Venice #2

We checked into our motel in LA and you know what that means, showers. We're in a Motel 6 which was pretty much the cheapest we could find and it's also half a block away from Hollywood Boulevard. Once we were clean we went for a drive and Andy finally let me pick up a hitchhiker. Unfortunately it was an annoying English girl.

Once the night had drawn in we took a trip along Mulholland Drive. It's actually a fantastic winding road that takes you up into and along the ridge line of the Hollywood Hills and Santa Monica Mountains. There are views aplenty as you are high up and lookout over the expanse of Universal City and Hollywood. It's strangely peaceful to look out over the millions of lights stretching out beneath you.

The view was combined with the great drive that the road brings. I was of course driving and had a great time taking the van around the dozens of twist and turns of the road although it would have been slightly cooler in a Mustang or pretty much anything other than a huge white van. It was even more serene when all other cars disappear and you're alone on dark the road. We did manage somehow to turn off the road twice without noticing but we soon backed up and were on the good again.

We had the radio on and it was pushing out Audioslave, Nirvana and Weezer but nothing really fitted. I was going to tell you that there wasn't an apt track for the drive today but on our way back along the road 'The Distance' by Cake came on as I put my foot down and pushed tighter into the turns. Driving the road is a much better way of spending two hours than watching the film.

The next day we headed to Venice Beach. It's a lovely sand beach with an interesting boardwalk. We walked for a bit and then set up on the sand for a bit. I actually left Andy and the Hitchhiker and went for a 50 minute run along the sand just by the water. It was great to run in the sun and the cool breeze meant I didn't get too hot but it was a bit of a struggle being my only real exercise for a month. My feet and calves aren't thanking me either as I ran barefoot and the compacted sand although good to run on has left me a bit damaged and sore.


J.