4 Days in LA
I arrived in Los Angeles a few days ago and… so far so good! Wendy is joining me in a couple weeks. This is destination #4 for the Nomad Adventure and it feels like the perfect time. We’ll be here until the end of March.
It took me three whole days to drive from Chicago to LA. I have to say that Teddy is the greatest dog ever. 10 hours a day in the car and scarcely a bark.
I had a surprise snowstorm in Arizona near Flagstaff, but it was beautiful.
And coming into California from Arizona was also beautiful.
J.R.R. Tolkien said it best:
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
It is sunny here and warm enough to eat outside, so I feel like I have a head start on making this great.
We found an apartment in Mar Vista, near Santa Monica.
We’re staying in a house that has been chopped into 3 different units. Ours in the back with it’s own entrance and balcony.
Right in the neighborhood we have an excellent sushi restaurant called Sakura Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar. We also have a great little lunch Mexican place called Taqueria Sanchez#2 and a bodega and the usual other city stuff.
LA is definitely a driving city and that will take some getting used to. I have no idea where I am without my Google maps. I have only been going to neighborhoods that are close by for now, but I’m still doing 15–30 minute drives. (For some context, you can be anywhere in Baltimore including across town in 15 minutes.) I can imagine that going to the Eastside neighborhoods of LA could take hours.
I found THE dog park, which is a 10 minute drive from the house. It’s called Oberrieder Dog Park and it was the third dog park I went to. The first two were small, with AstroTurf and not nearly enough room to run around. Teddy is now a happy happy boy.
And we came to LA with the intent to play Pickleball and I got lucky to be able to get started quickly and get the lay of the land before Wendy comes. An old friend is an expert player in Santa Monica and within a few days I had a lesson and have played a bunch a games. It is so fun!
Unlike tennis, which will take me forever to learn to be decent, with Pickleball you can be pretty good in a few weeks. My friend who plays in tournaments has only been playing for 6 months. The expert who gave me the lesson has only been playing for a few months.
The folks in Santa Monica’s Memorial Park are super friendly and there are local ambassadors of the game who lend out rackets, set up courts and manage the open play.
So far so good!
I am connecting with folks in LA and if you know folks I should be seeing, hit me up.
