San Simeon to San Diego

1st November 2009

Hearst Castle/San Simeon to San Diego

The next leg of the journey was to take us to Las Angeles, but we decided that because we had three days there at the end of our trip we would bypass it and catch up in December. During this section down the West Coast we took in the sights at Santa Barbara, Santa Monica and Monterey. It was a Sunday and the traffic was thick along the coast with families taking advantage or the lovely weather to spend it at the beach.

Along the way the car was making a lot of noise from the rear section and Frizzie and I decided we had better check it out as soon as possible, early the next day. We arrived at Costa Mesa South of Los Angeles and booked in to the Motel 6 there and as it turned out the next morning when Greg checked out the car noise we discovered that the 4 universal joints on the rear axles needed replacement.

With the help of the maintenance man at the motel Greg was able to book the car in at the garage across the road and it was repaired and back on the road the same day at 2 PM. We headed back to the coast road and drove on in to San Diego and again sort out the Motel 6 south of the town and close to the Trolley system, which from Greg’s prior experience proved to be a quick and accessible means of transport to tour the city and outlying areas.

Greg decided to go into Mexico the next day and I decided not to do this and set out to explore San Diego and the areas accessible by the trolley system. Starting at the old Santa Fe railway station I was given a day’s itinerary by the lovely lady at the information counter.
This included hopping on and off trains to see the airport, shopping centers, the university, pleasant suburban scenery and the sporting stadium.

Later that afternoon I made time to have a long overdue hair cut in Market Street down from the Park and Market Trolley Station. I enjoyed a late lunch at the Irish Pub in town, a great big corned beef sandwich, and a lovely beer.

4th November
San Diego to Williams (via Yuma & the Grand Canyon).



This was to prove to be a long day as we set out to the east from San Diego and drove through the rock strewn ranges towards Yuma. Along the way we were close to the border on many occasions and could see the activity of the border patrols along the way. In fact we were stopped on two occasions and had our passports and visa papers checked and a visual check of the occupants of the car.

After arriving at Yuma we turned to the North to head toward the Grand Canyon and and on the way stopped in at the old Indian ruins at the Halls of Montezuma a wonderful example of early life in these areas of Arizona.



From here it was a dash ot get to the Canyon and we arrived there late in the afternoon with the smoke of fires polluting the canyon below. I was a truly amazing vista and one worth seeing in the third dimension.

After the canyon we headed for Williams to find a Motel 6 for the night.