Manhattan Beach

We were on our way - Asia and Australia, here we come! Another trip of a lifetime was about to begin as we stood packed and ready for our taxi to shuttle us to the airport.

  

It was going to be a long haul getting across the world. So, in an effort to break up the flight a bit, we decided to stay in Los Angeles for a night. Since our layover consisted of an early afternoon landing in L.A. then a late evening flight out, we had plenty of daylight hours for sightseeing. All of this gave us some rest and allowed us to slowly ease into the beginning of taking on some serious jet lag.

Local shuttle bus to Manhattan Beach - $5.00 per person all day.

There is an eternal smog that hangs over Los Angeles during the day until about 12 noon. Then it begins to burn off allowing the sun to shine through. Unfortunately, the weather is not the best during the morning hours for photos because of the dense "gloom" in the air. However, the beach was full of energy and there was lots of activity.

For those who don't know, Manhattan Beach beach volleyball began at this pier in 1960. Additionally, Manhattan Beach, with its ever present nets, balls and players running about in the sand, is often referred to as the "Wimbledon" of beach volleyball. So, this is sacred ground for those who revere the sport.

  

Okay, I guess in order for there to be a sign and an ordinance, someone once or several times tried to do something stupid.

At the end of the pier was a little coffee shop and an aquarium.

  

Halloween came early this year. Actually, not really. How ironic at the time this photo was taken that we were headed to Japan (but in Los Angeles) and that the style of costume the girl in yellow and black was wearing is Japanese and is called Otaku. I'll explain what that is all about in my separate post entitled "Tokyo".

Surfers at the beach were catching waves. A lot of them were using small boogie boards instead of full size surf boards and this seemed to work very well. Most wore flippers and wetsuits. All I could think about, at the time, was how these surfers must look like seals to a confused shark. So I kept looking for a fin in the water. Gladly, I didn't see any. I wasn't wishing for a National Geographic documentary moment to happen before my eyes.

  

After a day playing tourist, we fast forwarded to a good night's sleep at the hotel. Then onwards and forwards to the airport for the really long part -our flight to Tokyo. However, the journey was only begininning...Asia and Australia 2014