Santa Monica Sunset ends the Trip:

And so it all comes to an end in Sunny Santa Monica, with the seagulls and the waves and the weirdos on the public bus...

Flight in from Tokyo was long, but uneventful, the Crowne Plaza hotel at LAX was pretty good since they upgraded my room and as luck would have it, the "Big Blue Bus" station was a short walk away, so off I toodled on the bus to Santa Monica pier.

 Tall palms set the scene for L.A.

 But the pier itself, scene of many movies was really quite tacky - what a disappointment ! LOL! Not sure what I expected but... here is a seagull watching the Walmart hordes going for a hot dog on the pier ;)

 The stand of palms along the beach is Venice Beach boardwalk. If I had more time I would have gone inland into Venice proper. The houses on the canals are meant to be sweet!

As night closed in, walking along Lincoln Blvd, I had to find a CVS pharmacy to get some cookies (and I only found 3 packets, one of which Shelly and Wendy scoffed as soon as I got home!) and I stopped at a Burger King for a late supper - as fast food mixes well with trashy L.A.

They said for one cent more I could have a large fries, which at first I wasn't going to do because I am fat enough, but I had walked passed a homeless persons' collection of boxes and bags... So I got them and took them back toward the bus station for the homeless guy...

I called out that I had some extra fresh fries and there was no answer, I could see a a tarp moving with the breathing underneath so I said I would leave them there in case he wanted a snack. Within seconds, a woman's head popped up, a middle aged woman who in very fine English told me that it was late, I had woken her up and no thank you, she didn't need to eat fries. I apologized and moved on...

Lost her home in the 2009 meltdown? Who knows, she had a huge collection of bags and was was not what I expected at all. Riding the bus with the locals late that night had been EXACTLY as I expected, one guy air punching, lots of lower income groups that fit into every stereotype you can imagine, which is an interesting study in itself... Then there's me sitting with the backpack and a bag of CVS cookies!

But it brings to an end a rather peculiar trip, fascinating creatures the highlight in all their varied forms.

Tomorrow I leave for Calgary for a quick bite with Wyatt, Brent and Kathy... and while it will be great fun it will be too short.

So another trip is needed!  :)

Arctic Circle Iceland begins April 12th. La Famigilia es Todo, never forget that, you are my famiglia now! Hasta la proxima ves.