CAMARILLO

WEDNESDAY, 6th JULY.

We only had a short distance to travel today so didn't set off till late, calling in to Arroyo Burro Beach, one of Santa Barbara's beaches, where there is a rather nice stretch of nearly white sand, a grassed picnic area, a cafe/restaurant, an interesting staircase and FREE parking.   Deciding to eat our lunch at one of the picnic tables, we first took off our shoes and went for a paddle.  The water was warmer than we expected though a little murky so we weren't tempted to put our whole selves in.  When trying to wash the sand off our feet prior to putting shoes and socks on again, we noticed that our soles were covered in tar which had seeped through the ocean bottom and was not easy to remove.  This was achieved later with hot water, soap and vigorous scrubbing with a nail brush but had ruined a pair of socks each in the meantime.
Next stop, Santa Barbara where we paid $2 to park for an hour, went for a stroll along the pier and enjoyed an enormous ice cream each, giving us the necessary energy to walk back to the car.  In the car park, we encountered a slightly eccentric gentleman who had lived for 21 years in a van which he had completely covered with all sorts of figurines, badges, model cars etc. and we gave him a koala which he was able to find room for on his dashboard.
Another stop was made at Ventura where we had coffee in a cafe on the pier and chatted for some time to two women, aunt and niece, who were holidaying from Georgia.  It was not much further then to our motel in Camarillo where we are booked in for two nights.  Unfortunately, after we'd settled in to our room we had to request that we move to another as we were right next door to the lift which made such a dreadful noise, and made the room vibrate, that we knew that we wouldn't be able to sleep.  We are now in a room further down the hall and thankfully, it is nice and quiet.