Bicycling along the Pacific

Santa Monica Pier: When Shanna used to live in West LA, I'd take the Big Blue Bus to the pier and start my run there

A screenshot of my bicycling app. Lots of backtracking. Gray spots are where I paused the timer to take photos

I am still not comfortable using the phone app for Blogger. I will edit and caption the photos when I am on a real computer.  My California adventure is sadly coming to an end as I am leaving before 7 am tomorrow. I will write about the wedding at some point. I awoke Monday morning early to do a run. jasmine bushes lined the street chock full of hummingbirds. there seems to be 2 types: Anna's, which are a duller color but similar to our ruby throats and the rufous which are bronze. Again we heard the coyotes howling at night and my friend saw one up the hill about 50 feet off the parking lot.  We returned to that great Kosher bakery again, a quinoa scone for me.  I left the hotel and The Moms to return to Santa Monica to meet a blogging TNBC survivor for lunch. A great lunch, lasagna made from zucchini instead of pasta, and a very nice talk.  HH, you need to visit Michigan. the restaurant was just a few blocks from where I stayed with Shanna in Brentwood where I visited her last before she moved back east. Back to my friend's briefly before again meeting up with the Moms, the newly weds and some of their relatives for a big, tasty Italian dinner. The owners were from Abruzzo. I was too tired to join their festivities later that night plus I came to see my friend whereas I can see the Moms back home. 

sedum in my friend's yard

Today while my friend was at work, I took her bike (we are the same height) down to the Ocean heading along the path to the Pacific Palisades. Then down to Venice and its canals. According to my GPS tracker, I went 21 miles seeing lots of pretty things. Pictured here is my friend's sedum, a nearby house festooned with teapots, a mural on the way to the path, the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile, pretty houses along the canals, the view heading north showing the Santa Monica Mountains, the Santa Monica pier and various graffiti near the Venice Boardwalk.  A nice ride though very different than my deserted country rides. Santa Monica has lots of dedicated bike lanes.  A lunch on her porch of takeout sushi and tempura (the bacon scone place alas was out of scones) and later one last dinner out. It has been an interesting week. 

teapot house

more teapots

murals all over the place in Santa Monica and Venice

pretty glads and bougainvillea

love the canal region

these people aren't afraid of color

looking north towards the Palisades