Updating this blog! California 2016

Because I decided to shorten our trip by a day and a half this year, we left on a Tuesday rather than a Monday.  We also took a later flight than usual.  Our trip to the airport was easy, and we had plenty of time to have breakfast there before we got onto the plane. 

 We're so technologically savvy these days that we used our phones for our boarding passes AND I downloaded some stuff from Amazon video to watch on the plane. Pretty darned good for senior citizens.

Our plane took off late but landed early, but then we stepped into a wormhole that sort of took us back to 2015 when we ended up using a different rental car agency because the shuttle for the one I had initially used never showed up at the airport.  So this year I used one I had used a while back and liked.   Hmmm...things have changed. We watched 11 Hertz, 8 Avis, etc., pass us by. We waited over a half an hour to get on the shuttle -- at least someone answered the phone when I called. And then when we got to the place, there were 3 shuttle buses parked there. What????

So we finally got our car and headed to The Tripel, a small restaurant run by one of the Top Chef runner-ups in Playa del Rey.  We had some good beer and food. 

And then it was time to fight the battle of both the 405 and the 5.  Brutal.  Lots and lots of traffics even though we were in the HOV lane.  It took probably a half hour longer than "normal" to arrive at our hotel.  

After we checked in and unpacked a bit, we walked into town to a local Mexican restaurant.  Good choice on our part -- food was good as was the margarita, and it was Happy Hour all evening because it was also Taco Tuesday. 

This place was an easy walk from our hotel. On the way back, we walked parallel to the beach.  We had missed sunset, but we'll be front and center either tonight or tomorrow night to catch the green flash!

Volleyball!

The beach is below the street.

Bed before 9:00PM.