Mary was probably glad of some peace and quiet today as my Hero and I headed north on the Ventura Freeway to spend the day with dear friends Ellis and Mary at their beautiful home, high on a hill where the cool breeze blows.

We’ve travelled quite a bit with them, on a couple of cruises, around Ireland, through Germany and a few times in the UK too. How sweet of them to remember one of our favourites!

They too are the kind of friends who carry on the conversation wherever we were when we left off - in this case in Bath. This morning, when we stopped talking long enough to catch a breath, we jumped in their car and drove through the Sunkist lemon groves to the small city of Ventura, where they knew of the perfect spot for lunch.

It’s a cute little place on the coast, perfect for pottering about. The main street is filled with independent shops and cafes - no big names here.

They had earmarked the Paradise Pantry for lunch, a bustling little cafe with a great choice of fresh plates all of which sounded appetising. Were this little gem at home, I can see we would be regulars too.

It was comforting to read the sign on the street offering reassurance about things we never even give a second thought to…and yet, this is indeed California and such precautions are essential.

Across the street was the Misson of San Buenaventura from which the city gets its name. The leafy garden was still and peaceful and wandering around the Mission offered a chance to learn a little about the Chumash people of whom I’d not heard until today.

The garden, the small museum, the reilquary and the church itself were really interesting and will prompt a lasting mental image whenever we see “Ventura” on a road sign.

Heading back along the coast we spotted a possible alternative for the next road trip! What do you think?

Perhaps someone was gearing up for Labour Day weekend on the beach? Quite a nice prospect, I’d say.

The lovely thing about friendship is that it extends to their friends too and so it was that six of us sat aound the table for dinner at a great Italian restaurant tonight. Plenty to talk about, family news to catch up with and plans and dreams to share. The end of another lovely day, fond farewells to be said and hopefully, see you soon.

How lovely to have created a few more memories, so that next time we can say “remember that day in Ventura, when….?”