Today...We Tour Venice

Change is floating through our air right now. We feel it a little more each day, our curiosity at a peak. When we are in any place I think it's natural to be curious because everything is new to you. There are so many places to go, to see, to discover, to experience. It's tough, I know...but someone's gotta do it!

[caption id="attachment_4302" align="aligncenter" width="344"] Beach Bug[/caption]

This leads me to our next few days.

But first...

Today.

[caption id="attachment_4303" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Panorama from Joon[/caption]

We did our usual morning rituals along with a nice walk. I read a couple of chapters in my book. J' is doing some other stuff today...not working! With both of us just kind of mozying around our day and getting kind of bored in the process, we decided to go for a drive...see what's around that next corner.

It was about 1:00 p.m.

We had read online and heard many a story about how easy it is to park, during the day and at night in Venice, only being about 6 miles away ...that's where we drove. We found parking just a couple blocks away from the madness that Venice Beach is...it's definitely its own little world. We parked by an apartment complex under a nice tree with the perfect amount of shade. I don't even think it got into the 70's today...it was actually a perfect day for walking. I didn't want to bring Savannah because I didn't know what to expect and with Savannah being so close to the ground...I don't know what she's going to pick up, in her mouth or her feet. Sometimes it's just safer for the little munchkin to stay in the fort. It was a good thing we did that too because there was just waaaay too much loud noise, feet, skateboarders, much bigger stronger dogs getting into riffs...just too much for the lil 'bug. Plus, mama & daddy need a break from the lil rug-rat sometimes!

We walk our couple of blocks; concrete to sand to the Venice Boardwalk...in all of its glory! Tons of people walking around, bicycles have another boardwalk just for them and the sand of the beach is right past the bicycle path.

[caption id="attachment_4309" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Lots of action here[/caption]

We walked further down the boardwalk and there it was...Muscle Beach!

The original Muscle Beach used to be in Santa Monica, but now it's here. I remember visiting Muscle Beach, as a child, back in the 80's and the gym was actually in the sand. All of the guys were all big bo-hunks with bleach blonde mullets...ahhh, the 80's! Like a scene right out of a movie...haha

Muscle Beach isn't what it used to be...there wasn't but one guy in a blue speedo that was there working out. Kind of sad, to see all of the old, rusty equipment that many legends have used just quietly sitting in the sun looking more like a museum than a frequented gym.

Moving on...

All along the boardwalk there are artists, musicians, vendors selling everything...maybe even the kitchen sink! Anybody and everybody just tryin' to make that buck, man! As we walked we were approached by musicians with headphones trying to sell us their new album...trying to become a star. We also saw a few fights; some dogs, some grown men that didn't want to play music together although they were sitting right beside one another...One Love man! One guy just stood in the middle of the walkway smoking a huge Cheech & Chong doobie (it wasn't real, but it was funny) and asked for $1.00 to smoke with Poe...feel the love! haha

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Among the many shops of anything and everything you could imagine there were dispensaries scattered throughout. I guess that's just as big of a thing out here as it has become in Colorado...they're everywhere. Whatever floats your boat, man.

After our time on the boardwalk, we walked the sandy beach, mesmerized by all of the extraordinary people in this world I had to step aside and just watch. Everybody doing something different, a couple of guys dancing to their beats on this ledge, a few girls taking in the rays of the sun, people working out, some having picnics, everyone just doing their thing.

What a moment.

We strolled on back to Joon Van, waking Savannah from her nap, deciding to drive around and look for spots. We drove around for a little bit only to default back to Santa Monica...we already have a routine there and only being 6 miles away wasn't a long drive back to where we're comfortable. In a matter of minutes we were back by the ocean in a much nicer, less of a wash spot...just in time for the magical sunset.

PEACE