Jim Lane

This is what Southern California looks like in less than 1 hour drive for me.

I took the family and we got away this week for a little 2 day vacation, we haven’t really been anywhere for about 5 or 6 years so we went and stayed down at Huntington Beach, it’s only 30 miles South from where we live.

We stayed at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort on the 9th floor so we had a great view of the sunset, this hotel was really first class and they charged you for everything, $10.00 to watch a movie in your room and $22.00 for valet parking.
I told my daughter, don't even touch the mini-bar.

This is one of the reasons I like Southern California, perfect weather and the perfect sights.

This is what the beach looked like from the balcony to our room; we were on the 9th floor.

I forgot my tripod so all of these were handheld.

The nighttime shots were at 2-second exposure.



This was our pool around midnight.



This is the same as the first except at 6:00 A.M.



We got to the beach about 10:00 A.M.
It was in the mid 90*’s today.

I shot this from the hotel about 1/3 mile away.



I think I saw Gidget and Moon Doggie here on the beach this afternoon.



Looking out at the Huntington Beach Pier



Baywatch…No David Hasselhof’s here. We have fine looking lifeguards here.
BTW this is what the picture Baywatch was all about.



This is typical of any Southern California beach on a light day.
During the summer there is barely enough room to sit down.



This is Ruby’s at the end of the pier.

Prices are high and the food is terrible but the view is great.




This is the Hilton we stayed at.



After I downloaded the 300 pictures onto the computer I found a bunch of them had a spot in the field, I checked the camera and found a rogue speck of dust floating around on the sensor behind the mirror, no idea how it got there.

So this is how we spent the last few days, now it is back to work.

So what do you think?
Jim

crobtex

Nice! I used to hang around down there some in the early 60's. Days of the real Gidgit and Moon Doggie. We mostly ran the beaches from Santa Monica up to Malibu when we didn't go to the desert or the drag races. Definatly a lot to do out there if you can put up with the traffic and crowds.

I still have a daughter in Malibu, but she is so ULTRA LIBERAL we don't get along too well at all.

edwinsmith

Nice pics. I have a lot of them also. I lived in SoCal for over 20 years and my wife still lives in Santa Ana and works in Irvine. I got fed up with the place and so I left to come back to KS where we both grew up.

In Santa Ana you can't park overnight on the street unless you have a permit. If you live in an apartment you don't get a permit. Here I can do things that are illegal in SoCal. Things like spray paint my truck myself, work on the brakes in the yard, park my trailer in the front yard, etc...

SoCal is nice if you can afford the expense of living there and don't mind all of the restrictions on freedom that literally choke me to death.

Edwin

Timmay2

Im glad i dont go to california beaches.. Imagine all the pee in the water.

edwinsmith

Remember what W.C. Fields said about not drinking water because of what the fish did in it.

It's probably a good idea to wear boots on the beach because of the needles and broken glass in the sand. They sweep it but I don't know how often.

Edwin

Jim Lane

Aww it is not that bad, after a heavy rain you are not supposed to go into the water until they say the bacteria count is low enough to be a safe level.

Most of the regular beach goers stay away but not so for the hard-core surfers.

You need to get up the coast a few miles to Long Beach that is where the sewage plant it located.

Seems at least once a year something goes wrong and starts dumping raw sewage into the ocean before they catch it.
So it is not the #1 you need to worry about, it is the #2.
Jim

DieselDaze

That Ruby's is one of my favorites places to grab a burger.
Nothing like sitting there with a greasy burger while the fishing boats rock the pier back and forth as they tie up wait for the next batch of fishermen to head out.
My wife and I use to go on dates and end up there (at that beach, not just the Rubys).

Rich

Jim Lane

When was the last time you were here? you should see what they did to the Orange Crush now. Nice new freeways but it still takes you an hour to get from Santa Ana to Anaheim during rush hour.

The Anaheim Ducks can't play at the Pond anymore, it is now the Honda Center.

Marine Corps Air Station, Tustin is closed down, what is this world coming to?

Jim

crobtex

Is that someone getting mugged in the middle of the pic? Oh, no, no...this is not Venice Beach.

P.J

Looks nice. I have always wanted to visit CA. The climate pretty much couldn't be better from what I read, compared to where I'm at where it's ridiculously hot & humid for three months, bitter cold for four months and generally miserable the remaining time.

D2 Cat

edwinsmith, is it really true when you take your written driving test (in CA)it's in like 26 languages, but the road signs only have three languages? Is that the purpose of international signs(the pictures with the slash through them)?

edwinsmith

I was just there in January. I spent about 9 months there with my wife. I came home for business and to work on my truck. My business allows me to live practically anywhere and work online. I only travel to the customer's site when needed.

Yes the infrastructure is really built up. Overbuilt in a lot of cases. Those flyovers on the freeways seem to back up more than the rest of the lanes so I think that idea wasn't very well planned. It sometimes takes forever to get somewhere simply because of the sheer volume of traffic. The population is very dense. More people = more of everything bad from people. I like people but when they're concentrated in a socialistic environment the thieves and sociopaths seem to be more prominent.

This is not just a phenomenon in SoCal but most large cities. Like I said I had enough of it so I left. I went to rural, OK for a while. then to Tampa, FL which is different but still a big sprawling area with lots of sociopaths. Now I'm here.

If you're willing to put up with the negatives it's a nice place to live with lots of bling. But bling is superficial and overrated.

Edwin