Vacation Day 2







Santa Barbara, CA 9:30 pm
We're here! Packed a lot into today and we all have aching feet and legs. This morning we walked out onto the Santa Monica Pier. Then - because we're here and had to say we did it - we went to Hollywood Boulevard to see Michael Jackson's star. What a circus it was - media parked on the street, security lining people up to take photos of each other in front of the star. The sidewalks were packed with people. Well, now we can say we did it. Then we spent the rest of the day at Universal Studios. Hot! Temps in the 90's and we had to wait 1 1/2 hours to get in because their computer system went down. The afternoon was fun, Universal's very cool, but it was hot and crowded and after walking all day we were pretty burnt out.

Finally we rolled into Santa Barbara around 8:30. When I saw the sign for Cabrillo Boulevard a feeling of such joy swelled up in me - it's been about five years since we've ben back. I love it here so much. It's so familiar, yet still so exotic with the red tile roofs and palm trees and tropical flowers. There were a lot of low clouds as we drove up the coast, obscuring the ocean and shrouding the tops of the hills. Now I'm off to soak my weary bod in the hot tub.