Marcus, Venice Beach and Beverly Hills...

The next day, up early... Well, I thought I could have a sleep in morning... Hmm, not with the in-laws around... he he. ;o)

Today a big day for me. We were all going to meet an "old" friend from school in Sweden, Marcus.
Marcus has lived in USA since 1998 (right?)

He and his beautiful wife made breakfast to us (otherwise we had never got there before noon)
- Thank You!

After that we went to Venice Beach - What a place!

And of course Beverly Hills...

A walk up and down Rodeo Drive...

Grandpa and Albin saw a nice car...

Then a drive though the hills of Beverly...

We bought a map over the celebrities homes, the lady who was standing at the street  selling the maps pointed at a house just behind us.

It was Michael Jacksons house where he died. "He was murdered" the lady says... and she told us a long story how it really was - the truth... Ohhh, scary!!!

After we pointed out the celebrities homes we wanted to see and drow up and down the streets acted like the worst of any Paparazzi, ha ha...

But the sad thing is - all the houses has big gates so you are not able to see anything actually... :o(

Dr Phils house - I think...
I don´t even remember who lived in which house...

Jennifer Anistons house at the top of the hill (can´t see it...) 

But we did see a Coyote!!!
(click to enlarge)

Los Angeles- Disneyland

Well, we need to move on!

We arrived to Los Angeles late at night on the 14th of July.

The next day - Disneyland!!!

Crazy many people.
One hours wait to the most popular rides.

But Albin was happy! :o)

The Parade...

Patrik, Matilda and Fabian left me and Albin at the park in the evening to pick up Patrik´s parents at the airport. Yay!!!

Coastal Highway One (Big Sur)...

Highway one between San Francisco and Los Angeles (or vice versa)  is one of the most popular roads to travel on I think. Well, I´ve been doing that trip one time before in my life, in 1982 with my parents. Unfortunately I don´t remember anything about that except Hearst Castle and the pool at the Motel we were staying at. ;o)

It took us about 8 hours to take us from A to B (destination Los Angeles).

It WAS beautiful!!!

Amazing views.

(Don´t forget click on pics to enlarge)

  

Do you see the bridge?

Suddenly, Matilda spotted something. Maybe a Sea Lion or a Seal? 

We pulled over (there was some people there already) to see what it was.

We were quite surprised when we came closer.

It was Elephant Seals and not only one... Maybe hundreds of them!!!

Females grow to 9-12 feet (ca 2,7-3,6 meter) and weigh between 900-1800 pounds (ca 400-800 kg).  Males grow to 14-16 feet long (4,2-4,8 meter) and weigh in at 3000-5000 pounds (ca. 1,3 - 2,2 ton)
(http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/elephant-seals.html)

San José, Santa Cruz and Monterey

Bye bye San Francisco...

2 hours drive to San José where the next stop was.
A nice hotel with a outdoor pool.

In the pool magic happened. Albin suddenly wanted to take a swim. He was before so afraid of water that I thought he never would learn to swim.

the hotel and our car... :o) 

From here we did one day trip to Monterey. 

Patrik, Fabian and Albin went to the Aquarium.

Matilda and I strolled up and down the streets...

After Monterey we drove to Santa Cruz.

The Amusement park

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At the boardwalk...

More San Francisco...

Click on pictures to enlarge!

(Klicka på bilderna för att göra dom större)

Cable car...

The Golden Gate Bridge...

The largest Chinatown outside of Asia 

Lombard St, the most winding street in the world...