Santa Monica, LA

Gavin and I went for a run along the beachfront this morning. There were many joggers and cyclists out, but also many homeless people who sleep on the beaches at night - it seems that the police allow this but then clear them off the beaches every morning and the promenade is cleaned. They all seem to have a trolley laden with all their possessions. Many beg for money and some openly say "Money for weed please"

After breakfast we took a load of washing to the laundromat who offer a drop off service, and then walked with the boys to Gold's Gym, which I am told is the 'mecca of bodybuilding'. They were hoping to have a workout there but one has to be over 18 years of age and only Luke qualified for that so we left. We then walked the length of the promenade to Venice Beach to see the open air gym at Muscle Beach. Luke and Adam decided to have a workout in this open air gym - see the extra photos of them fooling around. They met a regular who was 6ft 9in and weighed in at 280 pounds. Apparently this is where Arnold Schwarzenegger used to train.

While Santa Monica is generally very upmarket and a lovely area, Venice Beach is something else...quite tacky with T shirt stalls, marijauna 'medical assessment' stalls, all sorts of art stalls and cyclists and skateboarders whizzing up and down the promenade.

It was hot today, I finally felt that Californian heat! The boys then went to the beach while Gavin and I went to the main shopping area of Santa Monica, around 3rd Street Promenade, which was very smart and had some lovely shops. 

Gavin's brother has now arrived in Santa Monica and we are meeting up for supper, and I think tomorrow we are going to brave the main tourist areas of Los Angeles and go see Hollywood Boulevard.