Santa Monica

It's Labor Day weekend and we needed to get out of town!  Luckily, our friend from college, Bryant is in town visiting and apartment hunting.  This morning we loaded the car, leashed up the hounds, and hit the road to meet Bryant and Emma in Santa Monica.  I spent an afternoon in Santa Monica last summer but had not been back and Kenneth had never been.  We decided to bring the dogs and meet the two at the pier and go for a walk on the beach and some exploration of the neighborhood.

Santa Monica Pier

We met Bryant and Emma at the pier at eleven.  The pier and the boardwalk are dog friendly, the beach and the ocean are not.  First the weather was amazing: warm with a cool breeze and a nice salty taste to the air.  The sound of the surf and the clatter of roller blades and bicycles ring over the boardwalk.  We found a cute little beach side shack to eat lunch with the dogs on the beach.  The beach is full of tourists and locals alike with the locals wearing nothing more than a pair of roller blades and a bathing suit (sometimes a little less.)  

Our family at the Pier

The pier itself has a carousel, an ice cream shop, rides, etc.  The highlight of our time on the pier was when a (maybe drunk) man came up to me and asked me "can you see?"  Obviously, not a question I get everyday.  He followed that with "your dog... you can't see?"  I guess Dixie is my seeing eye dog and I am blind.  Glad I got that memo before it was too late.


After a three mile walk we made it to the Third Street Promenade.  The Promenade is a few blocks worth of shopping and restaurants.  Today there was an Egyptian festival going on and as usual, the streets were full of people and performers.  The four humans and two dogs patrolled the shops and soaked in the sunshine and yummy smells.  I managed to weasel my way into Sur La Table and left the dogs with Kenneth and Bryant.  Emma and I finished our shopping and the boys were waiting for us outside the store.  Kenneth let the dogs swim in the fountain and they attracted a crowd of forty of fifty people watching the dogs' antics.  The Promenade police came over and asked the boys to take the dogs out of the fountain.  We are waiting for a youtube video to appear online of our dogs playing in the water in Santa Monica.

Can't wait until Bryant moves to LA!

Obviously, a trip to LA is not complete without ice cream.  We stopped at a gelato shop a few blocks off the Promenade.  I got the banana and caramel gelato which tasted like banana fosters.  It was delicious.  I calculated how many miles we walked today (4.32) and I am pretty sure I worked every calorie of that gelato off!


After another tour of the pier and a nice walk back to our car, we hit the road to head home.  But if you thought our adventures were over, you were wrong.  My car was running on empty and Kenneth needed food so we stopped at the Exxon off Highway 14 in Santa Clarita.  I decided to visit the ladies room.  I walked in and saw two teenagers in one of the two stalls with the door open.  I go in the other stall to pee and I hear girl one say to girl two: "ok so what does one line mean?"  Girl two replies "that means positive."  Girl one then says "well I guess I am pregnant..."  I could not pee and get out of that bathroom fast enough.  Holy crap!


But... the fun is not over!  We get two frantic phone calls on our way out of Palmdale.  A small plane crashed in Tehachapi and started a forest fire just a few miles from town.  If I look outside of my window all I can see is a sky full of smoke and flames.  Helicopters are flying and buzzing the houses.  Luckily for us, the dogs seem to be passed out from their day at the beach.  They are immune from the terror associated with the forest fire.  

Forest fire from Highway 58

In a moment of clarity and reflection today in the car, I realized that I love living in California!  Even despite the fires, the fruits and nuts, the taxes, and the crazy "California" way of life... this place is so beautiful, so peaceful, and so sunny!  Sometimes it takes a day with dogs and friends to remind you of how happy you are.