Santa Barbara – dinner at Brophy Brothers, long wait, casual, good food, great value. Walked around on the pier, chilly but peaceful. Morning Santa Barbara Mission, chapel was beautiful though pics couldn’t do justice. Packed a lunch and drove north to San Luis Obispo.

In San Luis Obispo we stayed at le Petit Soleil a charming B&B with French style. We stayed in the Van Gogh room which came decked out with art, books about Van Gogh, and relaxing French music. We walked around downtown and had frozen yougurt sold by the ounce. For dinner we ate a whole rack of ribs at Moe’s Barbeque and then watched 3:10 to Yuma at the Fremont theatre which was a magnificent 350 seat theatre with a fresco’d ceiling and a gigantic screen. Sleeping that night was a wreck (for me, not Sarita) though as the hotel was near train tracks which rumbled me awake at 2:30 and 3:30, and then at 5:30 the dumpster at a nearby cafe apparently needed to be emptied. The funny thing was the guestbook in our room had similar comments like “what a charming place, great french music, etc.” which were all signed and then had post scripts like “THE FREAKING TRAIN WOKE US UP”… I figured how bad could it be, but found out very quickly that night…

The next morning, we picked up sandwiches at the cafe next door (whose dumpster woke me up, apparently my appetite wasn’t as upset) and made our way up the coast to Cambria where the famed Hearst Castle sits. My gosh. What an amazing place. Our tour guide was hilarious, scolding one lady for stepping off the carpet and then when she wouldn’t tell him her name (he used people’s first names throughout the tour) continued to call her “I’m not Telling”. We toured the libraries and kitchen and even the bedroom of William Randolph Hearst. The pools, both indoor and outdoor, were clear and enticing. Jumping in however would have been frowned upon. The guide thanked each one of us by name at the end of the tour (about 15 people whose names he collected throughout the tour). Prior to taking tour #2 we watched the National Geographic film “Hearst Castle: Building the Dream” on a gigantic screen; the film could not compare to seeing the mansion with its breath-taking views, winding staircases, and ornate fixtures.

We stayed in Moonstone Beach that night at the Pelican Cove Inn. Watched the sun set from the beach after dinner at the Moonstone Bar & Grill. The next day we drove to Big Sur and did some hiking.

We collapsed when we arrived in Carmel at Carmel Country Inn for a few hours before catching the sunset at a surprise bonfire Sarita planned on beach. The next morning we toured Art shops (purchased a 20×24 oil painting called Umbrella Trees from Don Craghead) and drove the Pebble Beach 17 Mile Drive.

From Pebble Beach, we drove to Monterey, had lunch at Thai Bistro in Pacific Grove, and saw the Monterey Acquarium.

That night we stayed in Half Moon Bay at the Beach House. Caught our third sunset at Sam’s Chowder House and fell asleep shortly after watching Dodgeball on TV.

The next morning we explored downtown Half Moon Bay and had lunch at Pasta something right near the beginning of Downtown.

You’ll see when I post the pictures.

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.

What I learned is that I like working with these systems that map physical and financial processes. It’s a skill that lends itself well to acquisitions and divestitures work, so I think I’m going to inquire into that area next. Talk about an ever-changing job, working with new businesses all they time and learning the ins and outs.

Sydney was not too bad in the winter. On the coldest day of my trip a medium weight jacket was enough to stay warm. And the beer is great; 5.5% alcohol and quite tasty.

Time to go we’re pulling away from the gate. Next post will be in the US.

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!

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.

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

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.