I took dad and Mrs. Susie up to Will Rogers State Beach today just to see something different. Susie needed to get out for a new sniff, and dogs aren’t allowed at the Arboretum or the Huntington Gardens.
We packed up a picnic
and stuff we might need for a few hours trip with an elderly gentleman, a lady of “a certain age” and their canine. We thence boarded the vehicle and commenced driving north towards Santa Barbara. No plan, just a mental health day to clear out the cobwebs.
I knew I wanted to take California Highway 1 and get some view of the coast on the drive. Inspiration hit as we got down the road towards Malibu. Some nice parking appeared along the beach that was only $7 now and totally not crowded. At other times when there’s higher demand, it might be a higher price.
It was lunchtime
when I saw the sign that said Will Rogers State Beach. I thought, “okay, wow, this looks really nice and there’s hardly anybody here,” so we pulled in. It was wonderful and relaxing. We didn’t walk very far, just to the bathrooms and back but the dog was okay with that. So was the Dad. It was cold and windy. Otherwise, we would have gone for a longer walk.
We sat relaxing in the car, enjoying our picnic and watching the beach from our front-row seats. See the video on my YouTube channel (link to come). After another short ramble, we turned the car towards home.
Because I didn’t really plan out the trip, the drive there was a little longer than it could have been. We hit traffic on the way back despite taking the shorter route, which made the journey home longer.
Will Rogers State Beach
is right past the Santa Monica Pier which has a lot of fun things going on. Places to eat, a Ferris wheel, a nice vintage Merry-Go-Round and a lot of other cool stuff. They’re closed on the weekends right now so check before you go. Across the highway from the beach, there are several state and regional parks to explore. There’s Will Rogers State Park and Temescal Canyon that look really good. I wanted to drive through there but we’d already spent a couple of hours and the elderly gentleman and the dawg were ready to leave. Next time.
Meanwhile, I do have some pictures from a previous trip to the Santa Monica Pier which are in the YouTube video and posted here.
Normally, this area is crazy crowded with tourists and locals. You can’t even get parking. The traffic is horrible and the people are just so close together. So one good thing about this crazy mixed-up time is that I get to see parts of California which I grew up in, that I haven’t seen since I was really little. Or have never seen because they’ve just been too crowded to enjoy. Consequently, this exploration of my backyard is really wonderful.
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