A Week in Santa Monica

Thanks to a borrowed bike, I got out on the Santa Monica beach bike paths every morning. Say what you will about the evils of Los Angeles traffic, the car culture seems far away here.


75 degrees at 8 am and all is well. Cruisers and hitchhikers were happening.





Continuing south to Marina Del Rey I had the path almost to myself.





I turned around on a bridge after chatting with this group.


As in every Marina I've ever visited, all the ships were crowded against each other, safely tied up and deserted. Obviously, slips were at a premium, as were yachts. Almost nobody was actually sailing.



Could we pay off our national debt by simply selling all our idle yachts? I stopped for coffee. At the next table these guys were speaking a language I've never heard.





At the age of 70 this rugged couple from Australia were traveling the world by folding bikes! I caught up with them a few miles from the end of a North American tour.


The next morning I tried to find their hostel. Alas, Venice has three and this wasn't the one.



Santa Monica Playland at the end of a relaxing day...



The Santa Monica beach faces southwest, so the sun sets over the mountain range to the right of the beach, which feels like north to most Californians.