Freeways. They are the fastest way (most of the time) to get from point A to point B while driving. But let me tell you there are freeways and then there are California Freeways. We left camp fairly early, like 10:30 for the 3 hour drive into LA. We went through mountains, valleys, multiple cities (they don’t have towns in California) and there were always so many cars. It should have taken 3 hours but it actually took closer to 5 because Keith didn’t want to go too fast driving with all that traffic pulling a trailer. We finally arrivied at the campground where we were staying. Campground was really a loose term for this place. Parking lot is more the term you should use. It was a large concrete parking area that had slot after slot of campers. We had one reserved right on the beach. The view was actually really beautiful. We overlooked the sand beach, bike/walking path and the Pacific Ocean. Breathtaking. But we were 6 feet from the next camper on either side. But it was full hookup so that was really nice. It was also much cooler at the beach. Temp was about 68 degrees. After 90+ it wasn’t bad. Also they had a gated area for Joey. It was sand but she learned really quickly to do her thing on the sand. She could also be off leash and run her zoomies all around. The downside was that it was on the LAX flight pattern. But I truly didn’t notice the planes all that much even though they were loud. They flew over so fast that it was over quickly.
Barb and Linda had arrived earlier and we were supposed to meet at Diana’s for drinks and dinner. We were tired and dirty so I said we would get there as soon as we had showered. We took the freeway to Diana’s which was only about 22 miles from us but it took 40 min to get there. Keith wasn’t happy. Too much California freeway for one day. Well we finally arrived at Diana’s and they had started the evening without us, we got there about an hour in. No worries, I can catch up. It was good to see everyone. I had seen Barb and Linda at home but I haven’t seen Diana since last year. It was lovely to talk and catch up. And Joey was being such a good girl. We stayed until about 9:30. We were tired and needed some sleep. We agreed to meet the next day and go to Santa Monica beach, the official end of Route 66.
We started back to camp but missed the freeway on-ramp. Keith then decided to take surface streets back. Instead of programming avoid freeways in to google maps he put in the bike route. That truly sucked. We went no more than 2 blocks before we turned again and again. After 45 min of this I got very frustrated and figured out how to drive the route avoiding highways. We finally made it back to camp. They had closed the gates but we had stickers so we were able to get in. The campground is actually quite secure. There is a guard at the entrance and a coded gate by the campground itself. We walked on the beach a bit with Joey. She’s really not allowed but since it was dark we figured we could get away with it. She looooovvvved it. She loved the sand and the water. What have we done. We got ready for bed and realized that the big parking lot lights didn’t go off all night. I thought between the light and the planes I wouldn’t sleep but I slept very well.
Ocean Day 21