Friday 11 June 2010

Driving south (again)

Beautiful, cool Monterey was left in our dust as we headed down the central valley of California. "Food grows where the water flows" said a political poster on the way, its backdrop a million sprinklers.

We took a quick break at a middle-of-nowhere service station that happened to be the last stop James Dean made before his fatal crash. Then it was the long road up and down the mountains and into the basin of Los Angeles. Choosing to drive through at 4.30pm on a Friday afternoon was probably not the smartest move, but things were not as bad as expected. After eight hours on the road we arrived at Jim and Gen's lovely new house.



Starting the day the right way, with breakfast at the Black Bear Diner.



Wild animals.



California - perfect growing conditions...except for the extreme lack of water.



Vineyards in central valley.



Me and James Dean.



Something else that comes out of the ground in this part of California.



A tourist viewpoint in LA.