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