Wonderful day today, kayaking with sea otters and seals in Moss Landing in the morning, followed by a few hours in the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas in the afternoon. Food for the soul.

On the Big Sur route today.

Sunset in Cambria.

On a near-deserted beach somewhere in California.

We stumbled across a Cambrian beach that had weird Wicker Man-style constructions, and found a bagpipe player at the other end blasting his music out into the ocean.

Stairs of yesterday.

Today’s highlight was being a few feet away from wild elephant seals on the beach.

I’m such a doughnut. The chilly breeze made me complacent, the tops of my feet missed out on sunscreen and this is the result of a few hours at the beach.

Santa Barbara

Malibu

They don’t call it Splash Mountain for nothing.

California sunset.

Waiting to get registered for the Prudential RideLondon 19. Caught the women’s race from the finish line last night and saw the horrible crash, but it hasn’t put us off.

Commuting will be fun today. “An attempt to prevent rails from buckling” doesn’t fill me with confidence.

So, this is a thing and it is quite marvellous.

Another rainy day, another umbrella left on the train. Buying a new one on a regular basis feels like a self-imposed idiot tax. I need a new strategy to minimise my losses.

Album Club #101.

Goodbye Dubai. I didn’t expect to love you but you’ve won me over.

Good morning!

In Dubai for the first time, where the overnight temperature reaches a cool 33°C.