Lewis and Clark?...maybe not!

Well DH and I are sitting in our motel room in Santa Monica at the moment after a very long day!It is still Saturday for us even though we left Brisbane on Saturday March 5 at just after midday. After flying for 12 hours we arrived in LA 7am Saturday their time. The flight was VERY bumpy for a lot of the time and conditions were very cramped  as is expected in Economy. I watched lots of TV shows, played games and listened to music on my iPod...but unfortunately got very little sleep. I also have always had trouble 'going' on toilets that are moving...boats and planes for example, but on those long hauls eventually everything does work! lol

When we arrived this morning, it was quite a long process getting through Immigration, what with the finger printing and photo taking and the queues were huge as quite a few planes came in at a round about the same time.

At LAX, waiting for the shuttle to Santa Monica

A building at LAX

The driver of our shuttle was from Ethiopia, but he sounded just like a person from Barbados to us; I took this photo as the driver and the steering wheel are on the wrong side of the car! lol...just joking!

On the road to Santa Monica

the visitor info Kiosk where Thelma worked, well into her 90s (97)

 

Sorry about the quality of the photo but the window glass made the shot difficult. This was a clothing shop (a lot of it bespoke) and the quite extensive shop window was full of vintage sewing machines. I was just so entranced that I plan to go back to 3rd St and maybe get some history as well as pics taken inside.

A new award which is for employees who work in Santa Monica promoting tourism and the award is named in honour of Bruce's elderley cousin, Thelma.



The WIDE sandy beach at Santa Monica



The famous pier in the distance

When we got to our hotel it was about 9 and we couldn’t get into our hotel, so we left our luggage there and took the hotel shuttle to downtown Santa Monica. We walked and we walked and we walked....right down to the sea front and in particular the visitors’ kiosk where our elderly relative had worked right up until her recent death, as well as spending some time on the pier which is amazing with a funfair and all!

After that we walked up the hill from the pier (puff puff, aching feet and incredible weariness after being up for 24 hours!) to the shops. We bought a bus pass card, a mobile phone to use here, a GPS unit for when we start the driving part of our holiday and I went into Sears and bought some ‘scuffs’ as my feet were killing me. Changing into them meant the walk to the shuttle pick up point was more pleasant.

Then back at the room just after 2, I caught some ‘shut-eye’ after a shower and change of clothes! DH beavered away while I slept getting the phone activated, he also found out how the internet worked and got that going and only then did he have a rest! What a man!!

Tonight we walked several blocks and found a number of shops and restaurants...there was an amazing fresh food market and a pharmacy/convenience store called Walgreens. We ate at a restaurant called ‘Earth, Wind and Flour’ which served Italian style food. We had great service from an Arts Graduate from San Francisco uni who can’t get a job in the field of his major History. Zac gave us amazing service. Talking of service, DH and I are so scared of offending people by forgetting to give a tip...I think we did the right thing today by those who looked after us.

Tomorrow, a cousin, Adrienne from Huntingto Beach is coming up to Santa Monica to spend the day with us and show us around...sounds good!!