Cooling It

Dockweiler State Beach
March 9, 2010

After spending a night along the Rincon Highway, where the crashing of waves during the night was punctuated by Amtrak trains chugging by (or freight trains---I didn’t look), we continued down the coast, stopping for lunch at the side of Hwy 1 in Santa Monica.

We finally reached our destination, Dockweiler State Beach near Playa del Rey. The unique aspect of this park is that it is directly across the street from a major regional sewage treatment plant. The local lore is that as long as the wind is blowing in off the ocean, all is well. If there is a ‘downslope’ wind (known as a Santa Ana hereabouts), the stench can peel the paint off of passing cars. So far the palm trees are leaning eastward, which is good.

Also a feature of this park is that it is located about ¼ mile south of the end of the LAX runway. Virtually every 60 seconds a plane takes off, ceasing only between the hours of 11 pm and 6 am. I counted many flocks of sheep last night as thousands of air passengers flew overhead.

Today’s excitement was a visit to nearby Venice Beach. The ‘muscle beach outdoor gym’ was deserted as brisk breezes chilled us on our walk. It appears that the major business enterprise along the ‘stroll’ is medical marijuana smoking rooms. Hucksters continue non-stop pitter-patter: “Tylenol will kill you—it killed my mother*, “the doctor is in”, “hash lounge now open.” Even Annika was solicited to enter and partake of the devil weed, which no doubt would produce quick relief from that nasty kennel cough. I think that Janice’s arthritic aches caused her to cast more than just a curious glance.

This evening we are having dinner with Steve and Ardys. He was my law school roommate for a year and his father (also a judge---like Steve) performed our wedding ceremony in his living room—ironically 37 years ago today, with Steve acting as best man. Hence this bonus picture from the archives. (Look at those legs!)

Late Report:

Great dinner with the Van Sicklen's in Manhattan Beach.

Steve surprised us, giving us his (late) father's bound booklet that contained our actual wedding ceremony.

Steve had decided to present it to us the next time we all got together, unaware (until we told him) that this was our anniversary. One of those Twilight Zone moments.