To celebrate our release from rain central, Marcel and I bladed from Pacific Palisades to Palos Verdes. Actually, we skated from Venice up to the northern terminus of the beach path so we could (ambitiously) blade the whole thing. We hadn't skated since summer, but the path was so deliciously smooth--unlike Stanley Park's ruggedly patched, albeit incredibly gorgeous, sea wall--we thought we could hack it.

What we didn't realize was that the beach path gets sent inland around the harbour south of Venice. In our rabid intent to stay close to the water despite gated communities and waterside-monopolizing restaurants, we must have doubled our journey. We navigated every spit of land that extended into the harbour and back again so that by the time we made it back onto the beach in El Segundo, we were limp-skating.

Elysian bliss awaited us back at our friend, Kathryn's place, in the form of a jacuzzi. blissful sigh...

It was crazy fun. Welcome back to So Cal.

It's days like this that throw the big question into our choice of eventual settle spots. We may just forego the idea of settling altogether and get a boat.

Though we got a reminder of how sad the bus system is down here as we lugged our skates and shivered at the bus stop for over 30 minutes. Ya' call this public transportation? No wonder LA is suing Arnie over vehicle licensing. Total car culture. I guess I never noticed it before, but having been car-less in Vancouver for three years now, it's amazing what a difference a strong transportation system makes.

It's great to be back in the old stomping grounds. Let the last-minute shopping take place... (In truth anytime before the 23rd is still pretty early for me).