. Today some of the folks are going to the zoo and so I’m tagging along. So today should be better. Hopefully I’ll get some pictures too!

Sitting on the upper deck of the 747 that will take me to Sydney over the night. There must be 300 people on this flight, there was a madhouse outside the plane in the boarding line. Nice part of travel for work is business class on all
international flights.

There is a really cute family in front of me though I can’t believe anyone can afford to fly two kids in business class. The little girl has huge brown eyes and she is so interested in all the action of the plane boarding. Hopefully she will sleep well on the flight or this could be 14 hours of H-E-double-hockey-sticks.

They are calling for electronic devices to be turned off so I’ll go now. Can’t wait to get some sleep.

We went hiking through the woods today around sunset; the sun came out this morning and warmed the air up to a cool crispness that was perfect for a short hike. Unfortunately we didn’t know the way so we had a bit of drama on the way home: “right or left”, “hmm… I can’t see the inn either way, what do you think?”

Sarita is beautiful sitting in the Adirondack chairs near the fire pit:

Away this weekend at Murphin Ridge.  The first night has been really relaxing; a comfortable room, good meal, and a nice bottle of wine.  Oh yeah, and wireless Internet (but I’m committed to no work this weekend — I even left my SecureID necessary to connect to work email at home).
Tomorrow we’ll do some exploring on the trails and maybe browse the Amish furniture and grocery stores.  I’m hoping to get some cool pictures.

Well, it’s finally time to head home. It’s about 10:45AM Sat. morning. I board my plan in ~20 minutes. Just wanted to get one last post from Sydney in.

Went to Manly beach yesterday with some of the people on my project and did some shopping. I found the funniest gift for Tom:

I hope he enjoys it.

After the tour of the beach, we took a trip on the ferry back to Circular Quay. The ride was excellent and had some great views. Next time I’m here I definitely have to do the bridge climb because it is a magnificent bridge.