I arrived in Long Beach on May 19 where the weather was perfect.  After checking into my hotel I headed to the beach only to find there was absolutely no parking available anywhere and no way to get near the beach.  The downtown area and boardwalk was packed solid with people who were attending a huge Gay Pride event.

I gave up on the beach and went to see the "Queen" instead.  Pun intended.  But there she was, the Queen Mary all decked out in the harbor.  Very cool.

The next day I visited my nephew's home for brunch.  It was nice seeing Drew, Rachel & the girls.  Fabulous home guys!






I then headed up the Pacific Coast Hwy (aka U.S. 1)

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Still no place to park. So I just kept driving north....at a snail's pace! At least the views were fabulous.  Especially those precariously perched Malibu homes.  Don't those people know there are earth quakes in CA?

I gave up on U.S. 1 when I got to Ventura and took the freeway.  I eventually got to my destination for the evening:  San Luis Obispo.  This is a college town, home of Cal Polytech.  I thought I'd have to spend a boring evening in my hotel room until I discovered this little gem of a restaurant:  Vallarta's.

At Vallarta's my new friend Michelle will supersize your Margarita.  Yep, that's 60 ounces of pure heaven!  I opted for the normal size one but believe me it's still a kickass Margarita.