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Leaving our hotel we headed straight for the coast. It had been raining since before we woke up and initially it was quite heavy going driving through it.
By the time we hit the coast road the rain had eased to a drizzle but the skies remained heavy and dark.
We drove through hip, expensive looking beachside suburbs and started seeing the usual California combo of gum trees and palms, always a sign we are getting closer to home :-)
Opposite Carlsbad beach is a massive desalination plant, not pretty but a smart option given the climate here. A lagoon next to the plant had some sort of aquaculture going on, oysters perhaps. Looking hopeful sitting on the buoys were a lot of pelicans. Other pelican were flying along the coastline here and there too.
Diverting to the highway due to Camp Pendalton taking up both sides of the highway we hit heavy traffic. There was an air show in San Diego over the weekend which explains both the lack of accommodation and the traffic :-( on the plus side the rain had stopped and the skies lifted slightly with the occasional blue patch showing through.
Petrol signs are more evidence we are back in SoCal, having been paying under the $2/gal the servos advertising it for $3.30+ sucks, still cheaper than at home but that's a whole other thing.
We stopped for some awesome empanadas at Laguna Beach, mushroom for Pete, chicken for me.
It all started falling apart after Huntington Beach, we'd forgotten how ugly it got for quite some time from there on. Out to sea there were oil platforms while on land it was oil derricks and refineries. Once the refineries ended it was miles of dodgy motels, cheap fast food joints and gentlemens clubs. It did get less depressing from about Torrance.
From El Segunda it was all familiar territory leading to our hotel.
We checked in, unloaded the car and went for a walk to the market. We picked up a chicken for dinner with the last of our veg supply.
We set about sorting out all our stuff and getting it packed ready for the flight. Like every year it looks like we are gong to need to buy another suitcase.
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