The Thieving Magpie!

The West Coast is famed for its ocean mists and today we got one, leastwise for the best part of the morning when the sun obligingly dispersed it! We'd already decided to visit Carmel and parking-up by the Beach we walked-up Ocean Drive to the business district.and its fairytale-styled shops, which would grace a Hobbit film!

There's no shortage of art galleries here and parts of Carmel resemble Santa Fe. Much of the art work is very palatable, but you can only absorb so much culture and by midday we retraced our steps to the car via a neat deli! Before pulling-out we met a really nice Aussie guy who was having severe GPS problems, to the point that he needed to confirm that San Francisco is in fact in California!! Having verified this, we accompanied him back to his car, a Mustang, where his girlfriend was waiting. Between the car seats lay what appeared to be a ski ...... but we soon discovered it was anything but. Whilst in LA they'd driven up to Hollywood Hills and whilst performing a three-point-turn had strayed onto a dirt track, at which point they'd heard a strange and unexplained noise. Anyway, next day, whilst at Venice Beach they noticed that the sill panel of their vehicle had 'gone'!! Yes, the origin of the previous day's unexplained noise became clear. Accordingly, they promptly headed-back to the Hills and found the missing sill panel, on the dirt track! Since then, they'd been driving around with the panel wedged between them, lodged against their car radio, roof-up to stop the panel being 'taken by the wind'! Well, after hearing this tale we moved on and rediscovered the nearby Seventeen-mile Drive, with its scenic ocean vistas and views of Pebble Beach Golf Course ..... Aghhhh, the smell of all that money!!.

Houses here are unique, expensive, and desirable! With the sun now blazing through a blue sky, it was perfect to spend several hours making our way along this route, taking the pull-offs and walking along the beaches.

During our lunchtime picnic pull-out we first buzzed by a low-flying seagull, which then returned after its initial sortie, to snatch the remnants of Pat's sandwich from her fingers, a first!

And a musical memory of the day? ...... the Lemon Pipers!