Ventura/Oxnard, Santa Monica, Hollyweird, LA, Manhattan Beach, and Huntington Beach, CA

To SoCal we go.



When I think of Southern California I think of lifted obnoxious trucks, flat billed hats, tattoo fads, and general douche baggery... I was not disappointed ;) For whatever reason when I think of SoCal I think, "Bro's proliferate there." I was shocked to hear that Dennis Marinello who originates from San Diego thinks Bro's come from Northern California!!!

I had an epiphany though. When I walked down the beach in Pismo I saw that there was a spot where you can actually drive your car out on the beach to kinda tailgate while you surf or recreate. Wow, there is an application for these lifted trucks with their huge monster truck tires. This made me think that those cars were not as obnoxious as I once thought. I also came to realize that when I see some flat billed cap wearing, neck tattoo having, raked chopper riding dude he may be a Bro to me but to someone like Dennis he is Charlie the guy he went to elementary school with. I know it is some type of phobia we are both suffering from but I can't think of the proper name... And Emmett it's not Broaphobia.

In the background Malibu

We left Santa Barbara planning to go to Ventura. We actually saw some very nice scenery on the way that was different from the north coast. Of course the north coast you expect the shoreline to be rocky and beautiful in that regard. Socal you think sandy beaches. We saw some great places that looked perfect for hanging out on the beach.

Anna lookin good as we rest from our bike ride

Once we got to Ventura we started driving around the town trying to find a good place where we could park for free and see the sites. We kept driving and kept driving and really didn't like the vibe we were getting. I didn't really see a good place to park and we ended up in a Vons parking lot. We loaded up on supplies and made some bomb sammiches. I really didn't want to go back to downtown Ventura because it just didn't appeal to me. I said lets have our sandwiches at the beach. We drove there and the spot where there was beach access was pretty lame. Many business had shut down there was a bunch of graffiti people were homeless people camping on the beach and shady looking characters in the parking lot. I decided to keep on keepin on and we ended up chilling out beside a state park beach front. We enjoyed our sandwiches and just got close in the bus. The weather wasn't spectacular so we just made a lazy day out of it.

Right by Ventura is Oxnard and a 24 hour fitness there and a Walmart. We went and worked out then got a shower. We then spent the night in the Oxnard Walmart's parking lot. No problems and we had a good rest. We planned on going to Malibu the next day. When we were in Ventura Anna was pretty cranky and I got the sense that she was a bit burnt out on the living conditions so I thought to myself that I would treat her to a Hotel either that night or the next.

Malibu ... oh Malibu... every time I think of Malibu I think of this



When we got to Malibu we of course saw huge houses and could only guess as to which celebrities lived in them. As we continued along we didn't really find a place where people like us could hang out see the sites and people watch. We tried to find a public beach but soon gave up. They did have some big beaches eventually that we found but they were completely empty and looked like they would be boring to hang out at. Onward yo

This one is for you Heather

We got to Santa Monica and had lots of fun there. This is where we decided to get a hotel at a Best Western. I was so happy that I had earned enough points with my former work to get a free nights stay there. I was hoping to use the points later in our trip and for a little bit more important reason but felt like it was still a good usage of them. We parked inland where it was free then took our bikes to the beach where they have a huge long bike trail to ride. We rode that for at least 6 or 7 miles and looked at the ocean and saw a bunch of rollerbladers go down the trail. We chilled out on this bench where we could have a view of Malibu and actually spotted a pod of dolphins. We weren't quick enough to get pictures of them but we tried.



This guy was playing on the Santa Monica pier and we thought he was pretty good.

That night we saw Black Swan which was excellent then shared some food at a pub. We headed to bed afterwards and the bed was so huge I didn't even have to be constantly touching Anna!

Keeping it gangsta

Note: this section got deleted somehow I will try and recreate it.

The next day in Santa Monica we drove around without much of a plan. We had hoped to see some sites and possibly go where celebrities would be. Well when it is raining pretty bad I dont think the celebrities come out to play... :/  We meandered around until we said lets go to Universal City. We paid the 15 bucks in parking then walked to the theme park. Unfortunately, it was way to expensive. 75 bucks for each of us and we just couldn't swing that cost. On the way back to the bus we saw this wind tunnel where it simulates skydiving. I really wanted to try it but the next class was in 3 hours and I wasn't willing to wait that long. I hear in Las Vegas they have one and then I will check out. It was a shame we had to drop the 15 bucks on parking though. Anna got pretty upset that we didn't go to Universal Studios. It wasn't me saying we can't go though, she agreed that the cost was just absolutely ridiculous. She was sad that we can't do everything we want on this trip because we have to be money conscious. IMO that is life. Hopefully this won't be a continuing problem. We are spending more than we anticipated though. This likely won't be a year trip but more like 8-10 month trip.

Universal Tree

Globe

Well we ended up walking around Hollyweird. We saw the stars and the Hollywood sign. We went to the Hollywood Museum which was ok. I am not that familiar with old movies so that memorabilia wasn't all that exciting to me. After Hollywood the weather was getting worse and worse. We started driving and the LA traffic was lame. Take a normal commute in Sacramento and x it by 3 to get the time it takes to cover the same distance. We went down HWY 1 and ended up in Manhattan Beach. This actually seemed like a nice place that had a very San Francisco feel to it. We got some coffee and just recharged our batteries. The pier had these awesome lights and I really wanted to go check it out. We went and got absolutely drenched walking the streets. We then spent the night at Walmart in Torrance.

We loved that show!!

At the mall that was by the walk of fame

Hollywood sign yeaa

Now we are in Huntington Beach. Yesterday it was raining all day and we basically drove around for a bit and then spent most of our day in the bus. We surfed the Internet and were bored. Anna is becoming very proficient at Solitaire on her phone. I haven't been reading which is something I need to get back to. I feel like we are falling into negative routines while we are in this very urban setting.

Manhattan Beach the specs are actually rain drops
pic came out cool

Manhattan Beach all lit up

This is the pier looks nice. we walked to the end

Church today was great! We went to Calvary Baptist Church. We showed up just a bit early and got some donuts and coffee. We met a gentleman there named Chris. He talked with us for awhile and we got to know each other. He invited us to Taco Bell and we had planned on going. Once service started, we happened to seat ourselves where all the young married people sat. The church was a good sized church with 2 services. We did our meet and greet and the guy next to me named Jacob introduced himself and his wife, Rachel. We got to talking and it was a pleasant conversation. He seemed interested in our travels and after the service continued talking. Eventually he invited us for lunch at his place and we eagerly accepted. We were very excited and thought that this church is quite welcoming. I am actually finishing up my blog here at Jacob's home. At lunch we have talked about practically everything. We have talked about our different ministries we have been involved in, marriage, travels, work, just a bunch of things. When we walked into the Sanctuary I thought to myself this is a place I could see myself going to more than once. With the people at the church I know that it would be a great congregation to be apart of... Now I feel bad about all the bro comments at the beginning of this blog :) Jacob forgive me.

Chillin' in the Peet's coffee acting dumm

So, from Jacob's house we went back to the church because there was a group of people that were going to go to Riverside and see Fernando Ortega perform at The Harvest Church who has Greg Laurie preach there. This was a huge church and the performances had huge production to them. I am not used to a Mega-Church atmosphere but it was an enjoyable experience. Laurie really brought a good message and the music was great.

Harvest church sanctuary before the service

We got to know all the people on the bus and ended up at a Thai restaurant after the performance. We exchanged stories and had many laughs. The people that we were talking to had a lot of missionary experience especially in Indonesia, Thailand, and China. When we ordered the Thai food the person who actually works as a missionary in Thailand ordered for us. We were pretty confident we would get the best stuff available. We ate till we couldn't eat anymore and it was soooo good. Jake was kind enough to let us sleep over for the night. I have been amazed at how welcoming the people have been at Calvary Baptist Church. They seem to love the Lord and want to share his love to many many people. This day has been so great. Exactly what we needed while the weather is so bad... God will provide.

All of our great new friends Nom noming on some Thai food

Weather has been awful and it doesn't look like it is going to let up till we leave. I feel like we are jogging in place waiting for the time to jump on the train. The way our trip is, when it rains it really hinders our travels and site seeing. Anna and I got to talking and we need to go from a tourist mentality to one where we live our lives as travelers. Hunkering down for a day or two to wait out the storm needs to be done sometimes. We need to find valuable things to do in the meantime. I know Anna thought about knitting. I have my guitar to practice and we both have good books that we need to explore. I pray we make our time usage constructive. Few pics but the weather has been lame :( we will change that as soon as the weather changes :)

Onto Laguna Beach then Oceanside then a vacation from this vacation!!! Peace

SLO, Pismo Beach, Solvang, and Santa Barbara, CA

I felt like last blog post was just a we did this... then this.... then this...

Nothing where I shared any emotions or thoughts on this trip. This entry I will make an attempt at sharing a little deeper.

You will notice that as look down at the pictures there aren't anymore pictures of SLO. That's because it just didn't feel picture worthy. Not to say that SLO is a lame place. It is actually a really fun place with lots of young people and things to do. The reason it just isn't photogenic is because it doesn't feel unique. We walked around downtown a bunch and they had shops that every major city has and we stopped at a pub which most cities have etc. We never really saw a view or place where we were wowed.

Our last night in SLO we did see a caroling competition though that was put on by the historical society of SLO. It was at this historic house that has a beautiful garden in the back where they held the competition. It wasn't a very big crowd but a good sized one. The performers were amateurs who did a relatively good job. There was a local hip-hop artist that performed an original Christmas rap that stole the show. Yeah I know you would be like silly cracker from SLO but he was actually African-American! Yes black people exist in SLO! I had a hard time believing it too.

The event had some appetizers which included Splash Cafe clam chowder which is one of the things my friend who went to college here said I had to try out. So I got some super good chowder for free baby. We probably ate too much there, they had pasta and lasagna as well but it made for a great meal for 5 bucks and we got entertainment.

From the beginning of he pier

After the caroling we headed down towards Pismo Beach to stay at a RV place. Every RV place down here isn't cheap so it hurt quite a bit forking over the money to stay but we were both eager to get showers and chill out for the night. Next morning it was The Lord's Day so we did a quick search on the net for a church and found Bethel Baptist Church in nearby Avila Beach. Across the street from this church is another one that looked to have probably 1.5k+ members. We went with the small humble church. I really liked our decision because the congregation was small and super friendly. We practically met everyone there and shared our story. The pastor was super jealous. The service was nice and afterwards the Pastor asked if he could pray for us. I thought that was pretty cool and very encouraging.

The beaches were perfect for walking

Another self Cheese

We have now gotten to the climate where I don't think winter truly exists. We went to Pismo Beach and walked the pier. We decided it was so warm that we would go change into our shorts and swimsuit and chill out on the beach. Anna was in love with the idea of sun bathing and I was looking forward just to chilling on the beach for a long while. The waves at Pismo seem to be absolutely perfect for surfing and there were a ton of them hitting the waves. They were the perfect size. That was fun watching them.

Me looking over my should and saying
Heeeyyyy!

Just before sunset some spiderwebs

Sunset in Pismo

Once it got dark we went and saw the movie 127 hours. Very good movie. We then went to the local Walmart and spent the night there. The next day was time to go to the city of Solvang. Before we got to Solvang we stopped at Andersen's Pea Soup Restaurant. The drive from Pismo to Solvang was pretty far and we left mid day when it was about 75 degrees or more. Unfortunately, Maander started getting hotter than he has previously. Not into the red zone where I would have had to stop and let him cool down but just hotter than I would have preferred. We also connected that on long drives where Maander gets pretty hot usually the next time we try and start him the starter doesn't work. Well we had some great food over at Andersen's and went to start the bus. Sure enough the starter wasn't working. Luckily, I had anticipated this and parked on a hill. I coasted down the hill and did a push start. Then the generator light was on :( Lately, Maander has been doing this but I would just turn him off then on again and everything would be cool. Well we couldn't do that right there. I had to drive up the hill again and coast down and push start again and again. Every time the generator light would be on. I started stressing. I knew there wasn't anything I could immediately do so I was like well lets go the 5 miles to Solvang and hopefully not kill the battery going there. I figured if Maander died we would just get him towed to a shop and then we would replace the alternator and if necessary the starter. We made it there and just crossed our fingers everything would be cool. Anna asked me what we should do and I said, "Well, there isn't anything we can do right now so we need to just forget about it and enjoy this city" I feel like we succeeded in enjoying the city.

At Andersen's. Anna way too
excited for it :)

SolvangMaander Anna and I were praying that Maander would start right up and everything would be kosher. It was! So with all that in mind I now have to decide whether I want to get the parts down here in Socal where there is a very healthy VW scene or get the parts when I get back up to Sac. I think if we make it down to San Diego I could do the work at our friends place.

Solvang babay

Sup?

This would be a sick tat

Awesome Sanctuary

I don't want to seem disrespectful but isn't this
totally Baby Buddy Jesus?

We had planned on staying the night in Solvang but it was so touristy and what not it just wasn't conducive to boondocking. We made our way to our next stop Santa Barbara. Another long drive and in total on the day I believe I drove about 120 miles. This time the engine didn't get very hot and it was evening. We went into the downtown area and walked around State Street which is the main street where they have all kinds of restaurants and shops. We did a ton of walking and Anna got tired but I wasn't. I wanted to keep going and she was just like done with the experience. She got cranky and I got frustrated and it just felt like we were getting sick of each other. I could feel the tension but we just kept on. There is a 24 hour fitness here so we went and worked out and got some showers. Next day we biked around the beach then headed inland to State Street again. My bike had a badly bent axle on the rear and it would make the tire rub against the frame. This made it feel like I was going uphill on flat ground. I became absolutely exhausted while Anna was just fine. I got really pissed at my bike and just said we had to take it to a shop. Luckily, I got it fixed for just 20 bucks and now I am very happy with my bike.

HC Andersen
Lonely dude

This may be Titus' dad

OK way too long wrapping up :(

Had dinner with Anna's friend who lives in town Sarah. We had Mexican it was OK. We went to 24 hour again and this time I chilled in the hot tub :) then took a shower boy are we spoiled have a shower 2 days in a row :P.

On our bike ride in SB
never seen these kinds of birds before

Brother of Maander!

Don't think thats the best spot to look at a
canon

From SB's pier

So here is a crazy story I have to tell you before I go.

When we were in Big Sur looking at that waterfall there was a young man there probably 20-23 years old. He looked like a traveler and it looked like he was hiking everywhere he was going. When we were at the waterfall he was seated at a bench just chillin reading a book. I thought this guy knows whats up and it traveling in a really minimal way. When we were having lunch there he walked by and asked us the what the day of the week it was. I was like yeaaaa he definitely has been doing this awhile if he has forgotten the day of the week and then I didn't think much of him after that. Well we saw him walking down a street in SLO. I was like what??!?!? Anna and I agreed if we saw him again we would introduce ourselves to him. Well yesterday walking around Santa Barbara we see him in the window of a coffee shop. Again I was like whaaaa??!?!?! But this time we chickened out in introducing ourselves. We then agreed that if we saw him again we would have to introduce ourselves or the trip was over. Boom this morning on the beach we see him walking away from a motorcycle. Aaah that's how he has been keeping up with us. We shook his hand introduced ourselves. He told us he kinda has been meandering around the Socal beach towns for the most part. We told him our plans. It was cool I didn't catch his name though.

The rest of SC, Monterey, Big Sur, Hearst Castle, and a little San Luis Obispo, CA

Well we have seen some beautiful things. The last day in Santa Cruz was particularly nice out and we walked around where the surfers' museum was and the pier. Had some good food on the pier and watched the surfers hit some huge waves.

Some Sea Lions chillin under the pier

Surfers' Museum 

Anna probably won't like me posting this one :)

From Santa Cruz it was a quick little ride over to Monterey. I have made this trip many times when I was working with Walton Engineering. For awhile, once a week I would spend the night in Monterey. We arrived about mid-day and decided to go straight to 17mile drive. You have to pay to go down the road but if you stop at one of the shops on the road you can get a refund if you spend more than 25 bucks. We decided that was a good idea. We stopped and meandered around the beaches and checked out the awesome sites. The lone Cypress tree was particularly cool. Its amazing to see how powerful the ocean can be.

This is on a beach near Pebble Beach
it was a good walk

Anna with the Lone Cypress in the background

We chilled on a terrace at the Pebble Beach Golf Course
Anna and I shared an appetizer and I had a cigar

We headed back to Monterey and went to the major shopping plaza there. We walked around and then went and saw the movie Tangled. Excellent movie btw. We then went and shacked up for the night near the hotel I used to stay at all the time.

Next morning we had some Denny's because it was right by us then took the bikes down to the wharf. When we went to lock up the bikes we spotted this big jellyfish in the water. Wow I thought, then I continued to look and found an insane amount of jellyfish in the harbor. I ran out on the launch ramp dock and was just looking at all the wildlife. As I stared at the jellyfish, a school of sardines swam by really quickly followed by a bird underwater! The bird eventually caught a couple and had a meal it was awesome to see.

Not close to how cool it was in real life

We walked a ton on the wharf then to Cannery Row then all the way down to Pacific Grove. There was a wildlife refuge on the way to Pacific Grove where tons of sea lions were just sleeping. We watched them for quite awhile before heading on.

See that huge one sleeping on the seaweed?!

Showing affection at the Maritime Museum

We eventually headed home after a really long day of walking. We hung out at a Safeway Starbucks had some soup and bread and surfed the net. Next day we planned on going to the Carmel Mission then to Big Sur. On the way we saw some huge waves



The Mission was beautiful and it is still used by the Catholic church so the Sanctuary was in full Catholic splendor. It is amazing to see the artistry that exists in the Catholic church. It's nice to have but I know we heathen Protestants aren't into all the pomp and circumstance. I guess I am happy that these commissioned art pieces exist though.

Some of the cool merchandise in their store.
They had a St. Christopher necklace with
a rollerblader on it so I had to get it :)
St. Christopher is the patron Saint of traveling
btw

Some Holy Water

The Sanctuary amazing

Very cool sketch of what an artist
thinks Jesus looks like

The cemetery with tons of abalone shells around the graves

Onto Big Sur.

I never knew much about Big Sur and I didn't know what to expect. Anna just told me there would be 2000 ft cliffs we would be driving along. This didn't make me and Maander happy. Well it was all good and the views were amazing. I seriously saw some of the biggest waves I have ever seen. We went to one of the very few RV camping spots in Big Sur. It had few amenities and you had to pay for the showers and it also costs 45 bucks! Rip off but I think they know they are basically the only place within 30 miles in either direction. We rented a movie from their store, Brothers, it was good then headed to bed.

We enjoyed the views

We think this is supposed to be the famous bridge in Big Sur

Maander enjoying the view too

In the morning we went and saw the only waterfall that falls directly into the ocean in California, here is a picture:

What was that? You can't see anything? You say it's too foggy? .... Oh yea that's right it was ridiculously foggy. Hell, it was hard for us to see it as well. We hung out and walked the trails around Pfieffer State Park in hopes that the fog would burn off and we could get a better view. We didn't get a better shot.

I found a walking stick and here I am utilizing it.
Amazing!

Some people lived by the waterfall in the 1930s and 40s.
The lady gave the land to the state and ordered they
get rid of her house.

Anna doing a self Cheese

Onward ho to Hearst's Castle. The tour wasn't cheap but it was a must see. Here are some photo's

Huge outside pool they rebuilt 3 times before they were happy with it.

One of the guest house rooms

The main house Casa Grande

The dark brown is wood with some intricate carvings

The inside pool. What I would give to be able to dive off that platform

It was foggy all day and we got some amazing pictures when we were high enough where we were above the fog. It was as if we were flying above the clouds.

On our way to Hearst's Castle

This is from Hearst's Castle looking towards San Simeon.

So originally we planned on staying in San Simeon for the night but it was actually a pretty small town and felt that it would have been better just to keep on keepin' on down to San Luis Obispo. By the time we were done with the tour it was dark and the fog was pretty bad. I did not want to drive in this fog but by the time we started trucking along a ways is when it got really bad and I was regretting it a bit. We made it to Morro Bay and stayed the night there grabbing some coffee before we headed to bed. The next day I successfully fixed the inverter and we explored a bit. It didn't last long because everywhere we went looked like this:

To San Luis Obispo! Or if you are in the know it is actually called SLO. My friend who is an alumni of Cal Poly suggested some places to check out so we went to Firestone Grill and I had the must have Tri-tip sandwich which was amazing. We just explored the rest of the day and visited the mission that is in town as well. The mission here isn't quite as amazing as in Carmel though.

Well we are going to explore some more here in SLO and go to a caroling thing tonight. Then it is off to a KOA down the road a ways and then Pismo Beach see ya later peeps! Peace

Anna acting like an alcoholic at Frog and Peaches
with her pear cider