Well that was on Monday.. the ride across California was mostly hot and dry. Then wine country was flat and smelled like cow poo.. (or maybe just this wine country) .. When I reached the mountains next to the coast the temp dropped by at least 20 degrees C .. from what felt like 35 to 15C! I went up the coast on hwy 1 for awhile .. incredible rocky, flower lined coastline with great beaches and huge waves crashing in. After awhile I turned around and headed south along the pacific coast highway.. went through small picturesque towns. In one town I got gas and my key must've got bent when I opened my gas tank cap.. when I put it in it wouldn't turn or come out! For a second I thought - 'this is it! - trip is over!' .. but the nice guys at thegas station lent me some lube spray and I was able to get the key out - luckily I brought my spare key and am using that one instead.

I was hoping to make it to LA before nightfall but took my time too much and instead of going into LA at night I decided to get a hotel in Thousand Oaks.. got it for $50.. not bad.. watched Bridesmaids - funny. Fire alarm went off at 3am.. not funny.

In the morning on to Hollywood!

Los Arcos (Navarra) from 6:44pm to 7:53pm CEST (1 hr, 9 mins) in Los Arcos, Autonomous Region of Navarre, Spain.

One cave you had to enter in a boat one kilometer. If you were in a Kayak you could go another 15 Km further into the cave! It was unbelievable. Never been into a cave this big. Note the size of Connie and me in the pics. The other cave was a huge wet cave that you walk down stairs maybe five stories to reach the bottom. Then you walk and walk through forests of stalactites and stalagmites. K

Koh Tao, Thailand from 6:34pm to 6:51pm ICT (17 mins).

León, Castille and León, Spain at 8:38am CEST.

Kalaoa, HI at 11:33am HST.

Charleston, SC at 10:19am EDT.

We were on the ocean only a few days ago. No waves and a cooling breeze. Our plans are to stay on CatBa Island for a few more days (pics to follow) then back to Hanoa and south by train to Dalat, the wine center of Vietnam, as much as a place in Vietnam can be a wine center. We have tickets to Bali, Indonesia, toward the end of the month. Had a bat visit us in our room last night. Small, maybe four inches. Did a few laps to get our attention then flew back in a hole in the wall. Between the bat and the ChiChuck (small lizard) that live with us I am surprised that I had to beat a spider to death last night. Apparently when you go on hikes from where we are staying in the forest, an Eco Lodge dog will go with you. The desk guy says this insures that snakes will stay away. Man, am I relieved! K

San Isidro, Lima, Peru from 8:29pm to 11:45pm PET (3 hrs, 15 mins).

Headed over to El Dorado Casino after the show tonight. Quiesto wanted to learn how to play Craps. Our stage manager Michelle happens to be a veteran of the game. So we took off into the night on our gambling adventure. The casino was pretty nice considering this is Shreveport and not Las Vegas. I decided to just observe the game. I'm not much for gambling and I don't understand anything that is going on most of the time. It was quite interesting to say the least. Michelle took home over 500 dollars. She proved to be a great teacher and Quiesto won 150 dollars. Not bad for 1 hour of work on the table. Feeling vindicated after his loss in Vegas, Quiesto collected his winnings and took me to a wonderful midnight dinner. New York strip steak and red velvet cake. Delicious! We headed back to the Hilton around midnight. Now it's off to bed for the kiddie show. Goodnight world!

Watkins Glen State Park from 11:10am to 12:28pm EDT (1 hr, 17 mins) in Watkins Glen, NY.