My first Churchill salon was in LA on the Wednesday evening so I set off up the freeway to get there in good time. I lasted a little over an hour before my eye was caught by an exit for the Pacific Coast Highway and I turned off. One of the best gifts I got for my birthday was an Insight Guide to United States on the Road. It felt weirdly retro to be using an actual book to navigate but I got into the rhythm and spent a very pleasant couple of hours cruising through Dana Point (always love watching kids being shouted at by pirate docents) and Seal Beach with its simple but elegant pier. Munched a fresh Italian deli sandwich and felt quite weirded out by the navy munitions base, oil rigs and by the service vessels bobbing around. The beaches here are far from an unspoiled haven. But people are very friendly.
