It was a much shorter day today and a lot cooler. We left Palm Desert at about 8:45 and it was already 87 degrees but as soon as we drove about 20 miles west it started cooling off. By the time we got 50 miles away and closer to L.A. it was about 72 degrees and smoggy and foggy. I guess the colored air was mostly fog because it was whiter than the normal yellow air.

The coach ran great again and it was a lot happier with the low temperatures (I can tell by the temperature gauges). We are, as usual, using a lot of gas and, being California, it is $3.75 – $4.25 per gallon but who is counting?

We are actually in Goleta, CA which is about 20 miles north of Santa Barbara because RVs, particularly old RVs, are apparently not welcome in Santa Barbara. Carol found one RV park in Santa Barbara but anything older than 10 years is not welcome and the fees are a little high – $65 per night. We have been to Santa Barbara lots of times and really like it. This time we are visiting friends we originally met in Salinas – they recently bought a “weekend house” in SB. It is right near the old mission. I will try to get some photos when we go there for breakfast tomorrow morning.

We are spending the night at El Capitan State Beach in Goleta – not cheap either ($35/night) for a spot in the parking lot. Our camp site is a “dry” camping site on the bluff overlooking the ocean. There are no hookups of any kind but that is OK. We have new house batteries (I replaced the 7-year-old ones just before we left home) and all we need is our Verizon internet connection to stay entertained.